Miatapower List Archive

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Mail From: "Jason C" <(email redacted)>

Heh, just got back from a most excellent drive with a fellow miata and a
Swift GTi.

Got back from a drive in the mountains. My main objective was to check out
the Teins on a nearby mountain road which is very bumpy.

Yesterday morning I got an alignment:

FRONT
camber -1.2*, toe in 1/16", caster 4.2*
REAR
camber -1.7*, toe in 1/16"

Ride height is 13.1"(F), 13.8"(R).

Yesterday afternoon just to calibrate my butt, I went up and down the
undulations on the street at work and the speed bumps in the parking lot,
hopping between my friend's MSM and
my car. By comparing the two cars, I noticed that the main cause of
harshness was that the rear was "dropping" too fast on the downhill side of
the speed bumps. I softened the rears from 4 to full soft, then softened the
fronts from 6 to 4. Most of the ride harshness is gone, yet they aren't
underdamped. When I was done, it was smoother than the MSM on the little
speed bumps, and a bit harsher on the big one.

Overall ride quality is better. My V1 jiggles less on small and medium
sized bumps.

Balance (over/understeer) is spot on with the 11 mm rear swaybar.

I went to the bumpiest nearby mountain road that I enjoy, and whoa!!! They
work really, really well! I'm now very impressed with the HA's.

Interesting that what works best on speed bumps and undulations, also works
well on mountain roads.

With the current settings, the Teins are much better at absorbing small to
medium sharp bumps, and with the alignment, the car is very balanced,
predictable, sweet, and easy to put the power down.

The difference with the MSM suspension, is that the MSM's turn-in a bit
quicker because of their extra bump damping, and are a bit plusher on large
bumps, but overall, the Tein's ride better and handle better on bumpy
mountain roads. The Teins, on abrupt throttle lift, have a less abrupt tail
step-out.

Cheers.