FM testimonials

Here's what our customers had to say about part 13-16200.
Got something you'd like to share here with the world? Drop us a line at testimonials@flyinmiata.com.

It's a perfect street setup.
...I really like the adjustability of the Xxtreme. The ability to crank the damping up or down is absolutely wonderful (I'm up four clicks from the softest setting). And being able to adjust the ride height is also a big +. It's a perfect street setup. I'm running 12.5" in the front and 13" in the rear. Car looks normal & performs great!
I'm really happy.
 
Kevin H. 
2013-05-09

Update on my FM Stage II order and a small request...

Flyin' Miata crew:

I wanted to take a few minutes and give you guys an update on the suspension kit that I ordered in early January (Order #84466).

Despite my Miata being a 1994 R-package, I found through extensive maintenance records that my rear Bilstein shocks had been replaced at Midas over 100,000 miles ago... yes, the previous owner paid over $650 for the replacement of two shocks that likely still had 100k left of life in them. The front Bilsteins remained intact, but at 135k miles, the suspension needed a refresh (...and the Midas units were completely dead). That's where you guys came in. I bounced back and forth between the Vmaxx setups and the Tokico based packages before deciding on the FM II at the last minute.

Boy, am I glad I did.

So far it's been a great balance for a daily driver that I will be taking to autoX events once the weather warms up. I mean, I'm in Western PA rolling on studded snow tires in the back and the improvement in ride and handling is unbelievable. I have a set of 14x7 RPF1s already mounted and balanced on some new Direzza ZIIs that will go on the car just as soon as the weather warms up... hopefully in a few weeks. I'm beyond excited to be able to drive my car with this suspension setup in conjunction with some sticky summer tread.

So that's the update on the car. If you couldn't tell, I'm thrilled with it. The other reason that I'm writing is to offer a giant THANK YOU for the service I received. I was nothing but pleased with the help I got through you guys concerning my order. I was also surprised (and somewhat tickled) when I received a call asking how everything was a few weeks after I received my order. You certainly didn't have to check up on me but it was refreshing to know that you truly cared about my happiness as a customer.

Truth be told, I think I took this service for granted just a little bit until yesterday.

I won't name any names because it simply isn't important. That said, I placed an order with another Miata vendor two weeks ago for a steering wheel and hub adapter. Communication was okay but nothing had shipped for nearly two weeks after I had paid for the items when I received an email yesterday on my birthday. The email read that there was an issue with the price on their site for the wheel I had ordered. Apparently the price on the site that I had paid for (two weeks prior) and received an invoice for was the wrong price. I was told that the price I paid was THEIR price and that I would have to either send them another $50 or get a refund. I understand that mistakes happen, but the way that it was handled came across as unbelievable. I've worked a quarter of my life in retail and I couldn't picture myself handling the situation in the manner that it was handled. A couple emails later (I may have suggested I would cancel the entire order...) and the items were shipped out at the price I paid weeks ago. Happy birthday, I think?

Anyways, it was this experience that influenced me to contact FM again and offer some thanks for the experience I had as a customer. My father is looking to purchase a new suspension setup for his '00 Miata (that he only bought after driving mine!) and I think I have him leaning towards a similar setup. You can be certain that I'm nudging him towards Flyin' Miata a little bit more now as a result of the customer service I received.

FINALLY! I have a roll bar going on the car soon and I have a few decals that are going to be on it. I know it's a little "boy racer" and I'm more about function than form, but I'd really like to be able to represent FM any way I could. Any way that I could get a vinyl or a sticker to show some love for Flyin' Miata? The car is black with what will be gold wheels and a gold bar... if I could get a black FM sticker I can promise to display it proudly. I'll make sure to send you guys pictures when it's all done. If you need payment for shipping or whatever just let me know. I was also contemplating a shirt, but that might have to wait until my next order!

Just know that you guys have another satisfied customer and this won't be the last time that you hear from me.

Thanks a million,
Andrew Aul
 
Andrew Aul 
2013-03-06

FM STage 2.5 suspension
So far, the change is night and day. It's not a cushy ride, but it is much more composed than it used to be in turns. Overall, I'm satisfied so far.
Thanks for helping get this shipment out on Tuesday. It arrived this evening just in time for a weekend project. As always, Flyin' Miata service has been top notch, bar none.

Best regards,
Rama.
 
Rama Srimushnam 
2013-03-04

Tokico- FM springs
Bill,

I talked to you a couple of weeks ago not knowing who you were. At that time I had just recently purchased a '91 Miata with 41,000 miles - original everything. The car was always garaged and driven only occasionally. Not knowing anything about these cars I did the usual, asking questions to all the suppliers and go-to guys. Skeptical about any answer and asking myself "does this make sense?".
I was about to buy a set of Koni Yellows but decided to call your company just to find out a little about your suspension recommendations. If I bought the Konis whose springs would I use, what rate would match the Konis, would I have to re-valve??? The Konis with H&R would have only cost me $600 but I still would not have been sure if the combination would have given me exactly the ride and performance that I would want from a daily driver with occasional track time. Most of the people I have talked to are relatively young (25 - 35 yrs) and their outlook is vastly different than mine. I want performance but I didn't want to lose the rest of my teeth. I wanted it lower but didn't want to titer toter on speed bumps. I really appreciate the time you spent with me on the phone. Maybe because you're closer to my age group that we could relate. Bottom line is I bought one of your Tokico-Spring combinations and the car rides absolutely great. This is a good combination for the street and I will be doing a little Autocross next month. Hopefully, I will have ordered and installed your sway bars before I go.
Thanks for taking the time and I love the way my car rides.

Pat
 
Patrick Arakawa 
2013-01-16

FM V-Maxx Sport coil over -- wow, they ride great!
Keith,

Thanks much for answering my recent queries re. the V-Maxx Sport coil over (the non-adjustable item) for my NB. I now have them installed.

Wow--they ride great! I was very concerned about having this setup being over-sprung for my (very low mileage) FMIII turbo 10AE. Surprisingly, the car seems to have zero denigration in ride comfort, but the handling is much more composed, and it corners very flat. How is this possible? Maybe the stock suspension spends a lot of time on the bump stops. Or maybe these dampers are fitted with wishes and moonbeams, but however it's done the result is awesome. Even running a slightly lower ride height than stock, there's plenty of suspension travel to deal with the sometimes-neglected local roads, here in Western Oregon. I'm also running the FM sway bars, which seems to mate very well with these V-Maxx units. I'll be installing the FM frame rail kit, soon, and then will be calling the suspension 'done'. But I better budget for a big brake kit...

Thanks again,
Ric Lamoureux 
Ric Lamoureux 
2012-07-06

FM stage 2 suspension
Hey Bill and the rest of the FM crew,
Just wanted to drop you a quick note about the FM Stage 2 package I bought for my 2003 earlier this year. All the positive reviews on Miata Net are right.
Huge improvement over any of the previous pieces I've run on this car, or any of my previously owned Miata's. Everything from Koni's, AGX's, Bilstein's, stock springs, Eibach springs,
Racing Beat sway, to a Bilstein PSS coil-over system. The car feels way more tied down and composed now. Even has a decent ride on our crappy roads here in the DFW Metromess. 
Mark J. 
2012-04-09

AFCO suspension results
I wanted to follow back up with you and give you a report on the new AFCO’s now that I have a good apples to apples comparison. At the event in April 2011, my wife and I turned our fastest laps ever at our home track, Roebling Road Raceway outside Savannah Ga. This is a 2.0 mile course and our times at that event were 1:26 and 1:28 respectively. At that event, we had a brand new set of r-comps on the stock MSM suspension with an upgraded front sway bar.

This past weekend, we were back at the track now armed with the AFCO’s and another brand new set of the same r-comps. My wife and I were both 2 seconds faster than our previous fastest laps! I drive in the advanced group and my wife is in the intermediate group, so I contribute the lap time differences to the shocks. Thanks again for all your input on selecting the AFCO’s.

Below is the car’s set-up:

AFCO’s with 550f / 400r springs
1.125” RB front SB
-2.1 degrees front/-1.8 rear camber
12.0” front height
12.5” rear height
205/50/16 Hankook Z214 tires (r-comps)
215/40/17 (street tires) 
Joe Mills 
2012-01-23

Nothing, I mean nothing, upset the balance of the car.
By the way, I installed your AFCO's last fall and had one track day with them. I was able to close on virtually everyone in the field in the twisties, and I maintained enough momentum to be pretty fast on the straights, though lack of horsepower limited my top end. I still need to get the setup dialed in but I ran over the curbs, bumps and gravel in the corners. Nothing, I mean nothing, upset the balance of the car. 
Steve F. 
2011-07-11

Stage 2.5 is great!
Hi Bill,

I have a 1994 MX-5 M edition, stock, with General tire Altimax HP installed this year. With new tires body roll is excessive.
Just received my stage 2.5 suspension and butterfly chassis brace. Had my shop do the install, Luu Automotive, Randolph MA.
First impression - I now find the limitations of the Altimax tires, so now looking for rims and low profile tires, thanks Bill for making me want to spend more money on the MX-5 Hahaa.
Ride is slightly firmer. Concern that bumps would be uncomfortable - absolutely not. The magic with this suspension is the bumps are actually more comfortable as the suspension just works so much better all around. no skipping, no wiggling, no jiggling, just keeping the tire in the best possible contact with bumpy pavement.

bumps in corners - even more impressive!! - only slightly firmer than stock - but not harsh!! actually feels smoother - again it just works so much better than old stock keeping the tire in good contact

Flat in cornering and no dive on braking or squatting on accelerating.
Transitions - for example a quick left, right, left - the mass of the vehicle does not get thrown over the CG.
With the stock suspension I have almost lost control of the vehicle in this type of maneuver due to excessive body sway.

Driving with this suspension system is much safer and more fun compared to old stock. This must be experienced to believe how different the ride is!!

I'm sure you've heard it all before. Just so happy with the stage 2.5 set up had to shoot you a quick note and say thanks for bringing it back!!

Cheers,

Jim Ellsworth

 
Jim Ellsworth 
2011-07-06

Flyin Miata 2.5 suspension kit review
In December, I stumbled across and purchased a 1996 M-edition that was in decent shape for a reasonable price. The shocks were dead, but aren’t they always on a used Miata? I drove it through the winter, all the while researching how to upgrade the suspension. Just shocks? New springs? Sways? A package of some sort? As most of you know, there are a ton of different options out there.

The car also needed to be that greatest of all Miata.net conundrums: a daily driven street car that the wife will enjoy, and an occasional but still competent track car.

My experiences with suspension mods are limited. My lowered ’99 Sport is running Bilstein’s PSS coilover setup and a previous NA ran stock springs and sways with Koni sports. Both are/were good but the Bilstein PSS setup was by far my favorite. It’s firm, controlled ride made it much sportier and raised the handling a notch or two. Yes, it was a little more harsh over bad road, but the tradeoff in performance was worth it. The Koni shocks were decent, but I didn’t like that I couldn’t set the compression myself and the vagueries of the adjustment process left me doubtful that I had all the shocks set the same, especially as they aged.

I had become kind of partial to Flyin Miata’s 2.5 suspension kit due to the praise it always seemed to generate and because over the years I’ve come to trust that FM knows what they’re doing. I PM-ed a few posters who are running the Tokico Illuminas and read all the reviews about each part. It seemed to be a good performance setup that won’t beat you up, so I took a chance and ordered it.

Installation was fairly straightforward. I used the long-bolt method, which was WONDERFULLY easy. I only ran into trouble twice. The first issue was how tight the coils on the rear springs were. They were difficult to get spring compressors on and especially off. In the end I stopped caring if they got scratched or not and just got rough with them and then everything got easier. The second was that I installed the new longer front sway bar bolts with the extra length pointing towards the new Tokico shocks. With only 1-2mm space between them, I worried that they might make contact and a shock would get punctured, so I removed the bolts and installed them from the other direction.

After everything was bolted in, torqued down, and double-checked, I took her for a drive. Even needing an alignment and balancing really badly, I could tell that big changes had been made. Big positive changes.

The car’s stance it all business now too. It sits low, but not nearly as low as my ’95 with Koni’s on the lowest perch. After a long week of driving it, I have yet to scrape anything anywhere and I’ve done steep driveway aprons and speedbumps of varying heights.

I discovered that the Chevy dealer near my house has some of the best alignment and balancing equipment in town, so I – figuring that since they work on Corvettes so they MUST know what they’re doing – made a mid-week appointment to have her aligned to Icehawk’s specs and road-force balanced. They got the specs perfectly and said she balanced very nicely too, with no need to move the tires around on the rims. My 65mph shimmy is *completely* gone.

The first thing I noticed the first time I threw it into a corner was how buttery smooth it felt. It quietly glided through the corner in a way that I’ve never experienced before. My ’99 feels quick through corners, but it feels like it’s fighting something as it does. I pushed a little harder. The car did as asked once again. It’s as balanced as a ballerina, displaying just a *hint* of oversteer coming out of a sharp corner. Not even enough to get excited about, just “hey! Oh, there..” as it gripped again and continued on. The car is much flatter than before through corners, but not excessively so. Transitional responses are quick and controlled. On Illumina setting #2, there’s still a little brake dive and acceleration squat but the side-to-side motions are quelled. Despite the higher spring rates it’s running, bumps and broken pavement don’t upset it as much as my PSS-equipped 1999. I’m eager to get on track and really push it to see how well she responds.

I quickly learned that my tires are woefully inferior to this suspension. It feels like the bigger sways transmit more responsibility for cornering to the tires and unfortunately mine aren’t up to the task. They scream like a spoiled toddler way before the suspension yields anything. Of course, they’re old, hard Yoko Avid something-or-others, not serious summer rubber. I plan to scrub them off at the next track day and then replace them with something much, much grippier.

As an everyday driver, it seems perfectly acceptable too. Since my wife plans to drive it as a DD during the summer months, I was worried that it might be too harsh but reasoned that I could always replace the offending part with the stock one and make it better. However, seeing her smile after driving it and after a lot of passenger seat time the last few weekends, I shouldn’t have worried. She loves it. Broken and patched pavement still come through loud and clear, but they do in a stock Miata too. I think it’s just due to the inherent flexibility of a convertible that bad pavement resonates through the structure. (Maybe FM frame rails would help?)

Is the ride worse with stiffer springs? I don’t think so. It’s certainly better than when I was driving on dead shocks. My butt-meter tells me that it’s no worse than the Koni’s and stock springs on my old ‘95 or the PSS Bilsteins with 275 lb springs on my ’99. Certainly for the performance gain, it’s a more-than-acceptable compromise. And interestingly enough, the faster you drive it the less you feel any irregular road surface. It will take a twisty, bumpy, lousy back road and turn it into a roller coaster that will have you grinning from ear-to-ear. Which is to say, it works as advertised. I’ve been driving it every day for the last week now and I’m just amazed at how much more fun it is. My wife keeps trying to get me back into my ’99, but I want to keep driving *this*.

I was hoping to tell people how well each part does it’s job, but…you can’t tell. I think part of the black art of suspension design is surely how well each part “plays” with the others, and my impression is that Flyin Miata has put together a great setup. Now, I'm no suspension expert but unless I’m sorely mistaken, in a good suspension every part complements the others because, to a degree, every component does a little bit of every other part’s job and if it’s good, you can’t tell what’s doing which. So it is here. The system works together as a whole and the results – so far – have been marvelous. I’m EXTREMELY pleased with the kit as a whole and I'm VERY pleased with my purchase and my car's newfound competency. My sincere thanks to Flyin Miata for this great kit and to everyone who reviewed it; your reviews do not lie.  
sclark 
2010-06-14

What first sold me was watching the videos of Keith at the Targa Newfoundland rally.
I meant to write when I first purchased my AFCO Suspension, but I was installing the FM adjustable sway bars at the same time, so there was a lot going on. What first sold me was watching the videos of Keith at the Targa Newfoundland rally. Those were some real roads, pot holes and frost heaves included. But the shocks could also be set up for track or autocross. After a quick conversation with Keith to settle some questions I had about other set ups in the same price range, I had my Visa card out. That was over a year ago and I couldn’t be happier.
If you like tweaking your suspension setup, AFCO’s are great coilovers. I can change all 4 settings in fewer than 2 minutes, which means I can fine tune between autocross runs, in the grid. If you aren’t into tweaks, set ‘em and forget ‘em.
The combination of Flyin’ Miata adjustable sway bars and fully adjustable AFCO’s is perfect for me. Change tires? I might need to change the sway bar settings to optimize the new found traction. Rain? Disconnect the rear sway bars so I can get on the gas a little earlier. From there, changing the shock settings just fine tunes everything. I’ve even changed the damping rates if an autocross has more or less slaloms than usual.

One of the nicest but unexpected things about the AFCO’s, though, is I can tighten everything up for competition, and then soften them up for a cushy, Cadillac like ride home. I just soften the damping, so I don’t even have to get on the ground. After a long, hot day, this feature is appreciated more than I can say. My wife races and drives the car too. She appreciates the race set up to a degree, but I know she doesn’t like driving around town with the suspension set up tight, and with the AFCO’s, she doesn’t have to.

And I love the squish, squish, squish sound the AFCO’s make when I pull out of my drive way—it just reminds me of what a great set up I have hidden neatly behind the wheels. 
Steve Krygier 
2010-05-05