The New KING of Long Travel Miata Shocks!
Massive 136mm front stroke and 186mm rear stroke, easily more than anything we have seen on this platform! When you hit that BIG pothole, nothing else has the travel to absorb it better than this choice.
This custom combo incorporates our new NC Koni Race height-adjustable threaded body shocks and a special dual-rate spring developed specifically for this package and made for us by Progress Technology. The result is a shorter shock body EXTRA LONG travel coilover that boasts premium quality from some of the best names in suspension, with an unbeatable price tag.
This kit is all about MAXIMUM performance to dollar ratio with way above average ride quality for these spring rates, particularly when you hit a pothole or other road issue that uses the extra travel. More shock stroke than anything else we have seen on this platform means you can absorb bigger potholes and dips without hitting the bumpstops. Massive 136mm front stroke and 186mm rear stroke is more than anything we have seen on this platform. We focused the costs and R&D where it all matters, and avoided anything unnecessary in order to create the new best bargain among coilover options for cars bridging the gap between fun canyon carver and occasional autocross or track fun.
To that end, we chose to design this combo to use the factory top hats, which saves the cost of manufacturing four new hats. The reason most coilovers need their own hats is that standard 2.5 inch diameter race springs used on most coilovers don't seat properly on a stock hat. Rather than go with off-the-shelf 2.5 inch race springs we decided to custom design unique coilover springs made to work with NC top hats above and a threaded body coilover perch at bottom. Retaining stock top hats also keeps the factory rubber donut mounting of those hats which cuts a lot of noise and vibration as compared with other brands using spherical bearing top hats.
Thus, instead of a universal linear 2.5 inch diameter spring, these custom springs were developed with the appropriate size at the top to fit into the factory hats. That means no extra adapters needed and the spring tapers down to a smaller diameter at the bottom to fit the adjustable perch on the special threaded body KONI Race shock. Furthermore, this custom spring incorporates two spring rates with a progressive transition, effectively having a higher primary spring rate and a lower helper spring rate all built in one spring (more on this below in the spring section). This simplification of the spring stack gets you the value of a high end coilover with dual spring setup, all incorporated into a single spring for easy assembly with less parts, and a lower price tag. AND we found in testing that this special dual-rate spring actually gives better ride quality than even a super high quality dual spring setup from Swift of similar spring rates. That's due to the special dual rate spring having a smooth progressive transition between the two portions of the spring, in stark contrast to a classic two-spring race setup where there's a sudden change in rate between the helper and main spring.
Koni Long Stroke Race Shocks
Back in the day our friends at KONI did a motorsports Koni Race valving setup for the NC for GrandAm Racing. They sent us a set of those in fixed length with that valving for testing and we LOVED IT. We loved it because it rode amazing and yet it handled race sharp. But we wanted even more - we wanted it in a height adjustable shock body in addition to the magic damping and the adjustable damping feature of the first test set sent to us. And the result is what you see here. A ride height adjustable and rebound adjustable Koni Race shock for the NC. Massive 136mm front stroke and 186mm rear stroke is more than anything we have seen on this platform. Think of it as a massively upgraded version of the popular Koni Sport shocks, adding superior damping control and fine height adjustment and extra travel. These are exclusive to Goodwin Racing.
The shock bodies feature a beautiful "chrome" finish that has undergone rigorous 1000-hour salt spray testing for exceptional corrosion protection.
These shocks come with Koni racing bumpstops included in the boxes which were selected for this kit after extensive testing in our own 2008 NC Miata. Shock rebound adjustment is done just like Koni Sport shocks via a knob at the top of the shock.
Custom Progress Dual-Rate Springs
Developed specifically for this kit, these dual-rate springs are a two-in-one wonder that operates like a traditional (and more complex) multi-spring stack found on dedicated race coilovers.
You'll often see high-end coilovers with multiple springs per shock; a main spring and a helper spring. This is particularly necessary for coilovers with higher spring rates so that as you move the lower spring perch to adjust ride height you aren't trying to compress the strong main spring further and further. The "helper" spring is a lighter secondary spring that is relatively easy to compress. The usual helper spring maintains pressure on the lower perch as you move the lower perch up or down on the shock while presenting minimal resistance to you as you make adjustments. The helper spring also helps with traction over bumps through a corner on the unloaded side of the car.
We rolled the helper and main spring into one spring by working with Progress Technology to develop a special spring that has both a main rate portion and a lower helper rate portion. Having this all incorporated in one spring eliminates the complexity of needing adapters and bearings between multiple springs. Some coilovers need up to 7 individual parts to make up one spring stack on a shock! Here you have just one spring and no potential noise sources that traditional multi-spring stacks can suffer.
Prime Section Spring rates:
STREET: 7kg/4kg
TRACK: 9kg/5kg
CHOOSING SPRING RATES:
PLEASE get the Street Springs if your miles are 95 percent or more street use. The 'Street' spring rates are already about THREE times stiffer than the factory spring rates! These will make your Miata much FASTER than stock in the canyons and for autocross and track. We have already proven, as documented below, that we can win on autocross days with the Street springs. Likewise, we have proven the Street Springs are fast at the track. Thus, if this is primarily a street car for you, we strongly suggest you get the Street Springs as the BEST compromise between ride and handling. Sometimes, less is more and more rate than these will NOT be better for most daily drivers in our experience. Moreover, if ride quality is part of your goals, and you want to ENJOY the extra long travel, then stay with stock sways and stock wheel and tires. Any bigger than stock wheel and tire combo requires adding packers to limit travel and thus we strongly suggest street customers seeking MAX RIDE QUALITY exercise some self control on wheel and tire sizes. If you must go bigger than stock do NO MORE than 17x8 and 235/40 tire as shown below for our street and canyon testing fun of this unique setup.
The track spring option is about FOUR times as much rate as stock spring rate, with far more obvious ride quality degradation in exchange for even faster response. Do not get these and complain you thought the ride would be better with these, we designed the Street Springs as our best compromise that keeps ride quality. The Track option is still not as stiff as we would choose for a full-on hardcore race builds, every choice has compromise and this one is simply less ideal for street in exchange for more track day speed. Both spring rate options can be used in both street and track conditions, but this track option compromises street ride noticeably more. The Track spring rates are the choice for those wanting extra roll resistance with sticky tires at the race track MULTIPLE times per month, whereas the Street spring rates are for those prioritizing street use and more daily ride compliance.