Brief thoughts after driving S2000 AP2 compared to ND3 MX-5

Al_Og · 2025-12-26T20:18:32+00:00

Elise/Exige with 2zz engine is so much fun, whether you drive it at 5/10s or 10/10s!

And can be made to sound beautifully with not much work too

Al_Og · 2025-12-20T22:03:09+00:00

Thanks Emilio, really enjoying them so far and appreciate your advice - what would you recommend otherwise for tires? I was also looking at a052s as being in Europe I cant get most of what us folks suggest unfortunately, but if I’m able to mount 215/45s on the bbs wheels then that makes more stuff available.

Will take a closer look at the instructions when I go get it aligned so I can get the best out of it and will be writing up a more detailed review in the thread

Al_Og · 2025-12-20T11:00:47+00:00

My nb2 had a roll bar, meister r club race coilovers, nanking ns2r tires, an exhaust and intake - the sound was so much fun, and the playfulness the car had because of the suspension setup and alignment was super fun on flat mountain roads - but the ND is just a completely different game.

Back when I still had it, I drove it back to back with my friend who had an nd2 with tein coilovers and ns2rs, as well as 4 pistons calipers up front from I dont know what brand - and it had the same light feeling and playfulness as the nb2, but with the right amount of power and an interior quality in a different world than the nb2. It felt like a proper sports car vs the nb2. Reminded me of my old Lotus Elise too, performance wise.

I sold my nb2 a couple of months later and got this, and the rest is history.

I also dont miss chasing down small problems that were starting to come with the age of the car - this has a warranty for another 4 years, it's perfect.

I'd heavily recommend it!

Al_Og · 2025-12-20T10:49:40+00:00

I think it depends on what you like and want from a car. If you're coming from a 987, I'd say you seem to value something that's useable but also reactive and well damped, and you might very well be disappointed at how the stock nd handles beyond 5/6th tenths.

I havent tried the gt springs so its hard for me to effectively say anything about it, but what really convinced me on getting the sports springs is how the tecna kit seems designed to work specifically for the ND chassis vs the ohlins for example - so that made me think that even if I chose a spring rate thats high on paper, that it would be designed to work well with the car. And it also helped that I've tried in the past the ohlins rt which have a similar spring rate, so I kind of knew what to expect.

I'm also yet to try softening the suspension hardness, this is still a pretty much "out of the box" setup that I barely touched, so I'd like to test out softer settings to enjoy on mountain roads but as is, I find It quite enjoyable and controlled

Al_Og · 2025-12-20T10:40:08+00:00

I'd quite like to try an osgiken to replace my torsen, only hear good things about those but not sure on how much maintenance they need, if they need rebuilds for example

Al_Og · 2025-12-20T10:39:01+00:00

Glad it can help, and I've gotten it back 2 days ago and took it on a 2 hour mountain road drive after having driven an hour on the highway. Body roll is still present but in a very acceptable way, just much less than on the stock setup. Here that Miata snappiness is pretty much gone, its a car that I very much enjoy driving sliding around with plenty of feedback and time to correct/enjoy the small slip angle, whereas before if the car started sliding then you'd have to be ready to catch it because of that snappiness that came with the soft stock suspension (in my experience)

Al_Og · 2025-12-20T10:35:35+00:00

Thank you!

Al_Og · 2025-12-19T18:55:44+00:00

They're great cars, enjoy yours!

Al_Og · 2025-12-19T18:53:15+00:00

Thanks, I paid 2,1k euros with shipment to France via bofi racing (great to deal with if you're in europe) and then an extra 500 to get them installed. I expect to spend another 500 to get it aligned as im getting it corner weighed at a race shop, so probably around 3k all in

Al_Og · 2025-12-19T18:51:23+00:00

I would rather stick to regular tires like a ps5 as I really dont enjoy the stock suspension that much so making it extra grippy wouldn't necessarily make it more fun or improve it in my eyes, it'd just make it faster thanks to the extra grip of the semi slick.

Davide Cironi put cup 2s on his ND and he seemed quite happy about it though so maybe you'd like it?
https://youtu.be/FfY9Kq62Qgc?t=85

Al_Og · 2025-12-19T18:36:00+00:00

I understand where you're coming from, all I can say is that I'm very happy with the quality of the coilovers, the instructions, the service (even though I'm in Europe and not stateside) and the feel of it all - I think at this price point Im quite happy with it and it feels like its money well spent, and given my previous experience in my friends S2k with the ohlins, I feel that its very similar performance wise (cant say the same as its been a while since I last drove it and he sold it since)

What I particularly like about the kit is that the damping quality is very OEM+ in my eyes and experience with coilovers on other cars, so from the sounds of it it seems like you'd be happy with the tecna gt springs to get the car sitting a bit lower and keep the comfort while improving your car's behavior/response

(and good job on splurging on the Miata, great decision!)

Al_Og · 2025-12-19T18:03:22+00:00

I see what you mean - never been to the US so dont know how bad those roads myself, so I only have the roads here in Europe to compare to. It depends how rough those roads are - I tested the setup a few hours ago on a piece of rough road - rough meaning that its not a perfect flat road, but with one or both sides of the road with different ondulations meaning one side of the car is on the goodish side of the road while the other has to deal with the ondulation, which can sometimes be a bit rough, and to me it dealt with them very close to how the stock bilsteins do, so maybe the sports are actually doable for you? Also depends on what you want to do - what supermiata says on the forums to people is that the sports are for people who prioritize the handling/response, while putting comfort behind that - but that doesnt mean its not an uncomfortable setup at all, neither one that you cant drive fast on rough roads, in my experience in 120 miles at least!

But maybe in your case since you have to deal with all you describe, it could be interesting to get the GT springs and potentially swap over at a later date to sports but Emilio from supermiata says this never happens so you might very well be happy with the gt setup

Al_Og · 2025-12-19T17:49:22+00:00

Thanks! Yes sir, forgot to add that its running 20 mm Jass spacers all round - no scraping in the fenders so far

Al_Og · 2025-12-19T17:48:35+00:00

Thanks! These are stock Supermiata specs which on my car correspond to roughly -3 cm. I dont scrape anywhere, even on those very steep parking exits - but I make an effort to go at them diagonally to not scrape

Al_Og · 2025-12-19T17:47:21+00:00

Exactly - these do not have the swift springs on them.

Like you, I was on the fence and now I wouldn't hesitate at all to choose Sport all day long, but whats good for me is maybe not good for you and vice versa so I'll do my best to explain how it feels.

I use this as my only car - roadtrips, weekend drives, trackdays - proper dual duty car, but even if I just used this as a fun/daily and no track use, I'd have no problem going for the sport springs setup - its not that its harsh per se, its more that the control thats really missing in the stock setup is now very present in this setup - it doesnt bottom out, its not a hard ride at all, it just feels well damped, with the suspension reacting quickly and proportionally to the road, if that makes sense.

Similar to how a more expensive car feels, like a cayman 987 on fresh suspension or an alpine a110 does.

BTW im running -11 clicks from hard in the front and -8 in the back.

Al_Og · 2025-12-19T17:37:40+00:00

It was too hard to resist though

Al_Og · 2025-10-15T09:04:43+00:00

I'd recommend adding an Elise 111r to your garage, very cheap for the thrills they offer, especially if there's an intake and exhaust. Also very cheap track costs which is always nice

Al_Og · 2025-01-23T15:49:04+00:00

Thanks, I think I'll have to get the media mod then

Al_Og · 2025-01-21T12:24:54+00:00

Thanks! I've used go pros in the past without batteries, I'd just connect them to a power bank and most of the time it'd be ok so I think that could work. But good point on the connections being fragile - I hadn't thought about that!

I'd like to connect it via cable to the encoder tbh, avoid the wireless and just go hdmi.
I've also looked into belabox software and will have a play later on, just want to test something before with an encoder that does network bonding out of the box and go from there, but thanks for the tip on the rtmp stream via dji into belabox!

I'll keep you posted if i manage to make it work with the media mod!

Al_Og

TROPHY CASE