NGK #7 platinum
spark plugsIn Canada or probably in North America in general, the most common affordable adjustable shock absorbers for the Miata are Tokico, Koni and GAB in this order of affordability. GAB doesn't make supposedly stiffer Gymkhana (Japanese for autocrossing) version for the Miata. And I've heard that GAB are not as durable as the other two. At least GAB doesn't provide as good warrantee as the others. Many people use Koni and prefer them. But having seen how bad yellow Koni can be on Terence's del Sol, I would rather be a guinea pig on Tokico. Even with both front and rear set to full stiffness, the Koni in Terence's del Sol could only make the rear seem significantly stiffer, the front ones were just barely stiff enough. Besides, the spring seat in the Koni is more like a "tray" universal to all cars and doesn't seem to be able to seat the spring securely. Besides, the shock housing also looks universal that it is missing a ring to snap the stock dust cover onto. The yellow Koni is adjustable only on the rebound stroke while Tokico and GAB are adjustable on both compress and rebound strokes. While people question the importance of compress adjustability, I on the other hand definitely love the added turn-in response introduced by stiff compress stroke.
Installation was no new thing since the steps are similar to putting in my ST springs. I was advised not to set to maximum stiffness before having the shocks run-in. But I also know that some people set the shocks to full stiffness to break them in. I think the former theory makes more sense and did go for it.
After having the shocks run-in and tried out all 5 adjustable positions, I was pleased to notice that the stiffness range was very wide. But I was quite surprised to notice that all 1 to 3 positions are softer than stock while 4 is close to stock and 5 is much stiffer than stock. Well! It's still much better than the Koni in Terence's del Sol with barely noticeable stiffness range and just-stiffer-than-stock max setting up front. I got the shocks installed in winter and later when I tried out the shocks with the hard-top removed, I found it quite intolerable to ride with full stiffness shocks setting.
In autocrossing, I went for full stiffness at first, yielding my first eye-catching runs in a small parking lot. However, I found out the compress stroke was way too stiff up front, making smooth maneuver quite difficult on fast courses. Later on, I was more satisfied with position 4 all around and +/- 1 to 2 positions for different course layout.
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