Hey,

If anyone out there has personal experience with both the Racing Beat and Mazdaspeed full suspension setups I would love to see a breakdown of the similarities and differences. I guess for Racing Beat, this would be springs, sways and end links, and for MS it would be the same plus the shocks. I'm primarily interested in street driving, but of course track impressions are good too.

For what its worth, my priorities are improved handling, ride quality, and appearance (i.e. lowering) coming in a relatively distant 3rd.

I've read a lot of reviews of one or the other independently, but I'm not sure I've read anything by someone who has driven both setups.

Thanks,
jds

 

I've driven and installed the full RB setup and I am in the process of the full MS kit on my car (I only have the sways at the moment), so here are my impressions:

Racing Beat:
Pro's - Cost ($540?), quality of parts, ride quality after install, nice improvement in steering, body roll and stability.
Con's - durability of stock shocks unknown, may require replacement depending on how hard you drive. Racing Beat is probably at the margins softer than the MS kit.

MazdaSpeed:
Pro's - Factory tuned suspension package that has won rave reviews (usually the R&D doesn't get any better than the people that made the car) perfectly matched components, warranty, at the margins, slightly better handling than the RB package.
Con's - More expensive (~$1,200 for all parts), probably slightly harsher ride as a result of being more race oriented (currently the ride quality is just as good with only the sways), doesn't come with bushings for the front/rear sways

The install process will be the same for both. Personally, unless your going to really hit the track alot, I would get the Racing Beat version, I've driven it, and the improvements are amazing for the price. When I say at the margins, I mean 9/10th to 10/10th driving. and believe me 8/10ths is already intense driving.

I'm getting the MS package b/c I don't want to have to mess with the shocks again, and I just simply can't turndown having a factory tuned package. Not to mention, to me $1,200 is pretty good for a full suspension job, given what all is included.

hope that helps.

 

Exactly the kind of info I was looking for, thanks!

If, once you complete your MS setup, you have anything additional to add, please follow up. Its good info!

jds

 

can you compare MS suspension to say, TEIN flex's w/ EDFC?

also, which of RB or MS would be better with FI power levels?

 

I've never driven on anything other than the Tien S-tec springs as far as Tien products go, which felt pretty good in terms of ride quality, and body roll.

I think with a reasonable amount of boost, somthing in the neiborhood of 300HP/200-225TQ you'll be fine with either RB or MS, you could prolly get away with it on the stock setup will little issue. I'm not an FI expert, so someone with more experience on this may want to chime in. The real issue as far as FI and suspension to me would be how much torque your putting down, if you were boosting to like 400/500 WTQ ala a small block V8, I imagine you'd need a pretty stiff rear to handle getting that power to the ground. Given most boost solutions for the 8 aren't going to do that, I think you'll be ok with just the RB or MS mods

 

FWIW, from what I can find on the web at RacingBeat & several other sites:

Diameter TubeWall Max Turn G's
Fronts of Bar thickness per RB ratings
Stock 1.05" or 27mm 0.134" or 3.404mm .86 to .87 G
MSpeed 27.2mm 4.0 mm ? not rated by RB
RB 1.25" or 32mm 0.175" or 4.76mm .89 to .90 G
Tanabe 30.4mm ? not given

****************
Rear bars Diameter Wall thickness
Stock 0.623" or 16.0mm 0.097" or 2.46mm
MSpeed 0.681" or 17.3mm 0.102" or 2.60mm
RB 0.750" or 19.0mm 0.125" or 3.175mm

Just based on bar diameter and hollow wall tube thickness, it RB looks to offer the "stiffest" roll bars out there.

HTH

 

To finish the comparison, you need to take into consideration the spring rates.

MS front spring rate = 280 lb.in.
RB = 187
Stock = 155

So, it's clear that MS relys more on spring rate to get it's roll stiffness than RB. Without doing a bit of math, I can't tell you which actually has more roll stiffness.

But I can say that the MS setup, with it's stiffer springs, will exhibit less squat and dive than the RB setup, something to consider with F/I, given that the increased torque levels will increase squat during acceleration.

Also, in my experience (Miata based) smaller anti-roll bars will mean more grip over imperfect roads, but bigger bars give better turn-in. How much you will notice these effects will depend at least in part on your wheel-tire package.

After having my Miata suspension configured every way from Sunday, I prefer stiff springs to stiff bars, but that's clearly a personal preference.

George