Car is now loose on heavy braking after coilovers and new sways

[shanem]

i had some ohlins coilovers installed on my 13 nc a few weeks back along with racing beat adjustable sways front and rear. i also had the car corner balanced and had a track alignment done at cobb tuning in plano. i just put my track pads on the car getting ready for ECr tomorrow.

when i went to bed the pads in i noticed the car is considerably looser in the rear on heavy braking than it was before the mods were made. The adjustable sways were put on the middle of three settings both front and rear by the gys at vorshlag and i have the ohlins set full soft for street driving. would the sways or damper settings have anything to do with the car being loose on heavy braking, heavy as in just before abs steps in.

would some damper adjustment help tune this out?

[goofygrin]

Sways don't do anything until you're turning.

[shanem]

i wasn't clear, the car is loose while turning and braking. though it is a bit tail happy when braking hard and going straight.

[OZMDD]

You probably need some rake, and the RB rear bar is much too stiff for that car, try disconnecting the rear bar and it will probably solve the issue. You will spin a lot at ECR with a big rear bar.

[AnthonyS]

A loose Miata.... that amazes me. This means your rear suspension is way too stiff compared to the front. I recommend reading Carrol Smith's book on race car handling. Go with a lighter rear sway bar or at least adjust your current bar to it's softest setting (longest arm). I'd also consider reducing the compression on the rear shocks. You can also put the front sway bar to much stiffer setting to offset the stiff rear end.

[OZMDD]

The Ohlins are excellent, a lot of what you are feeling as "loose" is just a MUCH more responsive Miata than what it was as stock. After the switch, an NC feels like it can literally do anything.

I do feel strongly that youve got too much rear bar now. The RB combo is designed to improve the handling of the stock spring rates, and the Ohlins are much stiffer and better balanced. I suspect you will end up with the stock rear bar or no bar. Pm me about alignment specs. What moast people think is good for an NC can be improved with some small tweaks.