Mazda Miata Coilovers – NA / NB / NC / ND Coilover Kit Guide

One of the first or most common upgrades and modifications done to the Mazda Miata is the suspension. Especially for the Miata from 1990 to 1997 (Miata NA chassis) and the Miata from 1998 to 2005 (Miata NB Chassis) which have pretty old suspensions, one of the best and most noticeable upgrades you can do is to replace the worn factory suspension. With the Miata being a lightweight, rear wheel drive sports car, it makes sense to not just replace the worn shocks and springs with OEM replacements, but rather with an aftermarket performance suspension. For this reason, Mazda Miata Coilovers are one of the most popular and most rewarding upgrades you can do to your car as the difference once installed is night and day.

Just as there are a lot of different ways you can use your Miata, there are also many different coilover systems. Some are designed more for street use, some more for the race track and some are some where in between. So we decided to create the ultimate guide for you to be able to decide which coilover kit is right for you. If you have any questions or comments, leave a comment below.

Before we begin, we want to set some base info. The Miata NA is built from 1990 to 1997. Miata NB is built from 1998 to 2005, Miata NC is built from 2006 to 2015 and the Miata ND is built from 2016 to current (at of the time of this post).

To see our listing of coilovers, please click here: Mazda Miata Coilovers

Basic Upgrade and Base Coilover Systems

You can get a quality coilover system for under $500 if you don’t need all of the bells and whistles and won’t be doing a lot of adjustment and setup on your suspension. Many of these base kits come with coilover shocks and adjustable height spring perches with springs. You can adjust the right height (usually about an inch lower than stock) down to 4″ or more of a drop. However, typically with these setups you can’t adjust the dampening settings and they all come pre-set from the factory to best match the spring rates of the kit and give you the best balance between comfort and handling. Since these are primarily used on the street, they’re softer and more geared toward the daily driver and almost no track time.

Here are a few options:

• TEIN Street Basis Z Coilovers Mazda Miata NA/NB (1990-2005) GSM64-8USS2
• TEIN Street Advance Z Coilovers Mazda Miata NA/NB (1990-2005) GSM64-9USS2
• Yonaka Coilovers Mazda Miata NA [Spec 2] (1989-1998) YMTC2006
• Function & Form Coilovers Mazda Miata NA/NB [Type 1] (90-05) F2-MIAT1
• Rev9 Hyper Street II Coilovers Mazda Miata NA/NB (90-05) R9-HS2-030

Above: The TEIN Basis Z Coilovers are the cheapest of the bunch and the least expensive ones we sell. They do not come with top hats and are not dampening adjustable. The TEIN Street Advance Z are a bit more expensive, still do not come with top mounts (you just reuse your own), but do have adjustable dampers for those who want a bit more control. The Yonaka system is the only one under $500 that is both adjustable and includes top hats making it the easiest to install as it’s a direct swap for stock. Another notable coilover here is the Function & Form. It’s generally the coilover that would offer you the best ride and has been known to also offer the biggest drop.

Street / Weekend Warrior

Our next group of Miata coilovers is a good choice for those that mainly daily drive their car but want something that’s more geared toward performance so they can also take their Miata to the track for track days or to an autocross. These coilovers generally offer higher grade shock oil to keep from overheating, more features within their shocks as well as more aggressive spring rates.

Here are some of the options:

• Godspeed MonoSS Coilovers Mazda Miata NA/NB [2.75″ Extended Top Hat] (1990-2005) MSS0150
• Megan Racing EZ II Coilovers Miata NA/NB (90-05) MR-CDK-MMX590-EZII
• TEIN Flex Z Coilovers Mazda Miata NA/NB (1990-2005) VSM40-C1SS1
• TruHart StreetPlus Coilovers Mazda Miata NA/NB (90-05) TH-M801

Above: These Miata coilovers are focused more on someone who wants their car to handle as good as possible while still maintaining the best possible ride. These will ride firmer than the street coilovers, and some may prefer that, but do offer better track and handling performance.

Street / Track Focused

This next batch of Miata coilovers are still street coilovers, but they have a much higher focus on performance and track. Due to their superior shock design they still offer comfortable ride characteristics, but are going to perform much better on the track than the other groups of Miata coilovers. Here are some examples below:

• KSport Kontrol Pro Coilovers Mazda Miata NA (1990-1998) CMZ060-KP
• BC Racing Coilovers Mazda Miata NA / NB (1989-2005) N-04

Above: These are some of the most popular street/track coilovers on the market today, and for those with a bigger budget that also track their car, these come highly recommended. BC Racing, especially, comes with the option of a Swift spring upgrade, customizable spring rates, and rebuild services in the United States.

This is an ever evolving list and we’ll continue to update this post so you can make sure you buy the coilovers for your Miata that will best suit your needs. If you have any questions on this list, or any Miata coilovers we didn’t mention, leave your comment below and we will answer.