Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
Racing Beat front chassis brace.
This is probably the best money I ever spent on this car- what a difference! The car is more stable on the freeway, turn in has improved a lot, and the car is faster (and more fun)at the track. The only problem is a bit of an oversteer feeling because I have no brace on the rear yet but I will remedy that soon.
I bought the brace through Ravenwing and was happy with the price and service.
Under 5 minutes to remove
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
White powder coated front chassis brace
The construction of the brace is really solid and very easy to install. The necessary tools also came with the kit, so that made things really convenient.
Having read previous comments on the item, picqued my interest. The item was on sale so I decided to pick it up. It works as mentioned in previous reviews. Less creaking and taking bumps is a breeze now. Turning has vastly improved. My only reservation about the item, is that it's rather heavy. That could be a good thing in some ways though, as I have a rollbar installed and with this in place, it feels a little more balanced.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
Front & Rear sub-frame braces applicable for M1 MX-5 Miata
I was hesitant to intall these products mainly due to the high cost, and a bad experience purchasing a suspension tower brace, which apart from dressing up the engine bay does stuff all, but after experiencing the benefits of the braces on a fellow MX-5 club member's car it was clear that they work. I had them intalled during a routine service but they are quite simple to do at home, although as noted the rear brace requires the muffler to be disconnected.
The braces are amazingly simple things but really due improve feel through the steering and decrease shudder over sharp bumps. Overall the car feels much "tighter and solid" - not as structurally solid as the 2002 MX-5 but much better. Surprisingly, the car does feel like it is sharper on the "turn-in" too(reduced tendency to understeer). I can't say if the improvements would be as dramatic on later model cars but to anyone who has an early model M1 - You need this!
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
Powder coated cast aluminum brace with four metric allen bolts
Very well designed brace, much better fit and finish than other subframe braces I have seen. Fits the M1 like a glove. Marked decrease in creaking when going over bumps, better handling, especially on rough pavement. Makes me wonder if I could have reduced frame fatigue by installing this earlier, so I've already installed one on my "newer" 91 M1. (I was at about 250k miles on the 90 M1 when I installed this brace).
Great product, easy to install, effective. Would buy again (already have!).
Under 5 minutes to remove
Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
This is a brace that ties the suspension points of the lower front control arms together.
It was very easy to install. It made a big difference in stopping the shutter when passing over large bumps like railroad crossings. The car now feels very stable and requires less steering input to maintain a proper line during cornering on rough roads.
The attachments bolts are not metric allen bolts! I hate SAE and it was only lucky I had the proper tools to torque to the proper specs. I love this brace and would buy it again in a second.
Under 5 minutes to remove
Applicable to: '99 + 1.8 liter
This rear brace completely boxes in the rear suspension. And it looks great underneath the car!
Installation not too tough, only one bashed knuckle:) This brace requires you to disconnect the muffler from the catback pipe. Just hose the nuts down with some WD-40 or similar product to loosen rust and it's a cake walk from there. Some people have experienced problems getting the brace to fit over certain exhausts, I have a Borla muffler and the fit perfectly. Just follow the instructions on marking the alignment so that you know you have not changed it and you'll be fine.
I installed this product with the two Brainstorm braces and they all 3 work like magic! A must if you drive your car like a rally car during normal use:) Overall, I'd say installation took about 45 minutes, depending on how badly rusted the bolts on your exhaust are.
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
This is a brace that connects the suspension in the year of a 90-91 miata. The idea here is to reduce the amount of flex that the body produces during bumps, turns, etc.
The brace went on very well. Remove two bolts and two nuts and it's all over. The only problem that I had, and apparently some others is that it doesn't fit all exhausts, as was my case. After the installation, my exhaust would bounce, bump and make horrible noises against the brace (like parts of the car were falling off or something). The solution to the problem was found at Home Depot in the form of a hacksaw, which made easy work out of about half an inch of the brace. Now, I have no problems at all with the brace.
The brace works VERY well with my '91. Before installation, every bump in the road was sent through the frame of the vehicle, so I got lots of odd sounds, thumps and bumps. The brace seems to have put a stop to the noises genrated by the back of the car...forcing the illuminas do do their jobs properly. All in all, this is a quality product from a company I would do business with again in the future.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
This is a brace to tie the rear suspension together.
Purchased from Performance Buyers club along with the front brace for my 1992 Miata. The front brace went in just fine...the rear brace would need to be altered to fit around the factory brace. I contacted PBC who referred me to Racing Beat. After three calls each time speaking with "Bill", I received a letter from "Bill" telling me that this brace does not fit my car. (Although the package says it fits 1990-1993 models.) I now get to ship this brace back to PBC. By the way, the front brace does work well.
Racing Beat NEVER returns phone calls. It is a shame that their customer assistance is so poor compared to their engineering and production departments.
Racing Beat stiffer lowering springs, rear subframe brace, heavy front and rear anti-roll (sway) bars, Lumina adjustable 5 way struts, poly end link bushings.
Can't evaluate the performance of individual components since everything was installed at the same time.
Finished the project by myself and took a full Saturday plus some early evening hours. There were a few unexpected problems.
Springs: These posed no problem except forgot how much work was involved during compression. Lot of cranking. Had to use an open end wrench for part until space was available for a socket wrench.
Could not get enough torque with hand drill.
Sway bars: These were very simple to install. The front required removal of the splash pan, but both slipped right in place. The end link bolts were a little awkward but posed no problem. The sway bars came with all needed hardware and poly bushings. Taking a break I pulled the end links and took them to a local speed shop and fitted with poly bushings. A good under $10 investment.
Rear Subframe Brace and rear sway bar went in at the same time. Caution was used not to disturb the alignment. When reinstalling the ANSA exhaust it rubbed on the brace. To complicate things more the exhaust pipe clamp fit dead center in the hole. Ended up grinding the hole a little larger and did some bending on the exhaust pipe.
Dropped the exhaust pipe, filled it with wet sand, plugged the ends, and did some controlled bending. This took 3 tries and fittings to get exact center. I bent the muffler inlet slightly by inserting an expansion tool and smacking it on the side with a mallet. All in all - shot a few hours but got perfect fit.
The Struts: Rear removal and installation was pretty simple and no surprises while the front was not. Prior to removing the struts it is handy to have an assortment of 2X4s or wrecking bars for leverage. Needed both hands to guide the strut/spring assembly and a foot lever to move the arms. Popping out the ball joint was a long job. Expected it to pop right out with some leverage from the wrecking bar and a good ball peen rap on the side. Wrong. I dug out an assortment of bearing pullers, found only one that fit, applied massive pressure and the bearing puller busted. The fork would be the last resort as I didn't have any spare rubber boots, and figured the fork would have surely ripped it. Ended up rummaging to find a huge nut to thread over the stud to protect the threads, And used a smart ball peen rap down on the nut. That worked. Other side gave identical problem. If I were to do it again - think would have a spare pair of of seals and use the fork, or invest in the special Mazda tool. The strut cap required some drilling but that was easy. The struts are adjustable from the top with a screwdriver, but it is not something you want to do frequently. The drivers rear requires removal of the fuel neck protection partition, and on mine the airbox for the turbo. I found the best setting for me to be at 3 for all 4 corners. A few months later I discovered the right front adjustment screw and assembly was missing. Purchased another strut locally and this one went in fairly easy. Prior to assembly all 12 of the poly bushings got a liberal coating of silicone spray. Must not have used the right kind. Car has a severe case of creaks and groans at low speed.
Observations: Body roll is only a word used to describe symptoms on other cars. Cornering must be experienced. Have videos on autocross where you hear the 205 50 15 Hoosiers protesting on corners, hear tire hop exiting the corners, and can see the front and rear taking turns breaking loose. Can't see the body roll.
Not reccommended for a daily driver or long trips.
Crossing railroad tracks is bone jarring and an exercise in lane changes. A few months ago I installed a WIZ front brace and eliminated a lot of the secondary jarring.
Am not sure if I would do this again and will definately not do it on my second Miata. My wife hates it. Even travel on the Interstates for any distance is miserable.
Aluminum braces that attach to the suspension mounting points to stiffen the chassis. Similar items are standard on newer (92-96) cars.
I installed the front one first and noticed a large difference in the way the car reacted to bumps - I used to be able to feel them resonate through the frame with a slight shake, and now the car feels extrememly stiff. The rear has a similar effect, but it is not as noticable because you don't get vibration through the steering without the brace. Handling is improved slightly as well - the car seems to turn in better, and is more solid in general. Most drivers can notice an immediate difference . Installation on the front is a 5 minute job - all tools are included. Installing on the rear involves removing the muffler from the cat back, and it may not fit with all aftermarket mufflers. Ground clearance is not compromised at either end, unlike the Wiz system. The Racing Beat braces are beefier than the stock items on later cars. White powdercoating - the rear is visible from behind the car, and it looks very impressive :)
There are similar products on the market from other companies.
Stiffens the rear chassis.
I could feel the difference after installing this product. But it intermittently hit the stock exhaust system on my 1990 Miata. So I removed it.
I think it's a bad design. I installed the Brain-Storm Products rear subframe brace and it works great. I'll not buy any more Racing Beat products.
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