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The shocks pictured with the LSS in the order guide look like Bilsteins, with the Bilstein logo (blue square and yellow circle) on them.
I wonder if the shocks are the same mechanically, except for the valving and an extra groove to change the ride height. Bilstein will revalve their shocks for $55 each...they just have to know what valving to use.
That's only about a 10% change in spring rates...so if the ride is "bone jarring" as some characterize it, then the extra stiffness is mostly in the shocks.
Since I referred to the percent change in spring rates, the weight of the car (or more relevant, the magnitude of the spring rates) doesn't matter...a 10% spring rate change is on par with the factory suspension package for the Miata, which doesn't significantly affect the ride smoothness.
Last time I checked, Lotus still had to obey the laws of physics. I'm not arguing whether the LSS taken as a package is better or worse by any metric. I simply suggested that a 10% spring increase is a subtle change and not likely to affect the ride quality in a noticable way, by itself. If the ride quality is significantly more harsh than the base suspension, that points to a change in the shock tuning. Shocks can be optimized for a smooth ride, or keeping the tires in contact with the ground over bumps, but not both. The standard suspension may be towards one end of the scale, the LSS towards the other end.
Tim, I'm not sure which Miata you have, but in the case of the R-package, the ride harshness was due to extremely high damping rates in the Bilstein shocks. The sport suspensions in the 2nd generation cars used Bilstein shocks with much less aggressive rates, and some people consider the ride to be smoother than the base suspension with the standard shocks.
It really does come down to what makes the ride feel "smooth" to you, and what's smooth enough to be acceptable. I run the shocks on my Miata toward the stiff end of the settings, despite Koni's recommendation that you should only need to vary from the minimum setting if you install much stiffer springs. And I think that the ride is as smooth as could be. The S2000 rides much more stiffly, and I know that I'd be happy with that, too. I think that the 111S I test drove was about on par with the S2000 in terms of ride, so I am curious how the LSS package would feel.
Don't forget, the actual spring rates are modified by the suspension motion ratio, which can be different from car to car. So it's not always enlightening to compare spring rates directly between cars.
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