Miata Mailing List: May 1998, Message #62

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Hi, Ya'll!
  After reading some of the comments on sway bars I thought I'd throw my two 
cents into the game.
  My car has had Racing Beat sways for about 1 1/2 years and Konis and FM 
springs for not even a week. Biggest difference I have noticed is the tail 
end's inside corner no longer lifts into the air if I slap the throttle shut 
in a curve. Used to be I'd shut the throttle while on a curve or sweeper and 
the inside rear would lift significantly and oversteer would appear. Nothing 
outrageous, just a handling characteristic of the car of which to be aware. 
Now, with the lowered suspension, I can enter the same curves faster, shut the 
throttle, and the tail end stays down and the steering stays neutral. Very, 
very nice. Now, if I could just keep my teeth in place over the bumps in city 
streets....   ;-)
  Car is very responsive to steering inputs; makes me want to get rid of the 
power steering and return to a manual rack. Perhaps a smaller steering wheel 
although I wish I could think of an easy way to reduce the hydraulic pressure 
in the power steering system. Any hydraulic engineers out there who have an 
idea on how to modify this system's pressure output? If so, talk to me. I have 
access to a machine shop.

Regards,
The Birdmeister