At the moment I have an early model na Miata, What I would like to know is the crossfire as harsh a ride as the Miata. Also has any one fitted 16" wheels to a crossfire with tyres that give a very similar outside diameter, If so how does it alter the overall ride and stability Thanks Saltiga

 

Crossfire gives a better ride than the Miata.. have a 91 version. Especially if the tire shop decided you needed 32 psi in your tires! Man she felt like a rolling brick! LOL

 

I had a 96, the crossfire rides much better. When I bought my crossfire and drove it home (2hr drive) it was harsh as hell, pulled out my air gauge when I got home..had 55lbs of air in all the tires.

 

Who the heck would put 55 lbs of air in a car tire ?
And more to the point, why ?
Maybe going for max MPG ?

 

Some people have no clue about tire pressures.

 

We own a 1991 Miata as well, and I never really thought it rode that harsh.
But the "NA" Crossfire (even with stock wheels) will ride better.
If you want to know how the Crossfire will feel with 16" tires, just find (and test drive) a SLK 320, and it will give you a very close representation of how a Crossfire would drive with 16's. Even though the Mercedes has a slightly softer suspension.

 

crossfire should be smoother. and whats up mr miata long time no see

 

Crossfire's are considerably more "fit and finish" than an early generation Miata. My previous car prior to my SRT-6 was an '05 Mazdaspeed Miata (MX-5). Even being a Mazdaspeed, which had leather seats, Bose audio, nicer interior trim, etc etc.......the Crossfire is still considerably more comfortable. Both cars were/are on coilovers. The Miata was on BC Extreme Lows and my Crossfire is on KW V2's.....so both ride kind of harsh due to how low I keep my cars and stuff. Both even so, again, the Crossfire is still the more comfortable car. Oddly enough though........even though the Miata was smaller I still felt that it was less claustrophobic feeling inside than the Crossfire which I attribute to the Crossfire's super low windshield. I still have a few friends that drive NA/NB Miata's and they even felt that the Crossfire's overall interior feel felt smaller than that of the Miata. I guess it's all just perception. I would say that a Crossfire is much more comparable to a later generation Miata (NC) as the newer Miata's have considerably more creature comforts that we are accustomed to within the Crossfire community.

 

I agree with "Hot Fiya", even our 1st. Gen. Miata feels less claustrophobic inside with the top up than my XF coupe. (Not that I'm claustrophobic in my XF).
The Miata interior just seems to have a roomier feeling to it, and I'm 6'2" tall.

 

"Who the heck would put 55 lbs of air in a car tire ? And more to the point, why ? "


When I was autocrossing seriously, a quick way to an initial setup for the tires in stock class was to take the total weight on each end, divide by the rated load of the tire and multiply by the max pressure.


First time I did that it came out over 50 psi for the front tires and I started hitting inside pylons. Had to change all of my aim points and was significantly faster.


Logic was that in a really hard corner, all of the weight is going to transfer onto the outside tire particularly with big sway bars (like 1.25" diameter). Used to be able to carry the inside front tire right over a low curb or speed bump.


ps once I got the seat in my coupe back another 2" it was fine.


pps not saying it is right but have seen tire jockeys overinflate tires to make sure the bead seats all the way.

 

Many thanks to all who replied to my Miata v crossfire, the better ride over the Miata brings me closer to buying a x fire, saltiga

 

My brother has a Mazdaspeed Miata that I have driven and ridden it and I would say the Crossfire rides better overall. My brother also thinks my Crossfire rides better, in fact it's the first thing he mentioned the first time he rode in mine. As far as the 16 inch tires go I have no idea, sorry.