Shock absorbers Rancho or KONI

I ended up changing the shocks for KONI’s STRT kit and it made it a little more comfortable.

I installed Koni orange shocks (and most importantly new bump stops) last year and absolutely love them. I didn’t want a crazy firm ride, or to mess with adjustable shocks, so they were the best option for me.

I got koni yellows because I didn't want cheap coils and didn't want to spend thousands of dollars and I'm really happy

OEM springs the special active are fantastic. On sports suspension slightly harsh/not perfect dampening and rebound at the frequency of bumps and speed but still really comfortable and firm up well at speed

In my experience shopping for a miata, generally there isn't a huge difference in value between all-stock and "OEM+" cars that have minor tasteful mods from reputable companies. Koni and billstein shocks are pretty common and may even help resale a little bit. Repairing worn-out parts with slightly better aftermarket replacements doesn't hurt either. Any car with new bushings (provided they are rubber and not poly) will probably be preferred to one with the original, whether they're OEM or the slightly stiffer IL Motorsports ones that are common. Ditto for things like bump stops, shock mounts, et cetera.

I have the yellow Koni with Progress springs. The ride is good, just a little bit lower than stock and still useable with our crappy roads and speed bumps. The yellows don’t have height adjust, but I don’t need that.

I love the Koni Special Actives I put on my 530i daily. Comfortable on the highway, great and control in the twisties.

As I do some offroading or mostly off pavement vs wheeling I’ve also liked my Rancho 5000s.

These seem like great value compared to the non-adjustable Koni Active Select’s I just self-fitted to my MY22 MIC Y ($1250 AUD). Same high speed wallow you mention and mismatch with the stiff springs.

It’s the crap Rancho shocks.