XYZ Racing Tarmac Rally Coilovers — Mazda 323 LANTIS 1994-1998

The 323 Lantis sits in an awkward spot for suspension upgraders. It is light, front-driven and short-wheelbase, with a chassis that responds beautifully to stiffer springs and proper damper control – but the BG-era underpinnings were tuned for soft road compliance, and that ride height and roll behaviour holds the car back the moment you start pushing on a stage road. The Tarmac Rally coilover is the answer most owners actually want.

This kit is built for sealed-surface rally use – tight, bumpy B-roads, second-gear hairpins, the kind of broken tarmac where a road-biased coilover blows through its travel and a circuit setup just skips. It lets a Lantis carry mid-corner speed without the body tipping onto the outside front, and gives the rear axle enough authority to actually steer the car on throttle.

What this coilover does for your 1994-1998 Mazda 323 Lantis

Tarmac Rally damping is wound longer in stroke than a circuit kit, which is the spec detail that matters on a car this small – you keep useable suspension travel over crests and patched surfaces instead of crashing through to the bump stops. Ride height drops are adjustable independently of spring preload, so you can corner-weight a Lantis properly without losing droop on the inside wheels. The damping is multi-way adjustable, which means one set of coilovers covers a wet Welsh stage, a dry test day and the drive home. Turn-in sharpens noticeably, mid-corner roll flattens, and the front end stops pushing wide on power exits where the open diff used to give up.

About the Tarmac Rally coilover

XYZ Racing’s Tarmac Rally is a purpose-engineered sealed-surface rally damper, not a re-valved circuit kit with longer springs. The body uses monotube construction with a large-bore piston for high oil flow, which is what keeps damping consistent when the surface gets repetitive and the shaft is working hard. Spring rates are matched to rally use rather than smooth-track work – firm enough to control weight transfer, soft enough to keep tyres in contact with broken tarmac. The pillowball top mounts are rebuildable, the threaded lower bodies are corrosion-treated for British winters, and the dampers are serviceable rather than sealed-for-life. Adjustment is external and click-detented, so you can take notes between stages and repeat a setting properly.

Fitment for the Mazda 323 Lantis (1994-1998)

Direct fit to the MA12-platform 323 Lantis built between 1994 and 1998, including the five-door and saloon body styles on this chassis code. Front and rear coilovers are supplied as a four-corner kit with mounting hardware.

What buyers also search for

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Pick your spring rates and damping spec in the configurator below and build the Tarmac Rally setup for your Lantis.