Are the rears adjustable at the bottom?

 

Yep. I emailed Stance USA and they confirmed they are bottom adjustable.

You can see the ***** at the bottom here.

The left is the rear shock, the right is the front.

 

Oh yeah, I see now. Thanks!

 

Stance or BC/Megan? I like that Stance looks really well built, and are externally adjustable without having to drill holes, but I like the price of the Megans (really not much diff. when you come down to it though).

Who has which? Thoughts? Impressions? Are the progressive springs on the Stance better/worse/different than the springs on the Megan/BC? I'm looking to have a much improved ride over the stock setup with 79K on them, but still handle really well.

 

I'm in the same boat. I feel like stock sport suspension is well balanced but maybe want more damper adjustment.

Is damper adjust made easy to adjust on the rears?

 

Stance coilovers are not progressive rated, they are a flat 5k front and rear. They are one of the few (the now unavailable m7 coilovers are the only other ones I can think of) that can be adjusted from the bottom of the assembly b/c the shocks are inverted. Every other system has the adjustment of the shock on top making the rear a serious PITA.

On a previous MINI, I had m7 springs that were progressively rated on factory shocks. They road great and tightened up on more aggressive driving. Never had a chance to take it to an auto-x though.

 

I'm looking to install some coilovers on my r53 soon and I have a few questions. How low can I drop from stock ride height and still get over most bumps+dips easily? I was thinking of dropping 1-1.5". Would I need adjustable drop links or are the stock ones fine? This is my daily driver and it won't be seeing too much track time.

 

I have a 2005 MCS R53, and after much deliberation, I just ordered the Megan Racing coilover suspension kit. I'll do some before and after pictures.

 

I went with BC Racing coilovers with Swift springs 8k in the rear and 7k in the front. I really like them. I only lowered it about and inch. It doesn't scrap any more on stuff then the stock ride height. Because stock, it wallowed a lot more. The softest setting is about as plush as the stock setup. Full stiff is pretty stiff, but only harsh on pot holes and cracks in the road. I actually run it on full stiff a lot, as long as I'm not getting on the freeway and driving far. The streets in my town are pretty smooth. I have 15" Pro Race 1s, so that helps on the harshness. I have a Hotchkis Comp bar that will go in, in a couple weeks.

Oh, I drilled the holes in the rear for the cable adjusters. It was really easy and I didn't have to rip out the rear interior like everyone says that you have to do. The driver side rear can be accessed through the cubby door. For the passenger rear, I drilled a hole in the interior plastic right where the rear seat sits in the up position. Then I got a flat, black plastic plug for the whole. And when the rear seat is in the up position the hole and plug is covered by the seat. A lot of times I put the rear seats down and allow the cable to stick out the hole.

 

Anybody here have any experiences with Ksport coilys? I'm about to pull the trigger here for some coilys here real soon. And for you r56 dudes, has anybody got low enough to rub your passenger axle on the ac line??

 

All,

Does anyone have experience in Colder climates (e.g. New England) with adjustable coil overs seizing/losing their adjustability due to the cold and wet weather? I'm upgrading my '04 MCS for the road/autoX/track days and want something that's going to perform but last.

Any opinions welcome!
Thank you
Scott

 

Well, not in the Northeast, but I have lots of experience with coilovers.

Yes, until the oil is "at temp" the damper will behave differently. Usually fairly stiff. In 50 degree temps, it will come up to temp fairly quickly, like within a couple blocks or so. In zero degree temps, it will be difficult to get the shock to working temp on the street, so it will always feel like both compression and rebound are turned up a little. From 20-40 degrees, it might take a couple miles, but I've always been able to get my dampers up to a normal feeling condition.

Cold oil is the reason we bring a damper up to temp on the dyno before we take the readings. You can see the temp sensor aimed at the shock body on our old dyno in this pic.

 

Whats everyones views on wheel spacers? I have an r52 convertible and I am looking to lower my mini from its stock ride height. Im gonna be getting BC Coilers as well. What problems should I expect with lowering my mini other than scraping. Thanks

 

Had a lightly used set of JIC Cross coilovers, with adjustable camber plates, installed by my trusted local independent mini shop. My shop routinely uses a nearby alignment shop for alignments. I specified negative 2 degrees of camber on the front. Butthe alignment shop called back to say they could only get 0.5 degrees negative camber without grinding out the strut towers!
These camber plates are supposed to be adjustable to 3 or 3.5 negative camber from what I've read. The alignment shop also said they could only be adjusted with the struts off the car.
Doesn't make any sense to me so I said just leave it at neg 0.5 and I'll sort it out. Anybody have experience with these?

 

Wow, does anyone have more info on the set up of the Koni pictured car in the first post? Is this on bags, or just lowered? I really like it and those are the same wheels I currently have, so this could be an option for me if I knew how it was done.