Megan racing, full suspension/coilover setup?

[jbell]

Im looking to drop the car, and maintain some comfortably.
I want the ability to change height.
The adjustment on the megan's are nice, and i've read some good things about them.

I want to do this right though- and get what i need before the install.

So far i've decided on:
-coilover kit
-Rear ADJ. Links
-knob extensions
-strut tower protectors (i should have them now, i know)

what end links do i need in the rear, upper, lower or both?
are there any other parts i will need to properly re-align afterward?
what length knob extensions should i order (110, 200 or 250mm)

[rcantu]

if you get megans they have camber plates that will protect your strut tower.

[andyroo]

Where i come from (subarus) Megans are not known for good ride quality. Too little travel, crappy springs, and crappy valving. I have no experience with them on a Mini, but i know they use the same exact dampers whenever they can.

- Andrew

[meb]

If Megan have changed their entire component list I know nothing about them...if the kits are the same as when they began selling these for Mini then the above reply is basically correct...and the second reply is not - sorry in a nice way. Although Megan pillow balls - upper perch/camber plate - is bullet proof, the lack of travel, poorly designed bumpstops and springs with potentially little travel will cause the suspension to become stick and the strut towers will deform.

Once past 300lb/in springs you should consider after market strut tower protection.

Again, Megan pillow ball is bullet proof but the rest of the kit is far from perfect.

[jbell]

Originally Posted by andyroo

Where i come from (subarus) Megans are not known for good ride quality. Too little travel, crappy springs, and crappy valving. I have no experience with them on a Mini, but i know they use the same exact dampers whenever they can.

- Andrew

I had megan street coilovers on my 90-something del sol.
they rode like ****.

however---- that was 5 years ago and they didn't have any camer or dampening adjustment.

[jbell]

im stumped on my other options then.
i was hoping to spend around $1200 for everything.

my goals are:
-2"ish drop
-lack of bone jaring SLAMS. sticking with 17" wheels, stock tire profile.
-ability to realign correctly (rear lower tie bars, correct?)

i'd like to be able to adjust the height for winter. NJ is a ***** like that.

Any recommendations would be helpful. I've been researching so much... i just need some seasoned advice at this point.

[andyroo]

IMO a 2-inch drop on a mini is nuts and it's gonna be hard to get there with good ride quality. You just have to have the travel.

- Andrew

[AutoXCooper.com]

Theres only 3 inches of travel in the stock system. You start to lower a MINI and that travel is toast very fast. A 2 inch drop on a street MINI for daily driving is not something I'd encourage anyone to do.

If "wheel gap" is driving the desire to lower the MINI I'd lower it an inch or maybe 1.5 if the roads are like glass, then get bigger/taller tires on the wheels to fill in the gap.

That will reduce the wheel gap without killing your spine. IMHO

I'll say in CO's like most things in life, you get what you pay for, and the Megan's are a good BUDGET system. If you want killer CO's save your money a few more months and get a set of Cross or think about the TSW KW's. But even then for a street MINI you are better off getting taller tires too.

[jbell]

Originally Posted by AutoXCooper.com

Theres only 3 inches of travel in the stock system. You start to lower a MINI and that travel is toast very fast. A 2 inch drop on a street MINI for daily driving is not something I'd encourage anyone to do.

If "wheel gap" is driving the desire to lower the MINI I'd lower it an inch or maybe 1.5 if the roads are like glass, then get bigger/taller tires on the wheels to fill in the gap.

That will reduce the wheel gap without killing your spine. IMHO

I'll say in CO's like most things in life, you get what you pay for, and the Megan's are a good BUDGET system. If you want killer CO's save your money a few more months and get a set of Cross or think about the TSW KW's. But even then for a street MINI you are better off getting taller tires too.

Hrm.
I can't say i understand suspensions too well. Its my worst subject next to transmissions.

Preload confuses me. It raises ride height, but increases shock travel?

I was under the assumption that if you cranked the coil up, and then the bottom collar over the entire sleeve you could essentially "lower" the car without reducing shock travel. This is how i had my del sol lowered- with no preload though.

Ok, so lets reduce my drop to 1.5 and keep talking....

[meb]

That is true with Megan and CROSS - lowering without sacrificing travel. however, Megan used the wrong springs and bumpstops in their kits. The springs were too short, and, no one paid much attention the spring's block height - when the spring compresses completely all of the coils touch. Every spring has a block height measurement. Block height must match suspension travel for a given spring rate.

Then, the bumpstops were too long. The mini is a bumpstop active car. The stock bumpstops are always in contact with the top of the shocks. But these bumpstops are called multi-cellular jounce dampeners. They essentially add spring rate to the minis suspension stroke progressively as the stroke nears the limits of its travel. If an old fashioned bumpstop of the same length is inserted in its place, the suspension will contact the bumpstop after about 1" of travel and in a turn the result is an immediate slide. When hitting bumps, the strut towers deform.

So even though the suspension has the capability to be lowered with affecting damper travel, the springs and bumpstops prevent this system from working well.

Stick with CROSS or go with another suggestion above...or Swift and Koni...

[andyroo]

The thing about coilovers that lower the car without sacrificing travel....they generally have hardly any travel to begin with. It works if you're running really high spring rates where bump travel isn't as important, but at that point you won't want to run it on the street.

JRZ, Moton, AST, KW competition, the motorsports level of coilover are not dual height adjustable BUT generally have a ton of travel in comparison. And they run a shorter shock body. So yes, lowering the car on a coilover like that reduces bump travel, but for ride heights you should be at, you still have a lot.

For Jbell i would recommend KW V1 coilovers.

- Andrew

[RatBlast]

i run the megan v2 coilovers in my mini . the people that are talking about bump stop isues and wrong spring rate are referring to the first generation of megans that came out.
the new megans will lower your car only a inch and a half , the ride quality can be set soft . i find they are not extreme enough of a ride . it will flaten out your cornering just great.
i went and dropped my car beyond 2 inches , but it takes extra work on your part to get it down that low. the front will not drop more than a inch and a half unless you take out some of the spring preload . the rear can be done without loss of preload , but you take out the 3 adjuster nuts and bottom out the lower shock tube to the springs.
i think megan is working on a version 3 setup. they have gone from one extreme of being to low in generation 1 to not low enough in generation 2 .

[Professor]

I love my Megans to no end. I did however replace the front spring in the V3's I picked up.

[crazyaboutmini]

i picked up a brand new set of megans earlier this year and replaced the springs with swifts... best setup i had or experienced. mine is set right around the middle because canyon carving is part of my daily drive and it works well. i don't mind the ride, i'm just really careful when i'm on s.f roads, but my cousin says its riding nicer than his gti with kw ver. 1's....