I have a '11 MCCS. The ride has gotten to the point that I feel every pebble in the road. I used to think that was cool, but not so much now. The only non-stock piece on mine is the H-Sport Competition bar on middle setting. I do not have the sport suspension. I was talking with a friend who has Koni yellows and NM RS Alpha springs. He said his ride was not like that. I'll likely get to check that out at MOTD. He mentioned my stuts my be shot. Car has 92k and he said he replaced his at 80k. He has a 2008 MCCS that has 201k.

Anyhow...I know nothing about shocks, springs, etc. What options will give me a less bone jarring ride without compromising the MINI handling? I am not sure about lowering as I don't know what that gets me. The car is my daily driver but I absolutely LOVE hitting the roads of western NC and southern VA in a spirited style.

 

Yes, it's most likely that your suspension is in need of a refresh. The Koni's are great and a lot of MINI owners love them. Also, as another viable option at a much cheaper price, look into the Bilstein Touring Class HERE. They're a direct OEM replacement that also give you a performance gain all while retaining a smooth ride. They are meant to work with your OE springs, so no lowering springs. Now, if you want lowering, you can go with Bilstein Sports, but for that price and possibly the price of the Koni's, have you considered a good coil over option? If so, check out the ST's HERE as they will give you height adjustability. For a little more, the XTA's give you height and dampening adjustment. ST's are manufactured by KW, so you know they're quality. Please let me know if you have any specific questions in regards to any of the above items.

 

These articles should help you on the way to the ride you want!

http://new.minimania.com/Search_Results/shocks/Articles

 

Thanks for the info guys. I'm going to talk to my mechanic to see what he thinks. I don't think he's really driven it since the RSB a year ago. Another factor may be my Pilot Sport A/S 3's are worn out (4/32 I believe) and will need to be replaced before MOTD most likely. I have 16" wheels so no PSS for me.

I have not really thought about lowering and not sure what the benefits are for that. I don't have much knowledge of coil overs beyond what I have seen here and heard in passing. What exactly does a coil over system get me? I like the way my friend's R55 looks but he has 17's, JCW brakes, Team Dynamics wheels, etc. I don't know how mine would look with 16's and stock brakes/wheels.

What I have now is I feel every bump, bridge, and expansion joint on the road. It isn't a good stick to the road feeling either. Sometimes hitting the corners too fast feels like a bouncing of sorts. It's hard to describe but after a run, I am feeling it.

Question though...if I went with a coil over setup, does that mean tires will wear quicker or is that just springs that does that? I've read things about camber plates, etc. but this suspension stuff is new and not familiar to me. Before this was mentioned last weekend, I was bent on an intercooler then CAI and tune.

 

Coils give you a lower center of gravity, which changes the moment of inertia. In essence, this puts less load on the tires during cornering. That's the basis of it, but you're not talking about other benefits such as spring rate, damper adjustment, corner balancing, etc. There's a lot to coil overs. Most people do coils though for the lowering capabilities. If you want to know more about them and there true benefit, talk to some of the track guys. If lowering is not your concern, then the Bilstein B4 Touring Class shocks/struts are a great less costly replacement to fix up your worn out suspension. I don't believe it would have any effect on tires, unless you mess with your camber and change up the tire compound. When you go lower, you'll probably want to invest in rear adjustable lower control arms to keep your camber within OEM spec to help with tire wear.

 

I put Ohlins on and the ride quality is better than stock. It's not slammed but setup as per Ohlins suggested ride height. Out of all my mods those are one of my favorite mods that I have done.

 

My old suspension seemed the same, but I just thought it was a MINI thing.


I can't ever say enough about how much better my Mini is on Bilsteins and non-RF Michelins. It's like a completely different car in every possible way. It is lower (even at the highest setting, but it's way more comfortable, quieter, and handles 10x better. I wish I had done it years ago.

 

Often springs are fine....
I might suggest doing 2 things...
First is new struts...pick how you use you car, and choose accordingly...
Koni stuff seems a good fit on a mini...I had koni FSD...the gold ones..loved them...
The orange is the OEM equivalent. and yellow the high performance options (sport is shorter for lowered, STD for stock height).
Next, tires...they make a huge difference...runflats are the worst...but worn out tires feel terrible too...take a look...

 

Good feedback. Lot's of comments about the runflats, and good reviews of Konis and Bilsteins.

 

Has anyone came across TEIN Street Advance coilover from Japan.

 

Generally switching to a coilovers is a lowering item that provides LESS comfort and handling till you get multi adjustable middle range coilovers for $$$$. Most cars set up with koni sports (yellows) can match or beat lower level coilovers on ride and handling and match the middle ones...most coilovers talked about on these boards are for looks and bling..."look what I got" as the driver points it out to his buddy's....

 

Can the stock cooper S absorber fit on Nm or H&R Spring? Will there be any comfort and improve handling compare to stock?

 

Lowering is almost always a less comfort, more handling from the lower CG compromise....
Most folks, IMO, when they start to complain about the ride of a mini need new struts...new the rides are firm, but not bad...and since most folks switch to STD tires from runflats, the ride tends to be better than new...but the factory if done fairly early...
My struts on my r53 were noticeability worn by 40,000 miles....new strus, the koni fsd's ,coupled with the fact I had switched to regular tires about 20,000 miles earlier made the car better than new ride wise...
When going to a lowering spring, the ride USUALLY get more choppy cause it is tuff to find a perfect spring rate for all cars....factory cars get one of 3 sets of spring rates FOR EACH suspension option based on the cars options...mostly sunroof and transmission.... Aftermarket springs are ONE SIZE FITS ALL, and since they have less travel, something the MINI is already severely lacking under stock, the ride Gets choppy...but some folks claim it gets better...why...lol..think about it...
Their stuts were bad and the car was riding on their springs...
So going to a coilovers with new struts was better (even a very cheap one) feels better, and the ride can be lowered a bit...but a couple years of rust or a good pothole....and they fail....often snapped in half..
To save $$ some folks use lowering springs on an old used factory strut...and sometimes compressing it more can make a it feel better for a bit...but the are old and the seals are weak, the oil in them sheered, they are gonna fail totally even faster...lets face it..if do the work to change the springs do the struts.. But struts can USUALLY be changed, cause springs that are OEM quality rarely fail....
Aftermarket springs do fail...OEMs can,but usually MUCH LATER IN LIFE...over 200,000 miles. Or even more....beyond the life of most cars...

 

One rule of thumb....Buy good stuff from proven manufacturers. The few extra dollars you spend up front will be worth it in the long run. Good stuff performs like it should and the product will be supported.

I've learned my lesson before by trying to cobble stuff together or grabbing the lowest cost option and almost always regretted it. Never again.

 

I am in the process of an experiment. Last week I found I had blown my left front Koni yellow. Adjuster blade is gone and oil in the strut mount and top of the shock. I threw the old set of factory sport springs and struts on it, along with a set of fat cat motorsports bump stops.

Initial reaction is positive, less harshness when bottoming, less severe when runnning over bumps and irregularities. But the car isn't happy in corners with any imperfections. On ramps with expansion joints make the car bob and weave

I've just ordered a replacement Koni, and plan to run the stock springs. The 1/2-3/4 drop from the TSW springs isn't a big deal to me now. I want to see how the yellows feel with a little more travel.

I'll let you know what happens. But my recommendation is similar to others, happy with yellows and non rf tires.

Have fun
Mike

 

Hello everyone, new here and new to Mini's.

Bought an '03 R53 about 6 months ago with 80,000 miles on it. Drove great for the first 5 months and then everything started going wrong. Ended up needing over $2,500 in parts and $4,000 in labor (stealership) to fix the darn thing! More than what it's worth but I was too far in to it and really want to love it. Repairs were coolant reservoir, thermostat housing, water pump, supercharger, oil pan, front axle boots, front control arm bushings, power steering pump, and a little bit more that I can't remember off the top of my head.

Anyways after all of that the Mini's ride is still awful. I know it's a small sports car and the ride can be rough, but it's real bad. This is my daily driver and I just wanted a fun car for my long commute.

I have run flats with 17' wheels. I know that non run flats will help the ride a lot along with going with a smaller wheel. Should I go as low as 15 or go to 16? I will likely never see a track and cornering fast is fun and all but having a smooth ride is the most important for me.

Also now it almost has 90k miles and the rear suspension feels a lot worse than the front. (They did replace the front control arm bushings) Does that make a big difference? I'm going to get new rear control arm bushings should I get the mini ones since the fronts are those or could I get aftermarket in the rear and it will help more but not throw anything off since the fronts are oem? (Sorry trying to pick up on all of this)

I'm on a really tight budget after all the other work that had to be done, should I just get new struts and not springs? What does everyone recommend for a daily driver that won't lower it? Are the Bilstein B4 Touring Class the way to go? What about the Koni FSD? Would I need to buy anything else to put the new struts on?

Sorry for a ton of questions. Any help would be very grateful, thank you all.

 

Definitely can recommend the Bilsteins.

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Yeah I'm leaning towards the Bilsteins.

 

 

I recommend the Koni FSD.

 

Hi everyone,

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