I am new to this forum and a proud owner of a Cooper S JCW.

I did not get the suspension upgrade and wondering if I made a mistake.

I was told by my salesman that the stock suspension is firm enough and the JCW suspension would not be good for daily driving.

Any suggestions or impressions very welcome.

Tia.

Doug
MiniBull2

 

Hi,

I bit at the JCw suspension when I ordered last month. I plan on track use, but its still going to be my daily driver. Read Gabes article on motoringfile.com as some reference. I liked the concept of a suspension being tuned for our chasis, without too much effort on my part to dial it in. If I start racing the car in competition, thats a different story, for 95% of what I will do, I think it will be perfect...

you can always add it, but apparently its cheaper as a port install....

 

I thought about it on my JCW (currently in-transit across the pond), but decided that I'd be better off spending my money on some Koni FSDs -- especially as I'm getting 18" runflat JCW wheels/tires, and live in pothole-heaven Los Angeles...

Check the Suspension forum for more info on the FSDs -- you might be interested if this is your daily driver and you don't plan on tracking it much....

 

Probably will not track the car, at least for now.

Considering I have only 30 miles on the car at the moment, it is really hard to tell the true characteristics of the suspension or handling until everything settles.

Good news is I can always change it down the road.

MiniBull2

 

Doug,
I had my JCW delivered with the JCW suspension installed, its an '05. I love it and disagree with what the salesman said about it being no good for daily driving. I live in the Boston area, another pothole heaven, and its fine. If you want, I would be more than happy to give you a ride so you can feel the differences.
hope this helped,
O

 

Yes, you made a mistake

No, your MA don't know squat. Why would JCW sell a part for the car if it all didn't work in harmony together. AND, its softer in normal driving (from what I can tell).

 

Thanks for the information.

lexmcs, thanks for the offer to get a test drive in your car. I would take you up on it if we lived closer to each other.

I think I will attempt to find a Mini owner in my loal area to get a test drive and determine the ride for myself.

Doug.

 

There is some bumpiness in the car, but to me it's worth it. I can accelerate, brake, and corner with almost no body roll whatsoever. If I got rid of the preformance run-flats and got some regular tires I bet it would be a really smooth ride - and still handle like a dream going "the speed limit " on a cloverleaf. If I had to give something up I could probably live without the JCW suspension, but I'm really glad I have it.