I have had my Countryman S for a month now and the wife has had her MCS for a few weeks too. I got 18" wheels and sport suspension. The wife got 17" wheels and sport suspension (don't think 18" wheels is even an option on MCS).

We both think the sport suspension is very nice. The wife's old MCS had an anti sway bar added and I did not like the ride, thought it was too rough. I am driving a loaner Clubman Cooper (no S, no sport suspension) today while they work on my Countryman. I noticed the change immediately. The Clubman felt mushy and loose compared to my car. I was amazed how much different it felt. Had I not had the experience driving my car I might not have noticed, but I felt like I had less control over the car. MY car just feels "tighter", not rough, just more responsive.

Not here yet (out to sea), but mine has sport suspension and 18s. Plus I live down a washboard and potholed gravel road.

My Boxster S did fine out here, and I can't imagine the CM will be any rougher on the ol' vertebrae...

-Tad

PS- Is there a separate abbreviation for the ALL4 variant on this board, or is a CM a CM? Can I propose C4?

You may need a whoopie cushion.

Your in trouble. I have the 17s with sports suspension and it is firm. Can't wait to lose the RFs.

No you can't propose C4. That stands for Carrera 4.

If CM is the correct abbrev. for Countryman, than CM4 would be the most logical abbrev. for the All 4.

So C4 means a cooper s with the dealer jcw package and no sport suspension but all wheel drive but only in European models dated 4/11-5/11? no doubt sounds good to me!

The other poster (d2mini) who suggested 'CM4' has the right idea, and I concur, and will be using that designation from today on.

Cheers,
Tad

It's simple we can't use C4 incase they come out with a All4 clubman which would be an MCC4, or it's CM4 it's not going to change, and who cares anyway.

Back to sport suspension, very glad I didn't get it, car is perfect w/o, any added stiffness would make the RFT's unbearable (right now they are much better than I was expecting). My opinion might change once I get rid of them, but by then plenty of better after market options will be available to suit my exact specifications.

Oh my! ALL4 worked for MINI, works for me.

Yes, it is a forum, if your grumpy, just get a hammer and break some rocks.

Don

The sport suspension is definitely worth having, but way too stiff with runflats. Once I switched to nons, it not only got quieter on rought roads, it quit bouncing so much (rear mostly) on cracks, bumps, and potholes.

Alright y'all.

I just removed snarky comments from or deleted 9 posts in this thread.

This is the 2nd CM thread in 2 weeks I've had to wade into to clean up...can't we all just get along?

The abbreviation discussion probably warrants its own thread (if it can be done peacefully ). Let's try and be nice to each other, yeah?

Back to the original discussion - Over 1,200 miles, and I still am very happy with the Sports Suspension. Even with the much-despised RunFlats! (18 inch, yet!)

I really do love the feel of the car on the road. Yeah, on real rough roads, you might swear a little, but bad roads only make up a small portion of my regular driving!

Test drive one if you can find one! Then make up your mind.

Just got back from the Dragon with my CM S with sport suspension, liked it a good deal. It was tough enough keeping up with hundreds of tricked out MCS's as it was...around 1,300 miles still very happy.

I don't think the comparison with run flats is particularly valuable as the RF's will jar you no matter what if you hit a bump. RF's just do not have significant give to absorb the shock. I still have mine but plan to replace them ASAP.

quick question for you guys. how can you visually tell if your car has the sport suspension. are the springs a different color or anything. the reason I ask is, I order my all with them. and when it gets in I want to make sure they are on there. I only test drove the car for a few min last week. one without sport suspension. and by the time mine gets here I probably wouldnt remember how it drove without it. So is there a simple way to tell them apart with out driving it. Sorry kind of a stupid question.

Why would you think that they weren't installed? It'll be fairly obvious though. At least to me it is.

idk dealer could just say they are on there when they are not and charge me for them. Im sure I can tell if I drove it, but I just wanted to make sure, and look over the car before I took it of the lot. I know its post to be 1cm lower. but thats something thats kind of hard to eye ball

Not true the sports suspension lowers the car by 10mm, when you configure a car online check the sports suspension box, in the info panel it states the following:

Sport suspension (S0226)
The sport suspension set-up delivers even more precise and sporty handling responses, thanks to its stiffer damper settings. 10 millimetres lower than the standard suspension, it looks good too.

Rob,

Here in the colonies, we go to the MINI USA site (www.MINIUSA.com). I searched the specs and did not see the 10mm ride height reduction referenced. If you can find that on the MINIUSA.com site, would you let us know how to access it?

TIA,

good post!!!

so does anyone know if theres a way to visually to the sport suspension is on there

I have no idea how you can check visually as it's only 10mm, however you'll work it out pretty quickly after your first drive, it's a hard ride on the sports suspension.

Well, perhaps not "visually", but you can use the same technique used to check suspensions on motorcycles.

The prerequisites are: your car and another car of the same motor/wheel/tire configuration with a known suspension option and identical tire pressures. Let's say that you have a CMS with 17" wheels (and a specific tire size) and have the sport suspension. You need to find another CMS with the same wheel/tire combo and NO sport suspension. Ready to measure them?

Before you measure, make sure the cars are on level ground and that you have bounced the suspensions up and down a little bit until they naturally settle (a.k.a.; "sag").

Now, get a tape measure (marked in mm) and a level, and measure each car from the exact center of the hub (the "I" in "MINI"?) to the underside edge of the wheel opening lip on the fender (wing). Use a level so you can "extend" the wheel opening lip outboard so the tape measure won't hit the wheel/tire. Do this for both cars. Note the sport suspension height and compare it to the non-sport suspension height.

This is far from a "visual" check, however. Also, you may not want to do this on another CM in a public parking lot. Folks might misinterpret what you are doing. Ask me how I know...

Visually look at the window sticker?

How do you know this. haha. thats to funny. ok well thanks guy. I guess there isnt really a easy way to tell with out me driving it off the lot when it comes in.