So you mentioned Fat Cat in another thread and it piqued my interest. Did some reading on their site and it really, sincerely impressed me. Is a custom suspension like that something you'd consider for your car?

 

Let me ask a broader question; what're your application plans for the car? Street-only, street-autox mix, some street/mostly track rat, or actual race car?

If it's the first two, then you'll want an off-the-shelf solution like the JCW Pro, or the KW V3. If it's the latter two, you want the very best, and you have cubic dollars burning a hole in your pocket, I'd work with Anze to get bespoke Penske's built for the car. Shakil at Fat Cat has very good knowledge but he limits himself to Bilstein, which are mid-level at best. He wouldn't be my first choice for a bespoke solution.


To answer your question, I have the JCW pro coilovers on order for my F56, since it'll be my DD. I had custom valved KW Clubsports on my mostly-track R53 back in the day, and my current track car has Anze-Penske's.

 

Thanks for the thorough reply. I'm going to be spending the vast majority of my time on the street, so based on your recommendations, I feel comfortable saving up for the JCW Pro suspension and leaving it at that. It's good to know where to turn if I ever have the money for a dedicated track toy though.

 

For the Cravenspeed Big Pair braces, do the bolts need to be torqued to a specific point? Also, did you upgrade the end links for the NM sway bar?

 

I don't remember if I had to use a torque wrench, but it comes with super clear instructions. I left the stock end links in.

 

The Big Pair instructions do not mention torque specs.

 

So it's been a while since I've updated this thread...

Firstly I've had her detailed by a really great detailer down here, CQuartz coating is on the books for a future appointment as well. I also did the belt-line trim blackout - I think it helps the titanium roof and mirrors contrast more to my liking.

Take a look!

 

Also, you may have noticed my front bumper (black bar in the grill) was damaged... I've since fixed it (bought a replacement from ECS and had it installed) but I feel like I should share the story as a warning to other NAMers.

I took a long road trip recently and was looking for something to protect against bugs and rock chips on the highway. I couldn't afford a clear bra just then, but I was interested in something temporary as a stop-gap.

Naturally, I looked at 3M's Paint Defender Spray, which was not too expensive, but it was kind of a hassle to install and the reviews weren't great.

That's when I stumbled across Road Warrior Plus, rated very highly by lots of people. It went on super easily, and dried clear, even if it had a very noticeable orange-peel texture to it. I didn't care much because it was just supposed to be temporary.

When I got back from my trip and tried to peel off the coating, it came off the hood pretty easily when wet... but when I got to the bumper, I had some trouble. Come to find out, the temporary "vehicle safe" coating had bonded to the bumper. No amount of scrubbing and scraping could get it off, at least not without sanding the bumper down. The two surfaces were completely fused together.

Here are some pics so you can see what I'm talking about... please, F56 owners... do yourself a favor and AVOID THIS PRODUCT.

 

That's terrible :/ I would definitely write the company.

 

Oh, so I forgot to explain the resolution, haha.

I ended up trying to contact the company, and they neither answered any of my calls (made three attempts) during their stated business hours, nor answered my emailed concern. I ended up having to call American Express to dispute the charge. We'll see how that turns out, but so far it's cost me ~$140 to fix, between the new part and the labor for having my local MINI shop install it.

 

I changed out the stock shift **** to the new-ish weighted Cravenspeed ****. I really like it; it's not a night and day difference in terms of the shift feel but it is a nice kind of different, and aesthetically I really dig the look.

 

Looks good! Is it easy to switch the gear *****?

 

Great job. I think that brushed titanium roof is awesome and unique.

Have you thought about adding a little splash of your favorite color, maybe just on the wheel caps or or the rear view mirror? It might pop so much just to have that tiny amount against the rest of the black / titanium look.

 

Yeah, pretty easy! The stock shifter just pops right off, the trickiest part was seperating the leather boot from the stock ****, since I didn't have the correct sized socket - gave myself a nasty blood blister in the process :/

But installing the new **** and attaching the leather boot was easy - just need a zip tie.

 

I like the idea, actually. Contemplating adding some brightly colored rimblade/wheel protectors.

 

She's a little dirty, but here she is with the JCW Pro suspension installed. Also previously had the muffler deleted and replaced with a straight pipe and the stock tip. It's not the prettiest job under there, but it looks stock from the back and sounds so much better. Sounds great, looks great, rides fantastically - I'm really happy with it. I still need to have the alignment done to correct the camber, and then I'll post some more pics.

And they said it couldn't be done

 

I have, rather unfortunately, encountered a loud clunk from the front suspension when under loads like braking, cornering and even sometimes accelerating. It seems to come primarily from the passenger side, but who knows how the acoustics are actually being transmitted. I can feel it through the footwell and transmission tunnel when it happens as well.

Still trying to diagnose it, but I'll keep this thread updated in case others encounter the same issue.

 

This ride height looks optimal. Is it lowered as much as the JCW Pro can go?

 

9 times out of 10 the sway-bar drop-links are insufficiently torqued, and that creates a clunking sound. The style of your description however also makes me wonder if the strut-to-knuckle wasn't adequately torqued too. Double check everything, something wasn't done quite right first time around. Clunking sounds are not a feature.

Based on the looks of it; quite likely. The Cooper is slightly lighter than a Cooper S or JCW, or F55, so evn at "max low" Celia will still sit higher than those other models.


--->MidnightF56: Any chance you can grab a tape measure and get us a measurement of your ride height? Measure from the center of your wheels where the axle axis is and measure up vertical to the bottom edge of the wheel arch plastic. It should be something in the realm of 13.2" front and 13.0" rear, or there about. That would be handy to know.

 

When installing my nm springs our strut ton knuckle bolt sheared in half and we had to use an imperial spec bolt as opposed to a metric one for a while.

 

As soon as I get a chance this weekend I will measure the ride height and let you guys know.

Ryephile, I noticed the clunking is only happening at low speed and somewhat erratically. Still likely to be the strut-to-knuckles?

 

So... the tech who has been working on my car loosened the front suspension, and retorqued everything. This seems to have fixed whatever was causing the clunking, but don't have an exact cause. It's possible that while the suspension was breaking in, something got loose and began causing the noise.

Speaking of breaking in, there's a notable difference in the ride with the coilover since I got it. It's not quite as stiff-legged, it feels like there's more give to the springs. In terms of comfort, I'd say at this point it's not any more uncomfortable than the stock suspension, but with the benefit of more control and better damping. Win/win.

As for the ride height, I took to measuring it for you guys, and it's sitting at about 12-7/8" in both front and rear. There is room to go down a little more in the front, but the rear I'm not sure.

I measured the way Ryephile asked, starting from the axle and measuring upwards to the bottom of the plastic wheel arch. For the attached photos, however, you'll notice that I'm holding the tape measure a different way so that I could also hold the camera.

 

Thanks for the measurement and info.

 

Looks to be about 12 3/4" axle to fender, that's definitely full-low. It still gives some free compression travel however on top of having decent overall compression travel, something lowering springs can't do.

Thanks for taking the measurements! Also glad to hear the re-torquing of the suspension fixed the noise.

 

So Celia is getting some new shoes in anticipation of a track day later this year... Motegi Traklites, they weigh about 16lbs, and some Pilot Super Sports.

Here's a mockup - what do you guys think of the look?