Hi all there,

We've just received our red/black 09 JCW with carbon fibre internal and external parts, Recaro leather seats, JCW wheel, etc. No factory sport or dealer JWC suspension ordered, because we prefer some aftermarket option, may be KW var 2 or some other.

The car is really amazing, powerful and fun, and give us a lot of drive pleasure in the first 600 miles, specially on curved roads. All is ok, but braking: pressing brake pedal hard even in a straigth line results in a perceptible instability in the rear wheels that don't give us any confidence, and it seems that braking and leaving the hands from the steering wheel isn't really a good idea...

Can we expect that upgrading the suspension (both coilovers and springs) and lowering the car will result on a more stable brake behavior ? If not, what you think we can do ?

Thanks in advance.

 

Take some pics

 

Upgrading the suspension (e.g., the JCW suspension or aftermarket equivalent) will result in much less weight transfer to the front of the car under braking (i.e., "nose dive"), so the rear wheels will feel more "planted / stable" under hard braking.

So you've definitely got the right idea in planning to upgrade the suspension to match the increased power. Enjoy!

 

Before you do anything, have them look at the rotors.

 

Thanks all for the replies.

Why ? What are you suspecting ?

Regards.

 

has anyone tried adding more toe-in at the rear? That may help us a bit. It wouldn't solve the problem completely but it should help.

 

I agree with kingbc only from experience w/one of my other cars, not the mini. Perhaps a 'cheaper' idea. I've been playing with different air pressures. Try lowering front by a pound or two, and rear by 4 or 5 lbs. Not kidding. Fuel economy will suffer. I found stability to be greater in all instances in this manner however.