I currently own a 2012 MCS and am considering buying a 2013 JCW out of dealer inventory. It has the optional sport suspension. Any first hand knowledge out there of the difference in ride firmness between my S and JCW and JCW with the sport suspension? Thanks for your first hand input!

 

IMHO all mini's need at a minimum the sport suspension. I was coming from a 2003 MCS when all the S models came with sport suspension. When I bought my 2012 JCW I mistakenly thought it would have a sporty suspension and did not order anything special. Boy was I wrong and the handling of the non sport suspension was soft for my needs. I decided to order the JCW suspension, installed that and the car is back to the fun driving/handling that my original mini was. However now with more power and huge braking performance gains. In the end I saved $500 by not going with the sport suspension because I would have upgraded anyways.

So in short, I think at a minimum you need to order the sport suspension or seriously consider getting the JCW suspension installed if you can.

 

IMO the "sport" suspension is terrible. Too harsh due to poor damping. Not worth it.

The JCW suspension is better but awfully expensive. I would just try to get the springs and put them on with Koni Yellow struts, a good alignment with the free camber mod, and maybe an upgraded rear swaybar. That would be my "sport" package.

- Andy

 

The JCW suspension is harsh too. And then I got rid of the run flat tires and guess what... Its still harsh.

Don't order the sport suspension. Get new springs and shocks. There are tons of threads on here that discuss this.

 

Yeah mini kinda sucks at suspension tuning IMO.

 

Personally I like the sport suspension, we've had it on all our R56 MINIs. I don't have anything to compare it to but it works for me.

 

I made my own "sport" package...

 

To each his own. I dont think harsh is the correct term. Its firm and how it should be. Any car designed to be performance driven will not be smooth over rough roads. We have porsches and guess what, they dont drive like a Cadillac. You feel the road and every nook and cranny in them.

 

A good performance shock actually does ride well over bumps.

- andy