Hi all. I bought my first Mini, a new 2017 MCS convertible, seven months ago and love it. As I read these forums, I'm slowly realizing I don't understand much about Mini basics and that hampers me in understanding mods folks are making. E.g. coil-overs. I just looked underneath mine and see what I'd call a shock absorber (damper?) inside a coil spring behind a front wheel. Is this a coil-over? If so, why do folks change them? How does the rear suspension work? Do they come equipped w/ a sway bar? Then there's the topic of wheel/tire fitment. I read a years worth of posts on that thread and got a headache. After that, there's no shortage of acronyms used on the forum that experience Miniacs understand but us newbies have no clue.

Perhaps I'm giving away my generation/age, but my Mini is nothing like the 69 Super Bee or 74 Corvette (which my Mini would probably out run) I used to own. I understood how those cars worked. Minis, not so much.

In short, is there a sticky I haven't found or some other source of info that I can read to get up to speed so I'm not a PITA all the time? It's clear to me there are some very knowledgeable members and helpful vendors here, so I'm hoping someone can point me in the proper direction