I'm looking to get one of the new base hardtops. They have a sports suspension option, but also an adjustable damper option. I'm sure that the sports suspension option would be better for autox, but this will also be a daily driver and I don't want to make the ride too rough.

Since this is a new model, details like suspension specs are hard to come by. It seems that there is a little more differentiation between the base and S in this new model based on the Puerto Rico test drives. My guess is that the sports suspension on the base is probably just the standard S setup.

Any thoughts on how just adding a larger rear sway bar to the base model with adjustable dampers would be for autox?

George M


(adaptive in title should have said adjustable)

 

welcome!

just fyi, as far as i understand, the new base cooper will be in GS. could be wrong about that, but obviously they don't have a section on the forum anyway.

regardless, unfortunately it's hard to say exactly what the "best" set up will be (because the car is not out yet), and also depends on your goals. if your goal is to be fast regionally, any set up will be fine.

there are more questions than sport vs adjustable dampers though - are the spring rates going to be the same for both set ups? just FYI, the go to set up for nationally competitive minis is generally: stiffest option springs available (for r56, that is the JCW springs) and custom valved dampers (koni, bilstein, penske). so if you're aiming for nats, i would guess that the adjustable dampers will not be "good enough" - and even then we don't know yet if the f56 mini will be the "car to have" in gs, or maybe it will even be moved to HS. regardless, for nationally competitive, you'll probably want custom valved dampers - making the adjustable option from the factory pointless. for regional competition though, it'll be good enough

oh, and yes to aftermarket rsb. it's gonna be a little before options really start pouring in, i would think

 

I'll do a couple of national level events this year and may even make it back to Nationals. But I won't be at the pointy end nationally, but should be competitive locally. So ultimately I'll make some compromises on setup as a trade-off for cost and daily driver comfort. I won't be swapping shocks on this car.

I'm assuming that the new base MINI will end up in GS, but won't quite be on pace with the current class leaders. Even with swapping down to smaller tires, I think that the fuel economy oriented gearing will sap much of the additional power, especially compared to the much more powerful options in GS. But again, I'm not expecting to be at the pointy end anyway.

I'm curious about the suspension options. My understanding is that you can't use the factory electronically adjustable dampers with any other suspension (13.5.5). I had heard that JCW suspension stuff is legal, but I haven't seen that is an option for the F56's yet. So since I don't want to swap out the shocks, it is either the stiffer sports suspension package that is hopefully not too rough on the street, or maybe the adjustable dampers with a rear sway bar upgrade that hopefully won't be too soft for autox.

Thanks for the feedback, I'm new to MINIs.

George M

 

aha - you're more competitive than i am at least, and braver too for trying out a new platform.

i can only comment on the 07-13 Minis, but the JCW is legal solely for the fact that it's "port-installable" - even though most of the time the dealer will do it. We've yet to see exactly how the option structuring etc will work for the F56, so it's hard to say yet whether or not it will be legal in stock class.

hard to say also how stiff the sport suspension will be. On the base Mini I had, it was fine for me - but I was coming from a Mitsu Evo lol. Even so, it's definitely stiffer than your average car. if you're not concerned too much as far as how you'll do at nats I'm sure getting the adjustable dampers will be fine with an adjustable rear sway bar.

then again, keep in mind sport suspension, at least for the older cars, came with not only stiffer springs, but stiffer front and rear sway bars as well. same for the jcw suspension package. so you'll just have to get a hold of someone and find out exactly what suspension comes with the adjustable damper option.

FYI also, sport springs for the base mini are different from sport springs for the s (for the old cars). they have 3 variations per option: normal springs for base, with auto, and with auto + sunroof, same goes for sport springs, same goes for jcw springs. anyway though, not sure how the new car will be.