Just had my brake upgrade work done on all 4 corners. All good!

- NM Engineering slotted rotors

- ECS Exact-Fit red stainless steel braided brake lines

- Hawk HPS performance pads

- Motul RBF600 racing brake fluid

 

Awesome thanks for the updated pics, looks like MAG shop.

Impressions before and after on the brake and suspension?

 

i have friends there ;-)

haven't broken in the brakes yet and just started bedding them in. so far though i'm loving the improved pedal feel for sure. it's a more linear bite than before when it was progressive. i'll see in next 100-200 miles how they settle in.

as for the st xta suspension, i like them a lot and would like the springs to be stiffer than how they came. i can't remember what the kg/mm was for each corner. i'm at the middle setting for each of the dampers. the entire setup is comfortable and compliant...no more squats and dives like stock jcw suspension.

one minor issue - getting metal clunking on the rear corners over some bumps due to metal on metal of the spring and seat. otherwise, no noises.

other things is there's rubbing on the inside of the front tires. the rubbing wore down a little bit of the hard plastic adjustment collar of the front coilovers. the combo of the nm engineering wheels offset, lowering level of the coilovers, and change in geometry are causing the rubbing. i'll be ordering from ecs/you a pair of the 4mm spacers and longer bolts for the front. i do not like spacers and want to minimize the increase in outward movement so will only go 4mm is about what i need.

overall, the engine mods + coilovers + brake work = big transformation of the jcw into an even much better and fun car...especially how low end torque comes in strong. my '13 r56 will outrun the new stock '15/16' jcw for sure ;-)

 

Nice, its good to have friend at a MINI dealership.

4mm should be enough. Thanks for the order.

 

Thanks for the quick ship! I'll receive it tomorrow in the mail

 

You are welcome, thanks for the update

 

They came today and installed them. I think 4mm is perfect and not too much. Will check tomorrow and see if it fixed the rubbing. Front is almost perfectly flushed with fender. I may get a pair for the rear to match.

 

Nice, post up a pic of the stance now. Welcome. I would match front to rear as it cleans up the looks, MINI does not stagger from the factory for wheels, so most people do a square set up.

 

Will do. Do the 4mm spacers change geometry enough for me to have to do an alignment again? I would think not since there should be any impact on caster, camber, and toe...I think. Thoughts?

 

Nope , you will be fine. But you did get alignment after the ST coilovers install , correct ? After Coilovers I would get alignment.

 

correct, after the st xta install, i did a full realignment to factory specs - except for the front where i had it dialed in slightly more negative camber than stock.

 

Great, you will be good. Any pics. I have 15mm all the way around and sets pretty flush , but on OEM R112's , not NM wheels

 

here you go...

1st 3 pix are front wheels with ecs 4mm spacers.

2nd 3 pix are rear wheels without any spacers yet. i'll install the ecs 4mm spacers this weekend once they've arrived.









...rear wheels without any spacers yet.

 

Looks great , thanks for the pics.

 

Are the ST XTAs equivalent to the KW V2's? I'm thinking of getting those for my JCW Clubman - pretty tired of how wallowy the stock suspension is. Any more feedback on your suspension would be appreciated!

 

The ST XTA have the adjustable front plates which the V2 do not.

 

Yes they're equivalent...fully adjustable height, 16-way adjustable compression and rebound in one, and front top adjustable camber and caster plates.

Overall, a great set of coilovers for what I wanted - performance daily driving and sometimes track day sessions. They are comfortable yet stiffer than stock. You'll only feel it on rough roads or bumps on the highway. Even so they're more comfortable than and nowhere near as stiff as my stock Lambo's suspensions. Reduction in wallowing of my stock JCW suspensions is dramatic. However, nothing beats body roll reduction vs stiffer sway bars as that's what sway bars are designed for. Most people get confused with trying to eliminate body roll with the coilovers which is not the main design point.

Overall, I really like my ST XTA. Install was easy for all corners and took me 2 hours. You will need a spring compressor since you'll reuse the rear top hats. The front is a complete swap out. I currently have each damper setting in the middle as recommended for daily use. The only complaint I have is the rear dampers' stiffness can only be adjusted by removing the coilovers since the adjustment **** is on top - once installed you cannot get to the adjustment ****. The front dampers are easily adjustable since the top ***** are exposed through the camber plates. Lastly, I found the alignment after the install was minimally out of spec. I really didn't need to do a realignment but was free so had it done anyway.

Here are some pix I took during the install. Hope that helps!

 

Here you go...rear ECS 4mm spacers and longer bolts are in. Don't know why it took 3 days to deliver from Akron to Columbus via USPS. Ordered Tue and delivered Sat for less than 2 hrs away. Oh well...

Before...



After...

 

Car is really looking great - thanks for the ST suspension writeup.

 

Looks great, sorry for the delay. Usually in stock ships out same day.

Was there anything else on the order other then the spacers that might have held it up?

 

Just a wheel hanger for Mini and one for Audi. Was weird because it went from Akron to PA then to Columbus.

Oh the wheel hanger for Mini does not fit with my NME wheels. The lug holes on the NME are slightly smaller, so the wheel hanger got stuck on the wheel.

 

Thanks for the update

Sounds like the shipping company re-routed which caused the delay. They might had a truck broke down ?

On the wheel hangers work for the stock OEM wheels , some aftermarket ones it get hung up on, not many but a few. Thanks for letting us know we will note it.

 

With the hanger I bought, I used a grinder to reduce the diameter slightly and then used a steel brush wheel to smooth it out. It's not perfect, but you can at least use it! (I have 17" RSe05 NM wheels)

 

Exactly what I'm planning to do. I'm getting a 2nd set of NME wheels but in 17" for track days coming up.

 

are those 18 inch or 19 inch wheels ?