Sorry for the long rant......

The info on the Mini website is pretty weak regarding their description of the sports suspension. It really only mentions a stiffer sway bar. Others, on this forum, indicate that the SS also comes with stiffer springs as well.

I tried to add SS to my order but was told I was too late as my car just went into production. While on the phone w/ the dealer, I asked what was included with the SS. The sales manager pulled out a book and all it listed was the upgraded sway bar. Confused again as many from this forum said the part numbers for most of the major suspension components were different for SS vs. standard suspension.

I think Mini has done a poor job of marketing the sports suspension config. Maybe it only includes the larger sway bar? Maybe not..... Either way, a consumer shouldn't be confused about this.

I know I can always add after market suspension stuff to my Mini but I don't want to go too stiff w/ springs or make it too low if I do. I was going to go with the stiffer sway bar anyway. My original thought was to stay standard suspension and just upgrade the sway so I didn't waste any money as I thought the springs were the same in both packages.

For the folks with the MCS standard suspension, any regrets? Do you plan to upgrade later?

BTW, my dealer only had the standard suspension cars available for a test drive so I couldn't compare them. Also, I enjoy twisty mountain roads and I plan to investigate autocross events in the future. Also, I plan to look into DE events at my local track as well. (VIR)

Otherwise, I am looking forward to my MCS arrival sometime in early/mid February.

Thanks.

 

Hi Augie,

I have an '07 MCS without the SS. I initially ordered it without this because I thought it would be too rough in NYC, however, I regret the decision not to add it in. The car is still a ton of fun, but it leans a bit to much for me in the corners. I am going to have Mini Morristown put in the JCW suspension. Quote was about $1600 installed.
-JB

 

Lots of good discussion here.
chuck

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ort+suspension

 

I purchased my '07 MCS without SS as well. IMO the ride is too rough over stock, compared to the handling improvements which are too little.

Installed an ALTA 19mm rear sway bar for $200 bucks and that went a long way into taking car of body roll. Also plan on installing lowering springs within the next couple weeks to take care of torque steer. So for the same amount of money I'll have an MCS that rides better, handles just as good if not better, and looks a whole lot better than one with SS. Again all these aspects are subjective, so you have to decide for yourself.

IMO if you really want a handling improvement, go for the JCW suspension. Unless of course your budget constrains you. It's an $1000+ premium over SS.

 

I've got an 07 MCS with 17" runflats and SS and I think the ride and handling are great.

Maybe I'm weird, I don't find it rough at all, in fact I sometimes wonder if there really is a SS under there :-) Mind you, the road I commute on -- highway 9 in the santa cruz mtns -- is pretty smooth.

 

I have a MCS with SS and I love it. Now, I don't have much to compare it to but it feels like its on rails. My last car was a Ford Mustang and that was all over the road.

I did have a complaint the other night from a girl sitting in the back seat. She said it was nice, had a more room than she expected.. but the ride was really rough. I live in the LA area and our roads are pretty bad.

Sounds like it's too late for you to order the SS. All the reviews of the JCW suspension are great, maybe you should have it installed at the VDC, save some $$$

 

My car handles great too and the ride is not the most comfortable either compared to other cars in the family. The exact reason I didn't get SS was because the website doesn't say anything about stiffer springs. If it had some concrete info, I would have ordered SS. I upgraded the swaybar for $190 installed at home after I got the car and the improvement in handling neutrality is remarkable. I don't know how many SS owners really had enough seat time to compare the ride quality/firmness with non-SS cars but non-SS is not a soft rider either and $500 is too much for just 17 or 18mm rear bar. If $500 SS indeed included stiffer springs and a 1mm thicker swaybar, the price is fair. But you will want to upgrade to 19mm bar anyway for the neutral handling.

I thought about lowering the car but after reading some bad results with the lowering springs, I decided not to. And JCW suspension is too expensive. If you think why JCW SS is so expensive, you will understand how a rearbar could cost $500.
Good luck.

 

I think it depends on what you plan to use it for. I intended to purchase a car with SS, but found an excellent deal on a car that had everyting (and more) that I would have ordered minus the SS. I bought it and use it to commute....and I actually like the way it drives- especially since there are some rough spots in my commute.

Anyway, I figure I could upgrade to some aftermarket components if/when I get the time to participate in some track days.

 

I think the SS gets you a 1mm thicker rear and front bar. It's rumored the springs are stiffer but undocumented. Of course it's no lower. So $500 is really no bargain when you think about it. For half that you can get a 19mm rear asb (the SS rear is 18mm) which may be all you really need. it's too bad there's no JCW susp. option from the factory for those who want to track their car. The kit alone is $1100 and probably another $900 install. If it were factory they could probably get $1500 and make some bucks.

 

I just have to pop into this discussion for a little bit:

Before I bought my MINI (16 inchers, non-SS), I drove every suspension option with every wheel combo both with and without LSD. From my experience with the car, the SS suspension really does not provide any objective improvement in terms of handling. The thing that really convinced me was going directly from the SS (with 17s) car to the non-SS (with 16s) car. While the non-SS cars roll slightly more than the SS cars, absolute grip levels are higher (I am not the only one who believes this... check TopGear Magazine's comparison).

Bottom line: some may prefer to have the slightly less body roll, but the levels of fun are at least the same. The SS suspension just does not improve things enough to justify the price.

Last thing: I think most people experience some form of placebo and expect a sport suspension to be more "sporty" and, therefore, assume the lesser roll to be that extra "sportiness".

Spend the money on something else.

 

I have no regrets. LSD is a much better value. Did you get that?

 

Thanks everyone for all of the great feedback.

Inomis -- Yes, I got LSD. That was a no brainer for me. I know that would be VERY expensive to add later.

 

Great feedback.... this helps reduce my anxiety over this!!

 

I never looked back from my decision to NOT get the sport suspension. Lewis rides rough enough on MI roads, and I have to go to work and back every day. I don't feel like I lost anything, either, he corners great and goes fast - all I need.

 

I drove my SS '07 MCS w/ 17" run-flats for two weeks before getting a non-SS '06 MCSa w/ ??? loaner for the last week. It didn't take me long to conclude that I *much prefer* my car's handling and ride over the loaner's. YMMV, of course -- comfort is a pretty subjective thing.

~Neal

 

This has been covered before. Sport suspension changes springs, dampers, and sway bars. Someone already posted the part number differences.

 

I read this in the forum as well. I tired to add the SS to my order but it was too late.

If true, my original point was that Mini has done a poor job of marketing this feature. Why wouldn't Mini clearly state in the config tool that the SS package ALSO includes different springs and dampers?

 

Does Sport Suspension change ride height?

 

^^Nope, not at all. One of my primary gripes with it.

 

I ordered the non-ss and plan on doing the 19 mm rear bar to better the cornering and balance. My thoughts were to go with the more comfy ride since I plan on using it to commute. If I lived in an area with nice roads and lots of twisties, or planned on tracking it, I would have done the SS.

Edit: Also, If I were to get the SS for $500, I would ALSO want to change out the rear bar to remove the designed in understeer.

 

I wish that i had ordered this. My suspension is too soft compared to my old R53. From the website, it looked like it was only a sway bar and I figured it would be easy to add later if I wanted too, but it looks like it is much more than that.

 

I think some of you are comfused......Sport Package and Sport Suspension are not the same thing. The Sport Suspension = thicker sway bars. This is a $500.00 option. So if your are ordering an 2008 with Sport Package you will be getting the Sport Suspension.....like it or not.

 

Not sure about the '08 but on my '07 MCS the Sport Suspension was an additional option on top of the Sport Package - $500 additional.
BTW - I love the ride feel and handling of the Sport Package with SS and 17" wheels. Hwy, back roads, expansion joints are no problem - but the occasional pot hole is really felt hard. Still undecided on the run-flats - all I can say is they are not as bad as I thought they would be and maybe they contribute to the excessive rough pot hole feel

 

I ordered the sport suspension after two test drives because it felt much better than my daily driver at the time which was a Subaru Impreza STi with a brutally stiff suspension. I was afraid the JCW package would be too stiff and it also was pushing the limits on my budget at the time.

I was disappointed with the amount of body roll and ride height of the sport suspension. I put lowering springs and a much stiffer rear sway bar on. I wasn't happy with the lowering springs. They dropped the car down too low for my taste and the road quality here, and also I felt like the shocks just weren't up to the handling characteristics of a lowered car with stiff progressive springs. This was a VERY costly experiment since I paid a mechanic to do two spring swaps and paid for two alignments. OOPS! The sway bar stayed though and I'm extremely happy with the results.

I think you should take the car as is and drive it for a few thousand miles, then seek out the right solution/combination when you know what needs to be improved to achieve your needs. in other words have no regrets, you can tweak it later if needed. I don't think the sport suspension is the best solution, and it doesn't seem to do much of anything for overall performance.

 

I think you have quite a few more options in the aftermarket to fret about not ordering the SS. Take a deep breath and say "mod....if.....i ca....tions. No there, that wasn't so bad now, was it?

I purposely selected my barebones MCSm because of the oportunities to make it what I want it to be and not forced into what Mini/BMW wanted it to be.

My take! FWIW!