ok first off, i dont really know much about suspension for this type of stuff, other than airbag susension and that type of stuff for mini trucks etc...

anyways, when all is said and done with my system, as most of you know, the box (i think weighing in now around 130lbs) the sub (62lbs) the amps (about 40-60lbs in amps lol) plus batteries (im replacing the stock battery with a bigger one, that will add like 20 lbs more than the stock battery) plus a possible 2nd batt.....and 16 6.5s and 16 tweets (i know the tweets all together are 20lbs total)


most of that will be in the rear, so i probably dont need anything in the front, but the rear is deffinently going to sag im pretty sure.

also, im stock 04 jcw suspension, no aftermarket lowering springs or coils or anything so....i want to know what i have to do to address this issue before that time comes that its all installed.


also, any other issues you may see need to be addressed, deffinently let me know.

 

stiffer front sway bar to help tone down the possible oversteer and a set of coilovers to balance out the height issues

 

add A LOT of weight up front so it also sags. then it will look slammed.

 

Take all the gold bars out of the back (Italian Job) and you'll be fine.

 

+ to what glnr13 said.

And make sure to talk with someone about spring rates. You can swap out springs and put in some really heavy ones instead...
Example, go buy yourself a set of Megans and replace the springs with some Swift Springs that are 9kg or more because of the weight, and up front you will have to figure out a bunch of math or have someone help you that knows how to set up suspension. One thing is for sure, you will need to figure out how to get things dialed back in...You already know it is not going to be agile like it used to be.
Chris

 

good points chris.
pimped- you could get stiffer lowering springs instead of going coilovers. i personally would just go coilovers for full height control. they make CO's without dampening control that are less expensive than say m7, pss9, or JICs

 

Indeed. The KV V1's are like $900. Or go with the K-Sports that Kalbone has. They are around that on the lower side.

 

yeah but you know it's all about the pss9's

 

It is an absolute CRIME to add this much weight to a JCW. If anything, strip the interior or keep the car as pristine and OEM as possible.

Sorry to be so negative, but really... you don't know what you're doing.

 

you havent seen pimped's build up yet?! it's waaaaaaaaay past OEM/pristine

see here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=121424

and here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=114128

here's a flick midway thru the build of his speaker box:

 

WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT!!!!!!! HAHAHAH JUST KIDDING ALOT OF BASS IN A small car= HOTNESS!!!

P.S. I wouldnt do that to my car

 

Good to hear you're making progress.

Watch the market place for used coil-overs. Save some $ there. Then up the rear spring rate.

Do like others have said and actually work with someone who knows suspensions. The suspension is really easy to screw up and then you're effed for anything but cranking tunes when you're parked.

Matt

ps, find a place for the second alternator yet?

 

OMG does anyone read what the operating capasity of a mini is. The rear seat area was really designed to carry adults!!!! NO kinding!:impatient LOL Yes you are going to be a tad lower. Yes you can install a set of 9k Megan spring or other spring manufacture which should bring you back to level ride. This more then likely will not dramaticlly effect the way you are goinmg to drive your MINI anyway. But if you want a set of coil overs that work great and are cheap....MEGANS are work horses. PM BANNED at mini nuts . Or you can get a set of knuckles and install them in between the coils. (that one was for you Matt ... remeber the days.. LOL )

 

Vogtland used to market a set of lowering springs for Minis with added audio. I dont know if they had as much in mind as you have in your car but it might be worth a call.

www.vogtlandsuspension.com

 

Wouldn't more weight in the rear tend to increase understeer?

 

think 911, though you might lose some turn in grip, ultimately more rear weight leads to oversteer

i think anyway, anyone confirm?

 

hit me up on AIM later today so i can talk to you more about this, but is there any specific sway bar you'd run inparticular?



i still havent seen that movie, i gotta watch it

damn $900 is alot... is that just for the rear, or all around? how much cheaper would springs be? pros/cons?

i can see where you're coming from, but im not into speed/performance as much, im way more into car audio, so thats why i went this route. its what i like.

hehe

hahaha

thanks, and no i havent yet, but i was talking to someone about it yesterday. i deffinently want to get it done in the future

haha ya well my back seat carry's 4 amps and an 18" sub now!

cool, im going to look into that now while im at work.

what exactly does oversteer/understeer feel like? is it like when im pulling to a red light and my car will start jerking to a certain side, whichever the road makes the front tires go? or is that just becuase its fwd?

 

sounds to me like you need to buy an SUV and leave the mini to the performance guys
I cant understand why anyone would destroy the interior of a mini to add cartoonish size speakers in it!
shaking head and slowly walking away

 

its a hobby of mine to do car audio to this extent. i have an SUV that when finished will hold 24 12" subs and thousands of watts.

i planned on going performance with my new car (when i was shopping, before i got the MINI) and honestly, i was about to buy a mustang, but insurance would have been too much at my age, so thats why i just bought the MINI off my dad.

 

you could always just take out all that extra weight in the back. just an observation. i would put up stronger front bars and maybe make some executive decisions about how much weight i was willing to add at a loss of the Mini's character hotness in handling. coilovers will drop it in the front to match but honestly you might have added more than you can compensate for which is fine if you only want to the show the car and not try and drive it regularly.

 

only problem is with a mini since it is a performance based car, you are killing the resale value of it and also rendering it useless for its intended purpose.
i get the whole loud music and all, but not in a performance vehicle.
you would far better enjoy the car if you did performance mods and left the stereo to slight mods.

 

by extra weight in the back, are you talking about my stereo stuff, or like factory MINI interior stuff?

you have a good point, sometimes i look back and im like "why did i do this in THIS car" but alot of people that are really into audio like it, its different.. everyone around here has SUV's or trucks with massive systems and walls...the only walled off MINI's ive seen are the RF one and i heard JL has one, havent seen it yet, and that one i saw on metacafe walled with like 60 speakers...

resale value...im gonna have this car for a while...im not the type to change cars often...my 97 explorer was my 2nd car (my first car broke after a year) so ive pretty much had the 97 since i was 17 and im 20 now, and have no plans of selling it anytime soon. so ill pretty much drive the MINI until i get my 20k worth out of it its only got 26k miles on it now, 2004...

edit 1- im not into taking cars to the track or anything like that, i never will be, just doesnt catch my interest. so if i went performance in this car, it would just be for fun driving on the street, which in turn would get me tickets! lol.

at least music tickets are a non moving violation and only 76.50 vs a huge speeding ticket/possible arrest LOL!!!!

edit 2- i was going to do a small box behind the rear seats in the beginning, but i cant get by with that little of bass....i gotta have enormous amounts!

edit 3 (lol)- anyone got a link to the JL mini?

 

Adjustable coilovers with custom spring rates is the best way to go and probably the cheapest in the long run to get a proper driving car.. Just my 2 pennies

 

i am not quite sure what you are referring to, that could be torque steer if you meant to say pulling away from a red light, in which case that would be due to fwd.

here are some links that might help:

torque steer: http://www.mph-online.com/mag/streetknowledge/003

under/oversteer: http://www.miracerros.com/mustang/sway3.htm

 

i was referring to the large wall with mounted magnets and cones.
i would recommend dropping that down a bit. i'm sure you removed as much of the seating as possible and i saw the awesome suede interior bits. i'm all for upgrading audio and interior fab but i'm not looking to add too much weight. JL amp and Sub. JBL components front and back. little extra pop not too much more weight.

also oversteer and understeer are caused when the body of your car doesn't react the way it should to motions of the steering wheel. excess weight will cause the car to slide passed the point at hich you intended to begin your turn. excess tire squeel and a few other things from it.