Suspension Springs, struts, coilovers, sway-bars, camber plates, and all other modifications to suspension components for Cooper (R50), Cabrio (R52), and Cooper S (R53) MINIs.

Suspension Koni coilovers or Megan coilovers?

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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 04:10 AM
  #1  
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Koni coilovers or Megan coilovers?

They will both cost me about the same but not sure which to buy. They will be purely for street no tracking whatsoever.

I'm really happy with the ride that my Koni Sports Sus Kit gives but just want to go that bit lower (10mm or so). My head is leaning towards the Koni's purely due to them being available in the UK but the extra features of the Megans ie camber plates are quite appealing.

If it was your money, what would you guys buy?
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 06:08 AM
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Originally Posted by roofaS
They will both cost me about the same but not sure which to buy. They will be purely for street no tracking whatsoever.

I'm really happy with the ride that my Koni Sports Sus Kit gives but just want to go that bit lower (10mm or so). My head is leaning towards the Koni's purely due to them being available in the UK but the extra features of the Megans ie camber plates are quite appealing.

If it was your money, what would you guys buy?
BC coilovers are megans and you can get the whole shabang for 1,100

minspeed.net
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 06:10 AM
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i would go with koni just for the brand name.. not saying that megans and bcs aren't as good as the koni but still..
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 08:28 AM
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Don't underestimate the worth of camber plates. More camber up front is great.
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 09:57 AM
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camber plates are always add-able later on.. depending on how he will be using his car
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 10:25 AM
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Yes but then the prices aren't equivalent, obviously. Right now, he must be getting a pretty good deal on the Konis, because they're selling for $1300 at outmotoring, while you can find the Megans for <$900, shipped, if you sniff around.

And all of the Koni coilovers for the MINI that I've seen have large, progressive springs, which is a huge drawback for me. Most sets of Megans / BCs come with 2.5" ID linear springs. The Megan / BCs also have better quality spring perches (you're reusing the top stockers with the Konis). You have to unbolt the rear Konis to adjust dampening, while Megan / BCs have flexible adjusters you can install and reach via the rear cubbies. Are the Konis height adjustable independent of travel?

All of this is assuming the OP is interested in some sort of performance gain, even though he's all street. The Megan / BCs are also cheap to rebuild – $75 / 95 a corner, respectively, I believe...?

I'm not one to go with anything "just for the brand name." There are a lot of recent threads about the Megans and BCs. I'd suggest the OP read through them.

Neither would be a "bad" choice, I don't think. But even aesthetically speaking, you can lower a car all day, and if it doesn't have enough camber up front, it looks like *** imho.
 

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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 10:34 AM
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You look into Tein Super Street Coils?
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 10:41 AM
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Originally Posted by roofaS
They will be purely for street no tracking whatsoever.
buy "the DEAL" and yes, better w/ camber plates than w/out !!!
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 11:39 AM
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^^Thanks, starting to lean towards the Megans but as they're not available in the UK, warranty issues may be difficult to address should anything go wrong. With the weak dollar (compared to the £) buying from the US is very attractive at the moment.

Teins? From what I gather, they're a bit on the harsh side, no?
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 11:53 AM
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Not sure about the tein coilovers but the tein springs are damn harsh.....
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 12:04 PM
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Originally Posted by jeffc
Not sure about the tein coilovers but the tein springs are damn harsh.....
with something like 500 lb springs... expect a very harsh ride..

im with sprp though, koni's been in business for a very long time... i certainly am not knocking on the cheap stuff... koni also does rebuilds and also, i don't see many real racing cars using megans and bc... wouldn't you agree? why aren't race teams using it if it's really that good?
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 02:57 PM
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Cross versus Megan?

When Jan tuned my car, he recommended Cross' Coilovers. As I feel that coilovers are the way I want to go, I looked into the Cross and they are over $2k . I know a couple of people that have recently gone with the Megan's and they are very happy.

Does anyone have experience with both the Cross and Megan coilovers and could give their feedback on if the Cross are really worth twice as much for someone who doesn't race? What about for people who race?

Thanks!!!
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 03:39 PM
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There are more then a few threads about Megan Coilovers on NAM, a quick search of "Megan" will give you lot's of info.
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 03:47 PM
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megan's and cross' both do not affect the spring load when lowering.
i dont recall how the others (koni/tein/etc) are but i know that the bilstein pss9's definitely affect the spring load when you lower it.

if daily comfort is a concern you might wanna go with the megans or the cross'.
my pss9's are hellish on nasty roads and ugly unavoidable bumps.
 
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 06:59 PM
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Thanks glnr13 for the recommendation. Anyone else have any experience that would lead me to believe that the Cross are worth twice as much as the Megan's?

Thanks!
 

Last edited by DarrenO'sideCA; Mar 23, 2008 at 09:10 PM. Reason: Removed my cranky comment! :-)
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Old Mar 23, 2008 | 07:08 PM
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Originally Posted by DarrenO'sideCA
First off AutoXCooper, I do know enough to do a search. Try the search function yourself. Try "Megan" and "Cross" only and you'll get none that specifically compares them. I appreciate the help from someone who gets their post count up by telling others to use the search function.
Hello Darren, it was not my goal to upset you with my post. It's also not my goal to increase my post count in that way. Had I posted one thread link or another you or others may have flamed me for that too. Was just trying to help.
 
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 03:19 AM
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Originally Posted by glnr13
megan's and cross' both do not affect the spring load when lowering.
i dont recall how the others (koni/tein/etc) are but i know that the bilstein pss9's definitely affect the spring load when you lower it.

if daily comfort is a concern you might wanna go with the megans or the cross'.
my pss9's are hellish on nasty roads and ugly unavoidable bumps.
Thanks for the input gln, comfort is probably just second to aesthetics on my list of priorities
 
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 06:36 AM
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Originally Posted by roofaS
^^Thanks, starting to lean towards the Megans but as they're not available in the UK, warranty issues may be difficult to address should anything go wrong. With the weak dollar (compared to the £) buying from the US is very attractive at the moment.

Teins? From what I gather, they're a bit on the harsh side, no?
Contact Peter at Minspeed for BC coilovers - share your concerns. I know he ships intl all the time.
 
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 06:45 AM
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Originally Posted by DarrenO'sideCA
First off AutoXCooper, I do know enough to do a search. Try the search function yourself. Try "Megan" and "Cross" only and you'll get none that specifically compares them. I appreciate the help from someone who gets their post count up by telling others to use the search function.

Really not fair!

While there may not be an exact comparison thread, there are threads on both from which data can be pulled. You could start a thread asking for comparison data on these two specific brands and see if anyone has run both.





 
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Old Mar 24, 2008 | 03:51 PM
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roofaS: you might also look at the Spax coilovers. made right there in the UK. should be easily available w/ no warranty concerns. i have them on my modded S suspension. i track the car hard and they work pretty well. i have recently blown up my left rear damper. pete (Minspeed) kindly gave me a new one so that he could send the old one back to Spax. from my research, Spax has been very good at replacing parts gone bad. in the US, they cost more than BC or Megans, but w/ the exchange rates and shipping as they are, you might be surprised. i've been happy w/ mine, both on the street and on the track, even though i will probably be replacing them as my car becomes more of a track toy.
 
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Old Mar 25, 2008 | 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by Bahamabart
buy "the DEAL" and yes, better w/ camber plates than w/out !!!
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=133560
 
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Old Mar 25, 2008 | 12:14 PM
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Thanks for that Bart but with shipping and HM Daylight Robbers, it's cheaper to buy here in the UK.

Bean - thanks for the input. I hadn't really thought about Spax, bit of brand snobbery but mostly because they don't seem that popular/fashionable. IIRC, didn't Spax help BMW develop the suspension for the Mini? If it's true, it's an avenue that I will explore
 
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Old Mar 25, 2008 | 12:17 PM
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I run Koni coil-overs and have been pretty happy with them; they go pretty low (but compromising travel) and have been reliable, and the adjustments of the shocks are clearly felt. However, next time I will choose a platform that allows for independent height adjustment and has shorter shock bodies (both allowing for more suspension travel, critical on our MINI) like the BC's or Megans or ($$$) Cross'es or others...
 

Last edited by cooldaddy; Mar 25, 2008 at 12:19 PM.
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Old Mar 26, 2008 | 12:02 AM
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I've used Megan coilovers, I really liked them. Easy to install, adjust and you don't lose shock travel when you lower the car.
 
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Old Mar 26, 2008 | 06:14 AM
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.
 

Last edited by roofaS; Mar 26, 2008 at 06:44 AM. Reason: Junk post
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