I'm about to order a new non-S Mini. I live in the NYC metro area, and my daily driving includes a few very broken up roads, so ride quality is of concern.

Which component of the sport package has more of an impact on ride quality? The thicker sway bars from the sport suspension, or the lower profile run-flat tires that come with the 16" wheels?

I'm thinking that it is probably the 16" wheels with run-flats. If that is the case, then I'm toying with the idea of not getting the sport package, sticking with the standard 15" wheels with non-run-flat tires, and then adding the sport suspension upgrade seperately.

Anyone know if that would be a good idea? The dealer has both non-sport package and sport package cars that I can test drive, but none of the non-sport ones have the sport suspension added seperately. So it is imposible for me to test drive a car with this combination. Any thoughts?

BTW, I know the 16" wheels look nice, but I could care less about that. I'm more interested in function here than form. The 15" wheels look just fine to me.

 

Opt for the turbo too. It will help you get through those crappy roads faster.

 

We ordered Molly with the Sport Package and 16" wheels. I wanted the look of the tires and rims...did not order non-standard rims however. We drive Portland, OR Freeways and have to de/ascend a Cobble Stone Street as well. The ride is fine for us. We did not want get the S simply because of the added cost, but we optioned Molly to just under $28,000.
Good luck in your decision...it will not be an easy one, but the WAIT with what ever you choose will be well worth it!!

 

I live around the NYC area and find that you need the extra boost in traffic where the big rigs are especially on the NJ Turnpike.

My wife test drove the MCS and that was it. We got the Auto for the traffic. Everybody says the stick is the way to go. NOT IN NYC! My wife and I go to alot of MINI Events.

 

My wife and I are sticking with the 16" rims and runflats.

I'm getting aftermarket rims within the next month. I going to wear out the runflats and then put some of that expertly adviced NAM suggestions and get some 215/50/16 All Season Tires like the Falken ZE-912s.

 

already Sport Tuned.

 

the tires will have a bigger impact IMO. Since the dealer doesn't have the combo you want, I would test drive the one with 15" non-run flats and see if the suspension is good enough for your needs.

btw due to the way they work, you will only notice the effect of sway bars when only one side is deflected. so if you hit a bump with both wheels, the overall effect is 0. only if one side is deflected, say in a aggressive cornering or if you hit a pothole/bump with one side will you feel the effect of the sway bar.

 

I'm not interested in the S. I drove both and it's not worth the extra cash to me. Perhaps with an auto tranny, the S is needed, but with the 6-speed, the regular one was plenty fun and had lots of zip to it. I hear a lot of people complain about driving a stick in traffic, but it never bothered me. My last 3 cars were all stick. I get really bored when I drive an auto.

So back to the subject at hand, I'm sure there must be someone out there who has done aftermarket suspension mods and has a good idea which components have which affect on ride quality and handling?

Here are a couple of questions which may tell me something:

1) For those of you who swapped out the run-flats for regular tires, did you notice a significant improvement in ride quality or was it barely noticeable?

2) For those of you who have upgraded from 16" wheels to 17" wheels without modifying the suspension, did you notice a big improvement in handling, or was it mostly just for the look of the large wheel?

 

I did drive the one with the 15" non-run flats, and I liked the ride quality much better than the one with the sport package. But obviously the sport package handled better. Your post confirms what I suspected, which is that the sway bars would not have a big affect on ride quality. So I may go with the 15" wheels with the sport suspension. Any other opinions?

 

On my test drive I drove a cooper with the 15" wheels and no sport suspension. This car handled very good with this setup. I ended up buying a car with 16" wheels and the non sport suspension and the ride is much stiffer than the 15" wheels. Now that I have had the car about a year if I had to do it again I would order a cooper with the 15" wheels and the sport suspension. And then after owning it I would upgrade to 16" wheels of my choice aftermarket.

 

I'm thinking I may do exactly that (except for the aftermarket upgrading part). I seem to remember reading that the autocross guys usually like smaller wheels because it makes the handling more nimble. I think the larger/wider wheels & tires only make a difference in the handling when you have a larger engine and need to get that extra power to the pavement, like with the "S".

 

You can get them sportier tuned with the "upgraded" sports suspension.

 

the autox guys like the smaller wheels with low profile tires because it makes the overall diameter smaller and thus makes it lighter but more importantly it gives a gearing advantage.

 

For ride quality you can't go wrong with the 15" nonRF tires. IMO the Sport Suspension isn't worth $500. You get 1mm thicker swaybars. For $300 (installed) I got a better 19mm rear bar that makes the car turn way better than stock suspension that I got. You can't even get a front bar for the MCS so they must not matter much, you can get everything else under there aftermarket. That's what I recommend. If I had it to do over I'd get the cheapo wheels/tires and go aftermarket. Mine look great but I don't think they were worth $750 is all.

 

Actually, I checked and it's 2mm.

Stock is Front 21.5mm, Rear 16mm
Sport is Front 23.5mm, Rear 18mm

I think Stock for the "S" is in the middle, so that's what you may be thinking of.

 

I stand corrected. But the sport susp. still isn't worth $500 IMO. People in the suspension mod forum go to at least 19mm, many to 21-22mm rear bars aftermarket. Nobody even makes an 18mm I don't think. My point is if you want to improve the handling of the car significantly don't get the SS, get aftermarket. Start with a 19mm (at least) rear bar, that'll be more than you notice with the ss upgrade (and you save $200). Sort of like upgrading the wheels to 17" ($190 each for oem), nice aftermarket wheels go for $150, some for less, and you can sell your factory wheels.

 

I test drove both of them one more time today, and have come to the opinion that the run-flat tires on the 16" wheels are just awful. Unless the road is perfectly smooth, they don't hold the road very well at all. There is a curvy road I drive on to work every day, and while the road is fun to drive on, there are lots of sections where the road has been patched up and is kind of rough. My salesperson let me take a test drive with both cars over to that road, and the non-sport cooper with 15" wheels actually handled the bends better than the sport with 16" wheels & run flats. The fun-flats just seemed to slip and bang over the bumps, and the ride was very harsh. So I think I'm going to go with the 15s and the sport suspsion.

I hear what you are saying about the aftermarket suspension, but I just don't want to do aftermarket parts on this car. I've learned my lesson with that once before. Once you start adding aftermarket parts to your car, you go down the slippery slope and next thing you know, you've dumped $10k into your car.

 

Here in Europe they wont let you put 15s on a S cooper, they will barely clear your brakes, I will go out on a limb a say a Cooper S will not even be sold with 15s . On the other hand, do you really want that much wheel gap? youll need like a 70 or 90 profile to fill and IMO would look ridiculous.
One last thing, I definetly agree the sport suspension w/ runflats is way rough. My car has 17s and those tires will actually cause the car to bounce over to left or right when I hit a bump in the road, it actually looses enough contact with earth to feel the steering go loose then grab as it comes back down to earth. .......while traveling at only 35mph.

 

I'm getting the non-S Cooper.