Hi everyone, I saw that Alta was having a sale on their lowering springs (see below link).. It looks like a good deal.. I did some research on the springs and from what I found these are progressive springs that are made by H&R. The only downside to the research was when I tried to find any type of reviews for the springs on this forum I didn't find any information.. So I was curious to see if anyone had these springs and if they enjoyed them and thought that this was a good deal.... If this has been asked in the past please point me in the right direction and I do apologize..

Thanks again

http://www.altaperformance.com/produ...ng-Springs-R53

 

yes. do it


/end thread

lol. ive got progresive H&Rs on my 09 and theyre nice. not too low, very alignable still, and the ride is quite reasonable...yeah theyre stiffer, but I blame any discomfort on my runflats

 

Depends on what your going for, a lot of drop for looks or performance. While the progressive springs drop more and look better, linear springs are better on the track or twisties and that would be the TSW springs, about a 1" drop. Just my 2 cents.

 

My real goal is to have a nice weekend warrior.. where I can enjoy the ride as well as have some fun on some back roads..

I also plan on adding front and rear sway bars as well as camber plates as well to improve handling..

 

TSW sounds like the one for you. It's not as great a drop as the others, but I found it sufficient.

 

Good thread, I too was tempted to buy the alta springs. I have a daily driver. I want about 1" drop to look better and be more agressive on the corners. but don't want more than a 1" drop and would like the ride to be similar to what it is now. So I should go TSW, you think? but can you beat that price. 100 bucks is a pretty good deal for new springs.

 

Just get the TSW springs and you'll have a big the next time ya hit a turn!!! If ya drop much more than an inch while you are lowering the center of gravity, you really began to throw off the suspension geometry unless your willing to start moving a lot of other things around $$$ to get bump steer, etc back. Even then you will limit the already small amount of suspension travel available, which might work well on a nice smooth race track but on a less even surface you'll be on the bump stops a lot. 2cents.

 

I've seen a few reviews of the H&R springs on here. I had them on my other car. H&R makes good quality springs but I think the ride height might be a bit too low on most of the lowering springs on the market (my opinion).

I had the TSW springs (V3 I think). I wasn't particularly satisfied with the ride quality for daily driving paired with stock 2006 sport shocks. Ride height was great but just didn't feel right with the stock shocks.

Note that ride quality is highly subjective and everyone has their own opinion. I'm also older than some on here (late 30s).

 

Unless you just put TSW springs on within the last month you may have had the V1 or V2 springs. The V3 were just released.

As soon as my v3's settle and I get my summer tires on I'll post a few picks.

 

V2 here and the ride is just about as good as stock, in some ways better I think and I'm 51.

 

I had H&R springs on my 2003 MCS. I liked the springs. I liked the looks of the amount of drop (a little more than TSW) but they are not too low. The ride was good. The performance was good. I drive hard in canyons and did 3 track days with the springs. I had them on the car for about 45,000 miles before I crashed the car. No problems with the springs.

You probably do not need a front sway bar. Camber plates and a rear bar would be a great addition. I started with H&R springs, later added a rear sway bar, and even later added front camber plates. Great combination.

 

just another data point

H&R Coil Overs, set down about 1.2"
Web Camber plates up front (-2.5)
H&R Bar out back
Lower Control arms to reduce rear camber (-1.0)
corner weighted (which is important with coil overs)

ride is pretty stiff - my wife prefers her Olds, and i dodge bumps (good cone practice mebbe?) a fair bit up here in N.E.

overall performance is outstanding - the car pulls over 1.1g on 140 treadwear tires on a flat surface

handling is safe and balanced on the street with balanced pressures front to back, but can be tipped towards neutral and even oversteer by raising rear pressures

the car is a "two handed" drive if the road has ruts or odd camber, but that is more the wide tires (225) than the chassis geometry

the chin spoiler lower edge is 1.75" off the ground - it will clear a 2x4 lying on its side, but watch out for anything taller!

i've over 100k on this setup, and have had perfect reliability throughout

so I reckon H&R (these are progressive) makes a pretty good product

wise folks say that a spring change should be accompanied by some careful thought regarding shocks, lest the OEM gear be unable to control the springs adequately (which will raise heck with the setup) - just a thought

cheers,

charlie

 

I used the stock shocks with the H&R springs. Worked fine. However, the lower springs will probably cause the stock shocks to wear out sooner. When my stock shocks were worn out I was going to switch to Koni yellows but the car did not survive that long.

 

I am getting ready to put on a set of H&R springs on my MCC with standard suspension. The car does not see the track and is a daily driver, will I be able to get camber and toe rates close enough to stock specs to not have to worry about uneven or excess tire wear? being the car averages about 18k miles a yr it would be nice to have the tires last as long as possibl, but with the new 17" wheels, it definitely doesnt look right standing the way it does now...hehe

 

Willy723,
What year is your MINI? If it has the stock rear adjustable lower control arms you will be able to get back to the stock alignment settings. Otherwise, you will probably want to purchase aftermarket adjustable lower control arms. The camber does not change much in the front due to lowering. Toe is adjustable so no problem to adjust toe back to stock.

 

TSW FTW!!

Seriously though, progressive springs aren't bad, I just like the predictability of a linear rate spring. TSW makes an incredible product that actually plays well with OEM shocks and costs under $200. Invest in a set of those and will never regret it.

 

I have a 2005 MCC....

 

With a 2005, you should have the stock adjustable lower control arms. However, with the stock adjustment using H&R springs I suspect you will still have about -2.0 degrees camber or more on the rear. That much negative camber will tend wear the inside of the tires unless you rotate your tires frequently (like every 5000 miles or so depending on how soft your tires are).

You can try the stock adjustment and see where the alignment shop can adjust the rear camber. You will probably be in the -2.0 range. The tire / alignment shop I go to will rotate tires for free so maybe it is not a big deal. If you do not want to rotate tires frequently, you might want to purchase aftermarket adjustable lower control arms. If you go with aftermarket arms later, it will cost another alignment.

 

Whats the build date? My 2005 was built 9-04 and didnt have the rear adjuster, that started with 01-2005 MINI

 

Our car was ordered in Apr 05, built May 05, delivered Jun 05. I couldn't tell you the exact build date though. LOL