I have my new MCS so it's too late for me now but I was just wondering how much of a difference there is between the standard suspension and the sports suspension?

Just been out for a blast in mine round some country roads and, although taking it easy as it's still running in, I was a bit concerned about the handling. I don't have the sports suspension and am now wondering whether I should have had it. I'm not in the habit of driving at horrendous speeds constantly (but it's nice to put your foot down every now and then, of course!) hence I didn't feel the need for the sports suspension for my kind of driving.

But when I was out in it just, the car virtually flipped out on me when I hit a slight bump in the road. Was going about 60mph. Freaked me out a bit, didn't expect it to do that. It's very 'twitchy' at higher speeds.

 

If you're driving fast enough on a public road to need the sport suspension... you need to go to a track instead.

I'm not trying to sound like a safety ****, and I used to tempt fate on twisty Missouri back roads on my Ducati 900SS.

My own hypocrisy doesn't change the validity of the first sentence of this post though.

 

Leave the DSC ON

 

i've got a good set of sport springs sitting in my garage you could have real cheap, if you want. i don't know where you live or what shipping would be, they are abit heavy.

 

+1

 

I was doing 60mph in a 60 limit and I was on a straight so I wouldn't say that was tempting fate! As I said, because I DON'T drive like a lunatic I didn't feel the need for sports suspension but this really freaked me out. I've driven the same stretch of road at the same speed many times and have never felt a flicker in any other car. Just seemes strange that the MCS did this.

Rrdusek - thanks for the offer but I'm in the UK!!

 

Sorry, I misread your initial post then. I'm not sure what the issue is with your car then, but I'd suggest checking the springs for the shipping rubbers (a big block of hard rubber to keep the suspension from bouncing too much while tied down in shipment). It's not unusual for those to get missed during the PDI. Also, I'd check the air pressure in the tires and make sure they're not too high.

I drove one a week or so ago on Autobahn 6 at 110+ mph, and the car was rock solid. Lots of patches/bumps in this particular section of 'bahn.

 

I don't think this will be the problem as I saw the car before it was PDI'd and there was a very obvious gap between the wheels and the arches due to the shipping rubbers - gone when I picked it up.

 

The only other thing I could think of that would make it "twitchy" are several alignment issues. A bump upsetting the suspension sounds like toe angles (particularly front to rear toe differences). I can't think of the specific term right now, but it's called "thrust angle" on old solid rear axle vehicles.

 

Will look into it thanks. Maybe another trip to the dealer is in order :(

 

I think the shorter wheelbase will make that twitchy feel. My old M Coupe had the same issue. You just really need to make sure you pay attention to the road surface and drive safely. Bumps in a road can unsettle any tightly sprung car in a corner. My old V8 S4 was no exception it just felt less twitchy even though it was skipping across the road.

 

I hear what you say but I'm used to driving a shorter wheel base car as I had a 2003 Cooper before this one. This is what I'm comparing the ride to as my old Cooper would stick to the road no problems but the new MCS just doesn't seem to like it at all.

 

From what I can tell from the suspension diagrams I found, the difference between the sport suspension and the regular one is thicker sway bars. Sway bars tend to keep a car flatter in corners but offer a rougher ride on poor roads. There is a JCW suspension coming for the R56 as well, which will be shocks and springs as well as sway bars. Could be quite interesting!

 

stiffer springs too.


I recommend sports suspension to anyone who values performance above comfort. The comfort with sports suspension is not bad.

 

Try checking your tire pressures.

Joe s

 

Good review from MotoringFile here:
http://motoringfile.com/2007/03/19/a...n-for-the-r56/

 

Great info, thanks guys