I picked up a 2003 Mini Cooper S as my new "daily driver". I plan to replace the suspension but am not sure what choices are out there. I see Koni's, H&R springs, H&R Coilovers, etc...

What are the thoughts on best way to go (or various choices)? I plan to drive the car about 3,000-4,000 miles per year including AutoX and HPDE roughly 6-8 times per year.

I'm a newb to the Cooper S (but not to sports cars) so thanks for any info or pointing me in the right direction!

 

Bilstein and Cross are solid as well. I'm running Bilsteins but putting a Cross set on tomorrow.

 

Any links to who sells them and prices? Why are you switching?

 

Jan at www.revolutionmini.com for the Cross and Bavarian Motorsport for the Bilsteins. I'm sure there are others who sell them as well, but I've dealt with these guys...can't speak for other avenues.

I want independent height adjustment. The Cross is 3way, the Bilsteins 2way.

 

Just to avoid any confusion, the CROSS coilovers are not what most manufacturers would call "three-way" coilovers. They *do* have three adjustments (shock length, damping, and spring pre-load), but usually, "three-way" refers to a shock with adjustable spring preload, plus separate adjustments for compression and rebound damping. The CROSS coilovers have a single **** that adjusts both compression and rebound damping, in a fixed ratio.

I have the CROSS coilovers as well, and I would refer to them as "adjustable-length two-way coilovers", rather than "three-way".

 

Is there a big difference between the different coilovers or is it splitting hairs?

 

Wow..the CROSS coilovers are not cheap. Why not go with Leda for that price? Just curious?

 

odd. every manufacturer that sells for Subaru's calls them three-way, indicating preload/height/damping. tomato, tomatoe

 

I never priced the Ledas, actually. Do they come with camber plates, like the CROSS coilovers?

I also got my CROSS setup for significantly less than they're going for now, but even still, if you consider that they come with *great* camber plates as part of the package, they're not that out-of-line, pricewise.

Plus, I don't think you can adjust the ride height on the Ledas without changing the spring preload, although I may be wrong about that.

 

Camber plates they do not come with so you have to spend the extra $$ there. As for ride height.... appears that you can adj. the height..not sure about its effect on spring rate...

http://www.txwerks.com/servlet/Detail?no=14

 

yeah...price out Bilsteins with H-Sports and the Cross look to be a fair deal for sure, especially given the independent ride height adustment.

 

Can't tell from the picture on the txwerks site, but I think the only way to adjust the ride height on those shocks is to raise or lower the bottom spring perch. Doing this means that you're changing how far in or out of the shock body the piston is when you're just sitting there with the weight of the car on the coilovers. If you lower the car, that means that the shock piston is starting off further inside the shock body, giving you less compression travel before you bottom out.

With the CROSS units, the lower shock mount is threaded onto the shock body and can be adjusted to change the overall length of the shock, without having to move the lower spring perch. That means that the amount of available piston travel within the shock tube stays the same, no matter where you set the ride height. You can still move the lower spring perch to adjust preload/sag if you need to, though.

 

I'm hoping not to go too nuts money-wise. I'm spending too much on my Cayman!!

What about a setup like this for $1,000?
http://www.altaminiperformance.com/p...ooper-S-Models

 

Ya gets what ya pay for....

AST's have been very good to me. Texas Speedwerks is a great vendor, excellent support.

 

Don't feel like you have to spend $2000 to get a good set of coilovers, though. If you decide you don't want/need independently-adjustable ride height, linear-rate springs, or camber plates, that opens up a world of good choices for much less money.

 

After dozens of sports cars and mods beyond belief, I can't say thats 100% true. I'd say that's true 70% of the time. I think what it really comes down to, in this case, is what the car is gonig to be used for. I'm sure you can spend $3,000 on a suspension, but it's probably best only for track use. You can also spend $200 on springs if all you really want is for the car to look cool with a lowered stance. What I'm specifically looking for is a nice, relatively inexpensive setup that will be used for "daily driving" plus a half dozen or so track events throughout the year.

So, now, which would be best for me? Maybe one of them already mentioned. Any more ideas or choices?

 

Looks like you took the words right out of my mouth (but I didn't see it until I posted)!

I don't really need the adjustments. I'd like to have it installed and be done with it.

 

Megans are nice for street....they might not perform as well as the cross coilovers, but they offer the perch-independent ride height as well so you dont lose travel when you lower the car. I love my megans You can get them for $800 too and they come with camber plates

 

that's hard to beat for sure

 

You are going to get a lot of opinions, mostly all of them saying how great their setup is so they can validate the purchase no matter how bad it may have been. It's to bad you'll never get a real honest look at whats on the market and what works since everyone is clouded by their own pocketbook and need to not look bad for purchasing garbage.

Some of the coilovers on the market for Mini's are just that, trash at best. Some are overkill for your needs. Do you need camber plates...maybe, some brands come with them, some don't. For spritied driving and a few track days I'd go for the Cross, AST, or Bilstein's, but thats just me.

Megans had a lot of QC issues when first introduced and I (MY OPINION) still think they are junk.

M7 has an interesting offering but they are a progressive rate spring. Nothing like a spring rate change mid corner on the track to help soil your pants.

Koni has some offerings but I get the distinct impression these are bastardized kits that are cobbled together for a Mini.

Leda is a good choice if you don't mind rebuilding them often and the company can stay out of receivership.

Tein has an offering too, off to Japan for a rebuild, nothing like waiting months and paying for them again in shipping.

I don't know much about the H&R

Not only are you buying a product, you are buying into a company too when, no if, but when, they need service. So thats something thats important to me too. Not many think of the long term costs or the service down the road the vendor can supply. Thats a big reason I choose to recommend the 3 I do.

 

don't forget KW....solid choice too and they OEM for H&R and others (Vogtland, etc)

 

Oh yeah, there is Spax too...

 

If it's going to be predominantly a street-driven car, I'd consider going with a coilover that has progressive-rate springs. With 45-series street tires and less-than perfect roads, the CROSS coilovers are a *little* bit rougher than I'd like. Not bone-jarring by any stretch, but I'm considering replacing the linear springs with some progressive ones, since I'm not going to as many autocross events this year as I did last year.

With my 205/50-15 autocross tires and smooth track surfaces, they're great though.

 

Good call....KW is the way i would go if it weren't for my megans. Konky runs them and they are a great ride and go nice and low Nice price too if you search for deals.

 

The good news is that I'm in Arizona so the roads are smooth and you don't have to deal with snow, and rarely if ever do I get caught in the rain.

Any links to some of the other setups like the KW's? Again, thanks for all the great responses, I really appreciate the help!