Hi ya.

Looking for anyone running H-Sport spings and FSD's on the cabrio. (I know Koni officially doesn't recommend this so would like to avoid that discussion again). It appears this works on the MCS but not sure about the MCSc.

The springs lowered my MINI about 1 1/3 inches (llooks great with 16" ); wondering if this will prevent the FSD's from being effective.

Thanks!

 

^Bump.

Perhaps I'll just have to try it myself

 

There was an earlier post on lowering springs that included H-Sports on a cabrio. Someone found the cab's extra 144lbs lowered it .5" or so more than H-Sports stated drop. I too am considering lowering and have a set of Koni FSDs in the garage awaiting install. My concern is the greater drop of H-Sports on a cab will have me riding the bump stops and defeat the FSD mechanism. I'm wondering if JCW springs will pair better with FSDs on a cab.

 

That's my question too. I have the H-Sports on the Cabrio already with lower control arms and had it aligned. I like the cornering improvement and the look but afer 8,000 miles with this combo am seeing if Ican reduce the harshness on bad roads if possible. I got a drop of about 1 1/3 inches. I'm thinking of just putting the FSD's on and check it out. If it's a no go then I may decide to go back to stock springs unless there is a better alternative.

 

I just got off the phone with Scott at Central Coast Coopers. http://centralcoastcoopers.com/ He's easy to talk to and sounds like a great guy. He hasn't tried H-Sports & FSDs on a cabrio, but recommended H&R Springs paired with FSDs for mine. H&R apparently makes a more moderate spring (.6" advertised drop I think he said) that would likely drop the heavier cabrio 1" and allow the FSDs to work their magic.

 

dscab, where did you get your springs & control arms installed? You're in FL right?

 

I'm in St. Pete. I have my work done at Miniwerks or Wallis Mootorsports. Pat Wallis did the springs and control arms. Had the alignment done over at Cars & Concepts in Tampa. All of them are nice folks.

Ralph at Miniwerks is doing some mods for me next week including a 17% pulley, air intake, and M7 USS. I was considering getting the FSD's done at the same time but not sure how it would work out. Perhaps I'll wait and see how the USS affects everything. I'll probably go with the FSD's anyway and change the springs if it's not acceptable. Then another alignment. Live and learn.

I tried an alignment without the rear control arms but couldn't reduce the rear negative camber enough. I'd recommend just getting the arms at the same time as the springs before the aliignment and save yourself the hassle.

 

Thanks ds. Yes I've heard that about the rear camber. Haven't yet decided on what type links though.

I had a "live and learn" too, only with my USS. It's been in the garage for awhile after reading the potential rattles with my Milltek catback. I am considering a Magnaflow cat (which looks narrower and possibly won't catch the long USS cross member) and an OBX header. Then notch the middle cross member which might catch on the resonator.

Good luck with next week's mods.

 

Yes, I was running with the H-sports on the stock shocks and it actually lowered my car about .5" more than manufacturer's specs due to the added weight. I didn't cut the rubber stoppers that came with the h-sports but that crossed my mind. You might be able to gain a bit more travel that way. The ride was firm and just to bouncy for me and my family. Specially since at the time I was looking at putting an aero kit on it and the much lower stance would have completely destroyed the front airdam. Since, I have added the aerokit.

While running with the h-sports, I went to a couple of reputable suspension shops in my area to see if I could find shorter shocks but no luck. I looked into the FSD and the PSS9 but it turns out (if my memory serves me correctly...at my age I question myself often ) that the FSD's are the same length as stock and PSS9 are only 3/4"-1" shorter than stock. The guy actually pulled the specs on the stock shocks, FSD & PSS9 and found little difference. So here is where my dilema began...

Most suspension systems available are made for the hard top and we (Cabrio owners) need to keep in mind the additional weight of the Cab (175lbs). So any spring combo you use will have a greater drop on the cabrio. However, as far as I understand the H&R and JCW springs have a smaller drop than H-sports (as noted on a previous post). Even the PSS9 will be impacted negatively by this because of the additional compression on the spring due to the weight.

Sorry for the long post guys... I'm now running with the Megan Coilovers, but here too, I found a flaw on the front dampers. Here is that thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=77257

The Megans allows for various adjustments that would compensate for the additional weight such as the ability to pre-load the spring enough to minimize compression of the damper. You can also get longer springs that would compensate for the weight. And, the ride heigth adjustment w/o altering damper travel. Once the issue with the megan gets corrected, I believe it will be the best option for the cabrio, but until then, I will hold judgement.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the info!

My problem is that I really like the effects of lowering the car at higher speeds on smoother roads. But I am getting concerned with the hard knocks I take sometimes on less desirable roadways. I only ran it for a couple of thousand miles stock a while ago so I can't really tell how much different the ride is now.

I need to work on this after the upcoming mods.

It occurs to me that one solution would be to go back to stock springs, get the FSD's, and just get a "large" girlfriend so to lower the ride. .

 

Yes, exactly!! I mean, to the problem issue not the solution. I love the look of the lowered stance and it also improves on the suspension. But most companies don't offer specific cabrio applications. So, we're stuck trying to design (piece together) a system ourselves . Hey, VENDORS are you listening to this. Yes, we're growing in numbers and we want car specific producst available....... Sorry to deviate from topic.

There is really not a good solution to this unless somebody makes a shorter damper to go with the lower spring (or in the case of the pss9, keep the same set up but offer a longer spring for the cabrio). Until somebody LISTENS to us, we'll just have to, like you said, "live and learn". As I sometimes lovingly refer to my mini as a "working project".

 

Yeah but then you'll lean to the right

 

It sounds like Megan will solve the coilover issue, but I really want FSDs ride characteristics for my cabrio. I'm thinking that the H&R springs with the .6" drop coupled with H-Sport bumstops and FSDs may effectively yield a 1" drop and yet allow stock travel for the FSD longevity and to work as designed. I've got other projects right now, but will likely try this out afterwards.

Scott

 

I am going to try the H&R and see if I can get to just 1" drop. Then maybe the FSD's after I see how it rides. I'll let y'all know what I find out.

 

DS, you might want to consider using H-Sports' smaller bumpstops with the H&R springs. As I understand it, they have yielded stock (or near stock) strut travel on coupes with lowering springs. This way your ready should you decide to add FSD's later.

 

Thanks for the suggestion! Added the M7 USS with the H-Sports and things are less "rattley" but I'm sure I'm pounding the struts on bad roads. I'll give this a try and then the FSD's down the road (unless the mod bug hits me harder!).

The H&R springs got delayed for a pulley-intake-plugs install.

 

A little off topic, but I'm getting ready to install my USS too. I have a Milltek exhaust and have read reports of rattles from contact with the resonator. Seems to affect some but not all minis though.

 

good luck on that! we just pulled the USS off our Cabrio/MillTek combo.

 

Why? Any problems? I just placed an order for the Milltek and was thinking about the USS but read about the fitment issues.

 

Ordered the H&R springs and the FSD's today...things are starting to get a little too rough withe H-Sports...will update when I get them installed.

 

Kewl

 

Yes, yes, yes, please let us know....!!

 

DS, you ordered the H&R OE Sport Springs (H&R part #50416-2), correct? I hope so because these are the ones with the smallest drop that I think might work with the our heavier cabrios.

Also, I read somewhere here on NAM that the Ireland Engineering fixed camber plates add an extra 1/16" - I presume this means extra travel. The IE's have thicker rubber bushings that improve the ride too. If you add these when you do the FSD's, the labor should be insignificant.

https://secure9.nexternal.com/shared...unt2=706229805

 

05 MCS Cabrio PS/B among everything else that is on this car, I installed the Koni Sport Adj shocks and H-Sport springs with Spark 17x7 wheels. It dropped the car too low...had a lot of scrubbing on the wheel well liner so order/installed the 1/2" spacer from MINIMANIA. Absolutely no bottom outing; car rides smooth as silkand it has the aerokit. Take a look for yourself:

 

Wow that looks nice, I like how the wells are filled out. Did you do both the front and the rear spacers? What was your drop after the spacers? Alot of folks here have grown cold over time to the H-sport springs on the cabrio. How long have you had them on? Do you ever bumpstop?