The harshness is very subjective. It depends on the roads in your area, maybe your age and the state of your spine. Roads are bad around me and my 05 w/16" runflats ride was obnoxious on some roads here in the winter. I bought lighter wheels and non-runflats and the difference is remarkable. As much as I love driving my MINI, I would have sold it if the original ride was the only option.

 

Lowering springs vary with stiffness and ride height drop.
If you choose one that lowers 1" and is stiff like H-sports then your ride handling will be improved and ride quality for daily use will be more harsh given the same set of tires.

Non runflats help to smooth things out but it can depend on which tires you choose and which tire size. 40 series sidewalls with 17" wheels and H-sport springs will be harsh and not very easy to live with except on smooth roads. Depends what you are used to.

16" wheels, 205/50-16 tires and H-sport springs would be possible.

 

Subjective and relative to other vehicles. Recently traded 04 Cooper on 16 inch non runflats (took em off due to harshness) for R56 MCS on 17 inch runflats. Let wife drive new car today. Her comments--alot less harsh and alot faster ( ya think? ) than the old car. Got to watch that speedo with Babs 2.

Does it ride like a luxury car...NO. Its a MINI but a much more comfortable MINI.

Jury still out on the tires--not due to ride but lack of "communication". Can I run thru this set and go non runflats or do I say bye to runflats now. I will wait till break in is compelete and I can push the car more, then decide.
Not sure if I am ever going to be a runflat guy.

 

I just think this is a fine example of MINI being able to produce enough variation in wheels, tires and suspension to suit pretty much any perspective MINI owner.

I have 17's with runflats on sport suspension PLUS H&R lowering springs. It's firm... but really handles like a dream when pushed... and that's one of the many reasons why I bought/love my MINI.

For others, a softer/more compliant ride is desirable. To each his (her) own. Just another amazing item of "youification" where the MINI delivers. Pretty cool, really.

 

Yah... I really like the fact that Mini gives their consumers options. I have one more question... is it true that the non "S" cooper has a spare tire? If so, do you still get a spare if you opt for the 16's w/ RunFlats? I still haven't decided on the "S" so I might be swayed to the regular cooper if I can replace the RF and still have a spare tire.

BTW... I'm not after "ULTIMATE PERFORMANCE", so please stop flaming me for not wanting my car to ride like a skateboard... and thank you to those who understand.

 

Thank you minihune

 

My R56 S runs on 17" Goodyear Eagle RSA Runflats. To me it's as comfortable a ride as I'd want. But I think having a feel for the road has a lot to do with the overall joy of driving a mini. I honestly can't imagine experiencing a mountain twisties driving rush with soft tires mounted on my car. Personally, I never thought of my ride as hard or harsh but then again, with my brother riding with me, he described the ride as buckboard like as I listened to him describing my car while cell-phoning his son from my passenger seat.

 

I drove the following combinations when test driving the '07 MCS:
16" wheels with stock suspension
17" wheels with stock suspension
17" wheels with Hyper Sport suspension option.

The ride got increasingly harsh down the list. The 17" car with the Hyper Sport suspension was nothing less than teeth-rattling. It also cornered extremely flat. It would be a great track car right out of the box, even with the run-flats.

The 17" wheeled car with stock suspension was somewhat harsher than the 16" wheeled car, but not unpleasantly or unexpectedly so for a small performance car. I ended up choosing the 16" car with stock suspension, since I expect to put a lot of commuting miles on rather bumpy roads. I couldn't tell any appreciable difference between the handling on the 16's vs. the 17's.

 

It isn't very easy to figure out from the literature, but from what I've read the non-S Cooper does indeed come with a space saver spare that mounts under the car. It also takes away a couple of gallons from fuel capacity since the tank has to be smaller to accommodate the spare. If you get the non-S, you might see if you can get 16's without runflats, as I think you'll get the spare anyway.

The S folks can buy the spare if they go without runflats, but finding a place to put it will be a problem. Minimania, for one, lists the space saver spare for purchase.

 

The only catch is you can't get an S without runflats. You'll have to replace them with non-runflats when they wear out, or you get tired of them.

 

OK, two ways to get a MINI compact spare-
Buy a base cooper- your choice of wheels and tires- 15" rims with stock non runflats in 175/65-15 All Season. Or two, Buy an MCS and buy a compact spare from the parts dept or from a junkyard (slightly used compact spare). One detail I am not sure about- will the MINI compact spare clear the larger front brake caliper of the R56 MCS?

If you get an MCS you still would have to replace the runflats reguardless of the possibility of the compact spare.

 

One other consideratin for those experiencing a harsh ride, especially on test drives, is tire pressure. I have seen several cars coming from dealers with tire pressure set to the tires maximum. This will cause a very harsh ride.

 

You get the same gas tank capacity with the MC as you do with the MCS even with the spare tire. Europe builds get a 10.6 gallon mc tank, US builds get the full size tank. The spare does not impact the fuel capacity.

 

Oops! You're right, of course. I spent too much time on the Euro sites and got my stats confused...

 

Same here, with MCS, 16's and sport suspension. Ride seems just fine to me, and even the lady of the house likes it. I expect it to be even better for handling and ride with non runflats when I switch them out.

 

The R53 MCS still rides more "harsh" than the R56 MCS.

 

I started a tire pressure thread last week. My MCS with 17" RFs says 36psi in the manual and 38 on the doorjamb (why ?). The MC says 33 for all the (non RF) tires. If the car you test has RFs at 38 it's gonna be a LOT harsher than one with non RFs at 33 no matter what suspension or wheel size.

 

I second to that...in addition; if you look on the graph on owner's manual--36 psi is for 2 person with speed less than 100 mph and 38 psi with speed above 100 mph.

 

I have the cooper with 16" runflats and there is a spare tire. The gas tank is also the normal 13.2 gallons. I would not say the ride is harsh at all. The car I test drove had the 15" non runflats and I got to say the handling on that was also quite good.

 

perhaps you should take a skate board for a ride Sorry don't mean to be rude but what do you think you are buying???? I love my 03 S with the old fashioned super stiff suspension wish I could afford to stiffen her up a bit more. The clubman will be out soon I wold wait for that if I were you

 

38 pounds for me thanks

 

Like I said the sticker on the doorjamb says 38 lowspeed and 41 highspeed for my tires. Personally I have them at 33.

 

Yes, if you feel that the ride is too harsh with 16" wheels with no sport suspension, then MINI is not for you. MINI is known for its handling and with Cadillac-like comfy ride, it won't be handling the corners like it does.

 

I think this is kind of a funny comment. Maybe a MINI with a non-runflats (and therefore a "softer" ride) isn't for you, but there's no reason to not have one at all just because one prefers a less harsh ride. I'm wanting to swap out the run-flats not because I don't like the car; I'm just tired of the rattle over washboard freeways and potholed streets. Not all MINI fans are taking it to the track or trying to set records for cornering city streets. Just sayin...

 

Well said!

That's funny because the Mini literature I have lists the MC as having the 10 gallon tank. Does this mean there is somewhere to stash away a spare tire in the MCS? I would just feel better about switching to non-RF on a MCS if I could get a spare tire for safety.