I have a friend who works for a company that currently builds various suspension products for a variety of other cars. I have been talking to him about getting something made for the R56 MINI COOPER. Well his rebuttal is always that there is not the demand out there for them.

Well I am here to see if there truly isnt a demand for a coilover like this.

Here are the basics, the coilover will allow the user to lower the vehicle and remain a good ride quality. These coilovers are not designed for track racing from the factory but can be used and would yield performance over the stock suspension. The main design of these is for daily driven cars that want to be low but dont want to blow their stock shocks or even worry about them.

This is good for those who live places that in the winter they need to be at a higher ride height due to snow, salt, wheel setups, etc. Each coilover system would come with a factory warranty of 2 years (based off other coilovers I know this company offers) and would be in the price range of around $300-$400 (pure estimate based in discussion and other products.)

Now currently we pay what.. $200-$300 for a set of just lowering springs for our cars that allow 0 adjust ability and are a hassle to install on our cars. Coilovers allow height adjusts both up and down and all for custom ride heights based on each drivers needs, wants and desires.

The next cheapest coilover on the market currently is Vmaxx which is $300-$400 more than what this company could or would design for use.

I know there are some purists who will say to do it right and spend the $1000-$3000 for coilovers, but in reality for some who daily drives with maybe some canyon runs here or there its over kill.

All I am doing is currently trying to gauge interest, I am not an employee of the company or gaining any sort of financial benefits from doing this. I am merely trying to get some other options on the market for people looking for a budget alternative to expensive coilovers but still want a step above springs.

Thank you,

Jaremy Cheetwood

 

Okay, if I understand this correctly, you want coil-overs but you want to do it on the cheap. There's a reason the coil-overs are so expensive. There's a lot of technology packed into those assemblies.
So what you're saying is this company is going to develop a kit for the Mini, design, test, package and only charge $300-$400? I just don't see it. They are going to be extremely cheap in quality and if something goes wrong, that's great that they will send you a warrantied set, but what's going to happen to your car when you are at the apex and one of these gives out? Who's going to pay for the damage to the car? You, the owner.
I'm not trying to be rude, but this is one component that I wouldn't go the cheap route. Trim or other visual, yes, I could see going cheap, but this is a vital component to the safety and functionality of the car.
One of my favorite quotes, "If you are going to do it, do it right the first time".

Save your pennies and do it with top quality product, you'll be glad you did.

 

I don't know why you would spend tens of thousands of dollars on a car and then cheap out on important suspension components. Just seems like a bad idea to me.

 

Its not cheaping out at all. There are plenty of MINI owners who buy their cars for the pure fact of the way it looks and most of the owners are more concerned about their stickers than they are anything else.

I dont see how it is cheap when they seemingly do well in multiple car communities. Including Audi/VW/BMW/Subaru, I was just pushing to further them working on MINI.

Thats like saying drop springs are cheaping out, yet people do it. I bet this companies coilover will out perform your stock strut and spring combo on the track all day long.

so i guess i missed it?

 

I wouldn’t say you missed the idea, the idea is great but I have to agree with the others in the sense that if you do get a set of coilovers for 300-400 bucks, they’re going to be poor quality.

For those that want to lower their car, the best deal IMO is still a set of NM engineering springs. They’re only like 250 bucks, lower the car the PERFECT amount, don’t give up anything on the ride and perform great at the track for those that don’t want to upgrade to coilovers.

Springs are much easier to deal with and a set like NM just fits the bill.

So like I said, the idea fits the bill but from my experience, buying a set of cheap (er) coilovers just isn’t worth it in the long run.

Mark

 

I am not disagreeing that there are better ways of doing it. But to say this companies product is no good seems a little harsh as I have yet to bring their name into it. I have seen their coils go out to the track and handle just fine.

I dont see how the stock shock and a lowering spring would be better then their setup I guess.

I wasnt talking about a track coil over either, i was referring to mainly daily driven cars, etc.

 

Coilovers for less than 500 bucks? Raceland? Yeah those are awful and represent a lot of what is wrong with the aftermarket.

 

My buddy had some race land... Kind of cheap. But it did a good daily driven lowering

 

Reminds me of a few guys in the Z4 forums, who will put $250 eBay Chinese headlights on their $40k BMW. Makes absolutely zero sense, nor does this idea. You usually get what you pay for, and that's VERY true when it comes to suspension components. And headlights.