Hey guys,
I went stage 2 on my 2013 MCS so for now all the engine work I planned to do is finished. The next big upgrade im looking at is a full suspension upgrade. I am wondering what parts I NEED to replace, and what would be beneficial to replace while im taking the suspension apart. My plans for my car is to look good but more importantly perform on the track. Im going to be doing HPDE next year so I am expecting at least a couple track days. I am also looking to get wider wheels probably around 8 inches wide in case that also helps you guys give me any info.

What I need to know is what suspension would you suggest, and what other parts I should replace. I was thinking bilstein b14s but I live in an area with lots of pot holes so I might benefit from a different suspension. As always any help would be appreciated.

 

At 60k the struts are most likely toast. Will let some of Track folks suggest better options.

 

They aren't toast yet but they are getting there. I was suggested bilstein b14 or b16.

 

I changed over with 54k on my oems and they were toast. Did not think so when they were on the car but when I got them off and pushed on the piston, lets just say it was pretty limp.

There are vendors here saying at 50k they were shot but I always thought they were just trying to sell parts. Nope they were telling the truth.

 

I did suspension this year. Was going on 90k miles with the original struts on lowering springs. Needless to say they were shot, I could compress them by hand and they wouldn't rebound. Wound up going with BC Coilovers, Whiteline Rear Sway Bar, and MMS rear lower control arms and swaybar endlinks. Also replaced my tires with Michelin PS4Ss. Got it professionally aligned and corner balanced as well. I don't track or autocross my car but I do a lot of spirited driving in mountain roads and the car feels leagues better and I overall picked up 10mph in the bends over what i was doing on the same roads with my old setup.

My reasoning for coils was the adjustability and ability to corner balance. Even with all the new parts on, before I had it corner balanced and after I had it corner balanced it was a huge difference. More even in left vs right bends.

The swaybar is an absolute must and I'd actually recommend it first over any other suspension mods. Make the car corner super flat.

I wanted camber adjustment in the rear so the lower control arms were another must. Wound up at -0.6 degrees in the front and -1.2 degrees in the rear for a nice balance between spirited and daily driving where the tires won't wear from excessive camber, an issue I had with just lowering springs on my old Pirellis.

Overall I'm happy with everything and wouldn't really change it if I had to do it again. Cost me an arm and a leg though, comparing it to just a lowering spring/strut combo and a sway bar. You could also double what i spent and get better results. It's really about what you're willing to put into it because you can go nuts with suspension and justify everything because it all makes a difference in some way.

 

Is it advisable to replace bushing as well when I do suspension? I am looking at sway bars, coil overs, and LCA for the back. I heard something about top hats for the front camber adjustment. Also how low did you go with the BCs?

 

There really aren't too many bushing to replace that aren't already replaced when you do those parts I listed. And at your mileage they're probably fine. I did have to replace the sway bar endlinks in the back because they were clunking though.

The BCs come with camber plates in the front and camber adjustment in the rear is done with the lower control arms.

I'm lowered about 2", which is not as low as I could go but with 17x7 wheels on a 37mm offset wheel I get zero rubbing or scraping anywhere I go daily driving.

 

For sure some front control arm bushings will be a huge must.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/powerf...shing-kit.html

Or the entire suspension kit
https://www.waymotorworks.com/powerf...7-r58-r59.html

You will for sure also want a bigger rear sway bar as that will give you the biggest handling gain, and get the car to rotate
https://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-rear-sway-bar.html

Then you can move over to shocks or coilovers
https://www.waymotorworks.com/07-10-...sion/coilover/

 

See the Modifications/Suspension forum for ideas and reviews of various options. See my sig for what I did - I could have spent more, but it would have been overkill. MINIs really benefit from a stiffer rear sway bar and more front camber.

 

"I could have spent more"

You didn't exactly cheap out with going with Ohlins