Hello all. While I am new to the forum I am not new to the mini work. I have a 2006 cooper s (auto .... Boooo) which the transmission went out on that 65k. So I walked away from mini for a while. Well needless to say I am back ! I just picked up an new to me 2013 countryman s all 4 manual! That only has 15k on it and still under factory warranty! So of corse now it's time to start my modifications, now to my fellow countryman owners please lend me your years of wisdom and Advise me on lowering the countryman. I am a single father of 2 ( 10 and 8 ) and I do live in KY where we do get some snow ( about 5 to 6 inches averaging). I also travel on the freeway about three days a week 180 miles round trip. So please let me here those recommendations!

 

Forgot the photo .... god what a noob

 

lowered mini countyrman and paceman look bad ***. it all boils down to this, have you had a lowered car before?

the route i went with was coil overs, bigger rear swaybar and rear adjustable lower control arms. loved how it looked, hated the ride.

 

Same....didn't go all the way....lowered with Eibach springs, stock sport suspension with upgraded front strut and rear sway....loved it...looked great....but tough on passengers.

But by yourself...it's a blast. Second time around with CM, no lowering this time around.

 

I have lowered a few cars in the past but none of them mini's ( one Lexus IS300 and an Audi s4 and BMW 750). Two where done with coilovers and the BMW was just springs.

Did you both remember to trim back the bump stops on the axles? Not trying to sounds like a smart ***, just wondering if that could be the reasoning for the rough ride when loaded down.

But thank you both for the intel! See this is what I am looking for people with valuable experience to help guide the way.

 

Didn't trim back the bump stops

 

yeah, i didn't trim bump stops either, but maybe i should have....

 

that is the number one thing people forget to do when lowering car. And to be honest the only way I know about it is I had the same issue with my Lexus, I didn't trim the bump stops and I complained about the ride every time I had to drive more then 20 miles. Until I met this guy who was really into modifying cars and he told me about it and then showed me how to on my own car. I was fortunate enough to be stationed with him for 4 years in Germany. I learned more in those four years about cars from him then in my entire life prior.

 

I debated this like many others. It looks amazing, but I personally love hitting gravel and and dirt at high speeds. Plus, that first time (and every time after that) when you bottom out or scrape...is like your soul being crushed.

 

the coil-overs i got came with everything, including bump stops, so i thought if they didn't cut them down i wasn't going to...that was my issue, i didnt know what i was doing or what to expect, no frame of reference.

 

If anything, I'd love to install a lift kit on my Countryman.

 

The thing about lowering cars is making sure you retain all the bump (wheels moving into fenders) travel. If you just lower them and reduce travel, you'll hit bump stops all day long. Even stiffer springs wont stop this.

With a well-designed coilover kit, the length will be optimized to give you maximum bump travel without rubbing. Or the shock body length will be adjustable independent of the spring perch. You can install them without the springs, jack the wheel into the fender until something rubs (tire, suspension arm, whatever) and increase the shock length so it doesn't quite rub anymore. Then install the spring and set your ride height with the spring length only.

That should maximize travel and let you get as low as possible without much sacrifice in ride.

So many people / installers do not understand this and use the shock body length to adjust height. You end up with your shock travel in the wrong place on a lowered car. What good is additional bump travel if you can't use it unless the tires are above the fenders?

I haven't tried any of the CM coilover kits but it looks like the KW kit is not body length adjustable. BC, Megan, and Godspeed all are. I have a feeling KW made a specific kit for the CM and the others are simply made from parts bin components. And for some reason the Godspeed kit has softer rear springs than front. Everything else seems to be reverse. Not sure on KW.

 

I totally ruined my last R56 so couple that with the R60 actually being the wifes car...I gotta keep checking myself when I think about springs. Coilovers are not happening here in Ohio as preference.

 

Ditto, seriously.

 

Personally I dont care for a lifted countryman, but I understand why people would.

I really want to get coilovers but having never had them before, and reading about rough rides here on the forums it makes me hesitant to pull the trigger on something expensive like that to then end up regretting it. Ive never tuned coilovers before so I would have no idea what Im doing there.

 

After driving lifted Countrymans I won't recommend it as it kills the handling of the car reducing the camber.

I do think the lowered Countrymans look so much better and must more for my taste.

 

there is always the airlift route, id love to lower mine I am afraid with the lack of options. I already have the sport suspension, the rsb need to be replaced for sure.... 17mm is not enough for spirited driving. but the megan coilovers in my r53 are stiff and I don't want my r60 that stiff


someone needs to get the godspeed ones and see how they ride

 

hey, i have the bc racing setup and adjustable rear LCAs on the marketplace for 900, but i'd take 800 from anyone in this thread, if you want to try it out, its the best way to see if you want to try coilovers.

 

Well it looks like this thread has brought out both worlds, lowered and lifted. I can tell you I won't be hitting any gravel or off-road at speed in my CMS. I am still leaning towards lowering but I only want to go maybe 1.5" down. I don't want to bag it or slam it to the ground. I am really looking to do this for 2 reasons. 1) better gas mileage do to better aerodynamic and 2) I think it looks better with less gap between tire and wheel arch. Now I am only running 17" wheels at the moment and I haven't decided if I want to go 19" or 18". I still want some side wall in the tire for my highway driving. Hell I am just now at 33k and need to replace the oe pirelli tires. Seriously thinking about Nitto Neogen's

 

yes the sway bar we offer is the best suspension mod to start.

As for coilovers I've installed them all and even had one local guy that had both the Megans then the KWs. The KWs are superior in not only all the quality and that, but the ride is far better so I highly recommend them.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/kw-var...ountryman.html

As for the Godspeed coilovers they've been trying to get us to sell them for years, but we wouldn't as the Megans are already a cost effective option.

 

I've been stuck in deep snow 2 or 3 times just pulling out of my garage into the alley (which in Chicago is cleared after real streets, if ever) and I head up north of here on ski trips a few times throughout the winter. Some extra ground clearance would be super welcome. I can't imagine lowering it, but I get it if you lived in a different climate where you wouldn't have those concerns.

 

I installed The Way rear sway in my last lowered CM and the difference was significant....reminded me of my lowered R53....������

 

Now see Jnrjr has made a very valid point. While I don't live in Chicago I do live in Kentucky where we do get a few inches of snow every year. We also travel to snowshoe WV a few time a year, not during ski season mind you but there is a chance of hitting a few inches of snow. If I recall correctly a stock CM has something like 5.75 or 6 inches of ground clearance ( Please correct me if I am wrong ) and my previous VW Passat only had 4.2 or 4.5 my Passat did just fine in the snow even though it was FWD but them again I believe it weighted a little better the 4,000 lbs. so there was more weight in the car to help establish grip.

I have also been seeing a lot of people talk about the sway bars the rear more then the front. Does this swap really make that big of a difference? I have done sway bars in the past but never really saw a dramatic improvement in handling in my other cars.

Also how do I know if I have the sport suspension? My CM is an S model but apparently some S's done have it?

 

Lowering makes a car look cool, but depending on how low, it's not without issues. I'd recommend (especially on an all wheel drive) not going too low. If I had a countryman, I'd go maybe an inch lower and get bigger wheels with a nice offset.

 

I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but I recommend sticking with stock suspension. I've only had the countryman for the past two year, but I've had a bunch of different cars in the past, including a couple of highly modified for track and "daily driver." I put the daily driver in quotes because no sane person would want to drive what I drove daily. The other modified cars I've had were primarily suspension related mods.
Those mods made the car look nicer (removed the wheel-well gap), but it made life a little less practical (and uncomfortable according to my wife).
Sitting in traffic the majority of the time, my suspension mods were essentially useless. Anyway, to put it in real world scenarios (for lowering only -- I've never increased ride height)...
1. I would not want to try to put on chains/cables in the snow on a lowered car. The lack of clearance would be a pain. If you have dedicated snow tires, that might not be as much of an issue, but still there might be times where you might need to install those things.
2. Driveways, speedbumps, dips in the road, etc. are going to require more attention.
3. While it's true that coilovers are nice because they have infinite adjustability, I've only set the ride height to what I wanted and never adjusted it again. It was too much of a hassle. I guess I'm lazy.
4. Lowering your car increases negative camber... While nice on sharper turns while driving aggressively, it increases wear on the inner tread of your tire. Yeah, you can offset this with adjustable control arms, but that's one more part that you have to monitor and change out periodically (the spherical bearings -- if they well only that component, otherwise, replacing the whole piece). Also, unless you calibrate the change in camber based on control arm revolutions, the adjustable control arms will not be useful once set.
5. Swapping out various components in your suspension without realizing the true net affect is kind of pointless to me. Ok, you swapped out your rear swaybar for a thicker one... Why? Were you experiencing too much body roll? Too much understeer? Lower ride height... Were you feeling like the car could tip over at times? If you see these limitations on the daily then definitely swap it out. As a father of two also, I enjoy going fast but within reason and usually not at the limit (unless I'm driving solo). What you gain at the limit, you might loose some in compliance with normal driving.
6. I'm getting old -- get off my lawn! If you're still reading this then don't take what I say as gospel. I'm just giving you my thoughts and real world experiences.

Happy motoring!