Ah so the springs on most coilover systems are interchangeable even with the ones available to joe public? That's cool. But aren't the shocks built to spec for a certain spring? ie. the shock body is built for a certain spring with a certain spring rate?

 

That is the theory, but when the rubber hits the road... all bets are off. The manufacturer cannot determine what kinds of surfaces, driving speeds, cornering forces, etc., you will be doing/encountering. It's all about compromises. They will do their testing based on their criteria, which hopefully coincides with yours. The manufacture hedges their bet by allowing adjustability.

As we attempt to return to the topic on hand. My understanding is BC's cannot be rebuilt nor revalved; a new cartridge is swapped in.

 

The BCs are a "set" and the valving is matched to the STD supplied spring rate.

Unlike other coilovers the BCs can be custom ordered with different spring rates AND if you move more than 2 steps in either direction on spring rate the unit can be special ordered with different valving.

Many shocks, coilovers and spring manufacturers are interchangable.
You can custom taylor a set by mixing and matching if you need or want to.
If looking and comparing springs or interchanging them... Spring rate, Length, and Diameter need all to be known.

Most of the full sets (not just springs) have R & D that has gone into the specifications.

ALL suspension fgrom road use to F1 racing is a compromise of variables.

The best advice I can give you is to be very honest with yourself in the use, needs and your willingness to compromise with performance, ride quality ride height, etc.

I have many customers who want "full race" setup when we first comunicate... honestly a couple of track days a year ... you dont need "full race" ... OR unless those 2 days are really important consider how much compromise you want 363 of the other days.

A unit that is ADJUSTABLE allowes you to move you compromise one way or another.

Because of tme adjustability that I have I can drive to an event (with a trailer behind ) and adjust the settings to make that as pleasant as possable ... at the event I can adjust to race set up for the particular track/ layout (even adjusting between runs) ... then adjust again and off to home.

With adjustables you are buying more than 1 fixed set up...

 

As the originator of this thread, I do want a track setup. That's what the subject of the thread says. That's what my first post says. This thread is in the "racing and competition / road racing" section of the forums. This thread is not for road comfort compromises.

I've got two MINIs, one for daily driving, and one for autocross and track use. I'm more focused on track setup than autocross setup for the second MINI. If I had a tow vehicle and trailer, I would drop the insurance and registration from the track car and make it strictly track only.

So, yes... I am being honest with myself in terms of how the car will be used. I want a track setup.

Are the BC coilovers manufactured by the same people as the Megan coilovers? That's what I seemed to gather from some of the other threads.

 

Jason, You need to know what you want first. I know the car is a track car and we have of course talked about this in the past. I just don't think you will find the "answers" here on these forums.
At this point you really need to think about your suspension as a complete setup. I think the spring rates you will be looking for are not typical rates sold here on NAM.
Need a plan, a real budget, and some good experienced advice. Otherwise you will just be getting something that will be obsolete to your car and your driving abilities down the road.
Coilovers are the biggest investment you will make on your chassis, don't do it twice. Personally I would tell you to really consider JRZs.

 

Thanks Greg...

I'm in no real hurry to make the switch. I'm still happy enough with how things are right now, and more time out on the track is a better use for my money.

Perhaps before next season, though.

 

The BCs are not made by the same folks af Megan.

BC is the mfg ... they do also make other system for customers who "brand" them... The BC BR Series is made by BC in their factory to their specs (Higher than many of their customers).

Still to your point of original post.

The BC BR are a good choice for "Track car coilovers (on a resonable budget)"

 

Im sorry im lame, but What are the JRZ's? Is there a site i can check out for info?

Thanks

 

JRZ, Moton, Ohlins, Penske, etc. supply full race setups. Big $$$ compared to what is normally discussed on the suspension forums here. But this is the road racing forum after all. onasled is very correct in planning, budgeting, and getting sound advice. There is an old maxim in racing, "If you can push your race car off a cliff, you are ready to race."

 

George at Mini-Madness has a set of Leda's that I used for a season. You should contact him.
Steve

 

I was in the same position two years ago and went from a set of H&R sport springs and Bilsteins to a set of adjustable coil-overs from M7. I was very please! I reduced lap times at VIR 8-10 and CMP 5-6 seconds. For the money they work great and unless you're on track every weekend I would not recommend going with super expensive shocks. My car is still streetable so after events I dial them down to zero and they are very comfortable on the highway. Spend your money paying for HPDE. Just my $0.02.

Good luck & happy racing!

DJD