With my '00 Miata there was some understeer in tight slow turns so I would set the rears at the stiffest and the fronts about four notches softer than stiffest (bumps on the adjustment ****) to get the rear to come around a little better. What setting have people found to work best with the Cooper S? Thanks

 

If you're talking about Koni SA's, about halfway in the rear and adjusting the front depending on the surface, sometimes full soft, sometimes full stiff.

Brian

 

Yes, SAs. I can understand full soft in front but wouldn't full stiff in front make the understeer worse?

What would full stiff in the rear and half stiff in front do? That would have been my first inclination.

 

It all depends on driving style and surface.

When we run on our E&F lots at Fed Ex Field, I have to run full soft in front to make it rotate as much as I want. But, when we run on the "A" Lot, where it seems the asphalt is newer and more tacky, I have to run full stiff to keep it from being a drifting event.
I attribute this to the front tires heating up more on the surface with more adhesion (A Lot) and therefore making the front stick more.

If you're going to run Nationally, you might want to be well versed on the rear change-out procedure. Although, we never changed our rears all season until it rained.
Just know that the way your fronts are set is NOT how they are going to stay for every surface. This is also assuming you're driving 10/10ths to throw the car around.

Brian