wow i can't say how much better my suspension got after i installed koni yellow with my mach v's. when i got my mcs it had the regular suspension and like every other mcs i thought it was too high. so i decided to lower it on springs to improve the stance but to tell the truth the ride was beyond harsh. i could feel every dip and bump on the road and not in a good way. my wife called my car the food processor. she didn't like to ride in the mini to say the least. well after 3 pot hole incidents that took the life of 3 tires i found out
about the koni yellows. they where perfect for me because i was ok with the hight of the car but needed to adjust the damping on the strut plus they are cheaper than a set of coilovers. to make a long story short. the ride quality is great and the car feels like its on rails. so if you don't want to break the bank check them out. also installed a alta 22mm rear sway bar for the perfect combination.

 

are these different from what mach v sells as the Koni sport dampers for $739?
http://www.fastmini.net/kospda.html

 

yep thouse are thhe ones. i think that namotorsport has them at a great price http://www.namotorsports.net/detail....d/KOMiniSports but i got them from outmotoring since i needed the rear metal bushings http://www.outmotoring.com/mini-coop..._bushings.html and was going to buy the front adjustable end links that you will also need for the retro fit. plus the service that they have given me is great. not that nam isn't any better . plus they're price is hard to beat.

 

great config mate, but i would prefer coilovers because the price difference is very low at your situation.
We have a saying in Turkish 'çıktın 5e vur 15e' which translates into 'as you came up to 5, why not just hit 15 instead?'

 

true. i would have bought coilovers if i had to buy the whole thing from scratch. but since i already had the springs and my interest was to adjust damping the koni where less expensive. because most of the $1000 coilover only give you ride adjustment. its the 2000 plus that are height and damp rebound adjustable.

 

+1. Very sweet set up. But for $978 you're quite close to the price of coilovers. Fully adjustable H&Rs are $999.

Edit: Saw your post. Makes a lot more sense just to add the dampers since you already had the springs. I'll probably end up doing the same sometime down the line.

 

I wouldn't call H&Rs fully adjustable, you can only adjust the height on them and not the compression or rebound, which wouldn't have worked for his needs anyhow

 

Curious to hear what you think of this setup after living with it for a few weeks. Personally I'd still prefer this setup over coilovers no matter how similar pricing is.

Did you find the height stayed the same or changed when you added in the Konis?

 

HI, i'm interested on the koni yellow too, but my vendor (in Europe) said me that for the Mini cooper S r56, koni not produce the koni yellow now.

Can you tell me the code of the product??

Your suspension are adjustable in 3 position??? If they are is the same product that I want...

 

Are these what you are looking for? You can get them here: http://www.mini-madness.com/browsepr...rt-Shocks.html

 

yeah those are the ones that i got. about the height its the same that i had with the mach V springs but the springs in front are a bit more compressed because the perch on the front struts is a bit higher also the front springs are a different size so they sit a bit strange. if anyone has done the install and has any tips on how to fix it please pm me. other than that the ride so far is great. can get a bit jumpy if the rodes are bumpy but its something i can live with. i'm thinking about getting a coilover conversion kit from ground control suspension in the future. the way i see it ill have a great set up for that didn't cost a ton.

 

Alright, that was a mistake on my part. Those Koni's ARE for the R53. I went back through the link to the store home and found out that way...Otherwise they aren't labeled specific - kinda confusing. That would make sense to the problem that you are having because the R56 & R53 share very similar rear suspension (it may even be the same) but I know that the front is different. The front strut on the R56 uses a SMALLER diameter spring and there is also about an 1" more suspension travel. There is good news, though...I found a site where they installed the konis on an R56. CHECK IT OUT: http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/new...some-konis.php

HOPE THIS HELPS

 

thanks for the link Dross, it helped out. i was planning on taking the factory strut perches but wasn't sure it would work. after seeing the link i tried it and after a long noisy while got them out changed and it feels great!!!!! also if anyone is going to do this remember to change the front end links so that the sway bar is out of the way of the control arm when its compressed. if you don't do this you may get some rattling noises.

 

I'm glad it worked out...I'm planing on getting them soon!

 

Still happy with this setup? Just to make sure i understand all the parts needed, you bought the mach v springs, konis, rear metal bushings and that's it? You mention front adjustable end links, is this a requirement for this setup? Thanks.

 

I don't get it; Koni Yellows weren't any shorter than stock on the R53, so if you ran a lowering spring you still bottomed out everywhere. Are the Koni Yellow's for the R56 shorter but have a raised perch for more compression travel? This would be the only way to explain they have a "better ride" than stock. Most R53 Koni Yellow owners have ruptured spine discs by now! LOL

 

I had that confirmed by Koni. I sent them an email to figure out if there was any more travel, if the shocks were shorter, or if the perches were altered. They just said they were the same as stock (on the r50/53).

 

OK so here's what i don't get, seems like everyone that installs the mach v, H&R or now the Eibach lowering springs, first thing they say is the handling and ride is better than before AND torque steer is reduced. So is everyone riding on the bump stops?

 

When I installed H&R springs on my R56, I measured the suspension travel and the bumpstop interaction. The setup is very "bumpstop active" as meb calls it. With the stock suspension [no lowering] there is only about 0.7" of free travel in front before contacting bumpstops, and only about 2.1" total compression travel. After the H&R springs, the ride height was lowered 1.4", which means there was only 0.7" of compression travel left, with the bumpstop halfway compressed just sitting parked.

I was amazed that the ride quality was very similar to stock on all but the biggest bumps. The handling balance and precision were indeed improved in most situations; the exception being on very tight corners the H&R's had more understeer than stock with street tires. Torque steer is dramatically reduced primarily due to the lowering of the roll center.

If the Koni Yellows are the same dimensions from stock the only gain is the adjustable rebound to match the springs you have and the higher precision damping. It's too bad they don't offer any more compression travel, something all MINI's could use more of!

 

Is there anything currently offered that has more compression travel?

 

....besides adjustable length coilovers [like BC/Megan or Cross] or shortened coilovers [KW and H&R] I dunno; the world of automotive aftermarket is all about secrecy and consumer trial-and-error [grrr!]

Ok, let me back up a second. I do recommend lowering springs on either stock, sport suspension, or Koni Yellow's to those people on a limited budget or those that shouldn't be trying to re-engineer their MINI's suspension. The ride comfort isn't compromised noticeably so it's a perfectly good idea for people not wanting to complicate the situation.