I wouldn't lower the back any more. The back end should have a slight rake (Be higher than the front) or you're going to have issues getting traction on launch. As it is you can slam the gas down and the front wheels will still be firmly planted on the ground. The more you lower the back the less weight you'll have on the front during accel.

 

Thanks for the tip. Any other considerations such as how it affects cornering?

 

Is it necessary to modify (cut or drill) the strut towers to adjust the cross co's?

 

lower front then rear, will promote overs teer on throttle lift off.

 

oversteer - yummy LoL.

 

Tried out the new coilovers at a time attack at Firebird west track.Wow! Very happy with the way they worked. Finished 2nd behind an instructor in my class.

Fronts were set at 7/15, rear 12/15.
Was running with the H-sport rear 25.5mm bar on soft. Used my old Kumo MX street tires, held up ok in the 100 degree temps.

 

congrats

 

Forgot to mention, torque steer totally gone.
Pushing 250hp and no more torque steer.

 

How does that combo feel on the street? Is it unpredictable or twitchy? I just got a H-Sport Sport 19mm but haven't installed it. I'm wondering if I should have gotten a 22mm or H-Sport Comp instead.

 

With stiffer springs, a lighter bar is OK. Jan does real well in his GP with Cross and stock bars. My 22mm Alta set soft is probably overkill with the Cross c/o's.

 

So I figured I'd add mine to the bunch...

Got my CROSS C/Os installed in the last couple days. Prior to these, I had sport suspension with MACH5 springs.

My opinion of that setup is here: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=134516

The CROSS setup is awesome. The two quotes below really sum up my experience in the last couple days exactly:


The car just feels far more planted on the ground. And, as depicted above, you can still feel the bumps, but no longer are completely jostled about as I described in the post linked above. The car just absorbs them far better (and for those of you that live in NorCal in the San Jose area, you know the type of crap roads I'm talking about ).

I lowered the rear end to roughly 25" (ground the wheel arch) and 24.75" in the front... to capture the rake. Thanks to Ryephile for the quick response last night (https://www.northamericanmotoring.co....php?t=144769). And I'm running 4 from soft in the rear and 4 from soft in the front (though I think I'm going to change the front to 3 or possibly even 2). My goal was for street performance with comfort above all else; this car won't be tracked for at least a year or so.

Alignment-wise:
Front camber: -2
Front toe : 0
rear camber: -1.5
rear toe : 0

This came as a result of combining some advice from Jan @ RMW and the guys at BRRacing, which brings me to my final point. For you NorCal'rs, I had BRRacing (http://www.brrperformance.com) do all this stuff. They are a tremendous group supporting the MINI and BMW crew (among others). I highly recommend them. This is my second time having them do stuff to the MINI and I couldn't be happier with their service and attitude.

(And for those of you reading this post as research, I'm also running the web spoke OEM 17" wheels with runflats, Alta's 19mm rear sway w/ Endlinks and adjustable rear control arms. I've got the sway bar set at the middle setting but have heard that since moving to the C/Os, I probably didn't need to purchase it in the first place ... you live and you learn. )

~JProz

 

I just had Hotchkis 19mm rear sway installed after running my Crosses for about a year. And, I actually like mine set to the middle for now, but am already tempted to bump it up to full stiff just to check it out. But I did notice a good reduction in understeer without feeling like I'm going to break out at all. Highway ramps seem effortless now, and more planted around tight twisties. For the record, I also have similar camber settings, but with 1/32 toe out on front and 1/32" toe in on rear. I am also running on 7.5" wide wheels with F1 GS-D3. I feel like the car and its current suspension can handle alot more aggressive driving but now I feel my limitation is the tires. Did I say I love my Cross Coilovers?

 

Yeah ... I'm sure I will come to the same conclusion. However heavy those web spoke wheels are, they look damn good on my MINI. So I'll likely keep those, but once these run flats wear out (or I grow tired of them).. I'll probably replace them with non-runflats.

~jproz

 

Has anyone had (or done) the rear work to make the rears adjustable without removing. (i.e. the drilled holes and extension adjusters). If yes, what size hole did you drill. There is a how to for a diferent brand that talks about a 2" hole. This seems awful big. The person at Cross who I spoke to, said about 1/2" to 3/4" should be plenty. Who has done this? A picture would also be nice. If you didnt do this why did you spend 2.5K on an adjustable suspension and not allow for easy changes?

 

It's actually not a big hole you want to drill, but a 1/2" wide, about 1" long slot that's on a bit of an angle. I unfortunately don't have a template, or even a picture of this on my setup [bad me!] As the shock follows the trailing arm over its travel, the angle of the shock changes slightly, moving the adjuster slightly. Originally I drilled just a small hole that aligned with the car up on 'stands, but once it sat down the adjusters were binding. I kept elongating the hole until it became a slot that had no binding over the entire travel of the suspension. It took me many hours to get it right, and I ended up using a large [approx 2"] plastic disk to cover the whole slot and keep debris from getting into the shock upper mount.

I hope that helps some!
Ryan

 

I think I recall someone posting photos of this for their Crosses. Did you try to search the forums?

 

Yes. Found nothing.

 

CorBlmy started the thread, but for the Megans or whatever the clone was. Good pics there.

 

I saw that. It was for BC coilovers. I wouldn't be interested in buying something that required removing that much metal. I would think, if it was designed for the mini, it would fit the existing configuration without all of the cutting. I have talked to cross about how much cutting would be necessary to fit the rear adjusters, and was told a much smaller hole (1/2") is all that is needed and no cutting of the front strut towers is necessay at all. Confirmed by others on this site. I thought someone would have a picture or two of a properly done install. Also, cross says that the rear adjuster hole does not need to be slotted if drilled in the correct spot. Some on this site say the slots are necessary. A picture would answer these questions.

 

I didn't cut the front strut towers... the caveat is that to do a "proper" alignment, the specialist had to drop the strut slightly to adjust the top camber plates (some have done this is without doing that I think). Others have cut little triangles out of the bulge on the tower to get at the bolts underneath.

I didn't install the rear adjusters (yet) given all the crap that is back there with HiFi, etc.

~Jproz

 

Just ordered my Cross coilovers for my R56. Expected Monday.

Weds. a couple of buddies are going to help with install. I have the Mini Hi Fi, that means I have the amp in the left rear over the wheel well. We plan on taking this out before cutting.

Have a couple of questions: What's the best way to measure where to cut the hole?

Did anyone with an R56 drill through the interior liner to attach the extension or is their room to access the adjuster using the removable access piece? Only concerned with the left rear because of the amp.

Where can I find a grommet to cover the hole and run the extension through?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Please take lots of pictures.
Especially when you install the adjusters.

 

First many thanks to Pure 13 and Searocko, they essentially installed these bad boys.

The ride is incredible. It's like the car grew a longer wheelbase and a wider track while sharpening steering and eliminating almost all torque steer (Will know more after some more miles). It's the best way I can think of to describe the improvement.

Pure 13 drilled the sub frame for the remote extensions but I chicken out on my R56 primarily due to the amp.

No pictures but Pure 13 and Searocko took some so maybe they will post them. If you have any ride complaints these puppies will get rid of them.

Alignment and corner weighting takes place next Weds. and Friday it off to Pacific Raceways. Pure 13 has had his R53 on the track with the Cross and said it's even better on the track!

Can't bloody wait!!!!!!!!!!

Cheers!

 

LOL... and you thought I was just trying to sell you something
congrats and enjoy them Greg!

 

Had my first autoX with the Cross coilovers yesterday.

First - for street I have it at -1.5 camber 1/16th toe out. I set it so that I could loosen the three top nuts and slide the whole assembly inward for the race and afterwards slide it back out to exactly where it was before the race. (this worked out great. Was easy to move it both directions)

So at the race it was ~-2.5 camber and 1/8" toe out.
Used new Kumho v710s 215/40/16
stock sports suspension sway bars.

Ok now for the mini review:

They are freaking awesome. My car has never stuck so well. NO body roll, very flat through the slalom, turn in was awesome. I cannot place any blame on the car for not taking first in DSP - it was all the driver's fault.


I took it easy the first run because I didn't know if I'd have understeer or oversteer. That run I had neither (nor on 2 of the other runs)

Each run I stepped it up a notch getting faster and faster. The tires only slipped once out of 4 runs. Going around a sharp hairpin too fast I got a little bit of understeer. Not much at all but it came on before the tail swung out.


Too say I am extremely pleased would be an understatement.

Thanks JAN!