Hello,
After extensive readings and searches, seems the CROSS coilovers have the majority vote for being the best available for the MINI.

They do cost more than the rest, so what makes them better?

Does their fully threaded body, inclusive camber plates, pillow ball joints and linear springs make then the better coilover or is it just that the spring rates and damping/rebound settings just happen to match the MINI?

To add, there seems to be some other items that are required when installing coilovers. These are:

1) Control Arms
2) End Links (CROSS comes with the front ones free, what about the rear?)
3) Lower shock bushing kit


Are these really required?

Thanks

 

based on what i have read... another feature they have is the ability to lower the ride height without reducing the amount of travel.... this for me is one of the best features since lower springs, and even most coil over kits will cut into the travel to lower the car.

I would imagine getting those other parts (control arms, Endlinks) are only going to be needed if you intend to run them very low. Im not sure about the lower shock bushing kit but i would assume if they are r56 specific, they would come with the needed items.

 

Well, i only plan to lower the car 1inch at the absolute MAX.

If i do not need those extra items, then the CROSS coils would get my money.

But, I still would like to know why those items have been mentioned to be required items.

Perhaps as you mentioned.... for extreme drops?

 

So, who sells Cross coilovers? Do you have a choice of spring rates? If so, how do you chose the correct one?

 

Revolution Mini Works is the leading Cross dealer for Mini Coopers
give us a call and we will help you set up your car

New shipment in later this week, I can tell you know there are a bunch of people here on NAM waiting for them to arrive

 

Yes, you have a choice of spring rates. I think mine are 400 F/R. I got what RMW recommended.
I got mine about a month ago and didn't have to buy one other thing. At a max drop of 1", I doubt that you will need adjustable rear control arms.
Jan at RMW was very helpful in my purchase.

 

I got mine from jan too and got some LCA's at the same time, but you probably won't need them (I only got mine because of track-specific alignment settings). I highly recommend them!

 

yeah, with a 1 inch drop i think you will be fine. My Mach V springs dropped the car more than 1 inch and everything is fine.

i really wished i could have just gone with coil overs but i'll just have to wait.

 

I'm seriously considering getting Cross coilovers installed, too. If I do, how would I change the damper setting or make a height adjustment myself, or should I have an installer do it?

I'd greatly appreciate your describing briefly what those adjustments would involve.

Thanks, in advance.

 

The height adjustment is easy, just pull the wheel off (In the back you don't even need to do that) and spin the adjustment rings with the included keys, then turn the shock body into itself and it gets lowered.

It's probably a good idea to have someone do it for you if you're not comfortable, because your car is going to drive funny if all 4 corners are at different heights.

The fronts you adjust under the shock housing (So you can just reach under and adjust them to your liking).

If you're willing to cut holes in your trunk you can adjust the rears from inside the car, otherwise you have to pull the shock out to adjust it.

 

from experience, I'd not do this again. It took far less time to pop the rears off then do the holes.

 

In all honesty I haven't found the need in close to a year to adjust my rear shocks. I've left them set how they were when I installed them (8/15) and just adjusted the fronts.

I still haven't drilled any holes for the adjustment *****.

 

after dealing with the Koni's I had, I wanted the adjustability. I run full soft in front and one or two clicks in the rear for the street and crank them down for auto-x. that's the real reason to do it...no need to compromise b/t street and the fun stuff.

 

I passed on drilling the rear holes, too. The cables seem to be either too short or too long to mount the adjusters in a good place. I've got the rears on 7/15, IIRC.

Way tossed the end links that came with the package and installed his adjustable ones in the front and rear. I already had the IE rear camber arms, so it was pretty easy to tuck the tires once we got rid of the SUV ride height

If you're only going to drop an inch, you should be okay with the oem camber arms, but you may want to hit them with a rattle can to hide them

 

I did one trackday without the adjuster cables in the rear and decided then and there to drill the holes as soon as I could. I use different settings for the street and track and wanted the ability to tweak the settings between sessions if need be. Now that I have the adjuster cables what used to be a 45 minute operation is now a 10 second operation. My only complaint is that the feel through the cables is a bit vague and its sometimes difficult to tell if you've advanced a click or not.

However, even for spirited street driving you should be fine at full soft in the rear and 3-4 clicks stiff in the front, that's my street setting and it's FAR superior handling compared to the stock setup.

 

Hi, I'm based in Malaysia.

I'll probably try to source them from a dealer closest to me. Seems Bangkok would be the nearest, unless Singapore has a dealer too.

Could you please give me a base setting which will work best for me?

I drive all year on public roads. These roads are mostly bumpy bitumen laid by unskilled bangadeshi workers. These roads do have sweepers and extend into the hills. I do need a setup that can take agressive driving. On my OEM Sport Susp, i find that to be 'floaty' in high speed directional changes.

I'm looking for high speed stability, superior directional changes, less harsh ride compared to the SS. Well..... something kick-***!

With the rear adjuster *****, anyone can throw in a pic of that there are refering to? Thanks.

Conclusion:
I won't need the Control Arms with my 1inch drop. YAY!
But what about the lower shock bushing kit being offered by outmotoring?
As well as the end-links for the rear?