I've searched and gotten more misses than hits for answers so if this has been asked before, I apologize.

1. Springs and suspensions question- I told one of my colleagues(who has modded his own car quite a bit) that I wanted to get springs to lower my Clubman non-s to get rid of the gap, without changing the suspension. He mentioned how he did that before on his car and it created a harsher ride. Basically the lower springs compresses the stock suspension more than usual which leaves less suspension left. He advised doing a swap on both.

Question is; is this true on the Mini? What am I looking at if I switch both springs and suspension?(do it yourselfer) Is it just better to do a coilover mod? Or are these two seperate things?

2. Sway bars question- Is the rear sufficient or is it important to do both at once? What do sway bar control arms actually do? I keep hearing how they take the most loads so does it not make sense to switch these out when you switch sway bars out?

Trying to get out of this for under 1 grand. Few other mods I intend to do such as installing fog lights, tinting, etc.

Thanks in advance.

 

Answer to Number 2 the rear is enough I recommend a 19'' it made a world of difference on my cooper s (I realize you're talking about the clubman though)

 

I would suggest you do a search on this forum as well as the R53 suspension forum. You will gain lots of info and opinions.

I am in the same boat as you but for totally different reasons. I want to change my suspension because I got the auto X bug but I could care less about lowering the car for looks I just want to minimize understeer.

The cheapest way to lower the car is lowering springs. This runs $200-$300 + installation. This works or doesn't work depending on who chimes in. Coilovers run $1000 to $3000 + install depending on what system you get. As you can see this is a huge gap and could be why some choose the lowering springs. You always have the JCW suspension option which runs around $1000 + installation. You would only lower the car 4/10" but it is a system made for the car by the manufacturer.

I've installed a 19mm rear sway bar. I could tell the difference this bar made on the street but I bought it mainly for auto X where it did lower understeer. It's a good mod for the mini. Some will tell you to buy a larger bar but for street use only it is sufficient I think.

Good luck on your suspension search.

Edit: I re-read your original post. You only need to change the rear sway bar. The sway bar does just what it says makes the car sway/roll less in turns, which also decreases understeer when driving at the limit.

 

If your going to lower the car and do the work yourself go ahead and do the rear swaybar. When you have the rear struts out you have half the work of putting the swaybar in done. An H-sport bar will make a huge difference.

Also if you lower the car. NO matter how you do it springs or coilovers you'll need rear lower control arms, otherwise you'll have too much rear camber and be buying a new set of tires soon.

If you want to do coilovers and stay under 1k, the Megan R56 coilovers may be an option for you at $950shipped. They also include front camber plates and rear upper pillow ball mounts.

Spring only options still need further testing to work with extra rear weight of a clubman.

 

hey miniguru, if i were to get (~8k spring rate) coilovers for my R56, and camber plates, and set up the alignment with 2.5deg neg camber front, and 1.8 neg camber rear, wouldn't adding a rear bar make the car too tail happy?