So I've had on some of the 1st generation Megan coilovers on for a few years & have put in probably about 40k miles on them.

At very first I appreciated the noticeable increase of firmness & lack of body roll & described the ride as 'sporty'. I seem to remember it feeling stiffened, but still somewhat resilient. Now I believe either I've gotten really old in the past few years, or the ride has degraded into what I'd now call harsh & unrelenting. Driving through city streets is an extremely rough, jarring, rattling ride, even more noticeably in colder weather. It smooths out somewhat on warmer days, or after having driven a while. The ride is still very nice on a totally smooth highway, but I have to drive through some very rough stuff (like the freeway) to get there. Bumps that rock me and my MINI's world are not even felt in my GF's car... I've hit my head on the headliner a few times on city streets recently due to the uncompliance...

I'd installed these coilovers with the intent of improved performance for HPDE's and autocross. After some bad luck & encounters with off-piste shrubbery, I've not done an autocross nor driving day in over a year. (Not to mention my autoX wheels with Azenis were stolen off my car!!)

I'm now in a little different place in my life & am thinking of 'reconfiguring' the MINI towards a 'performance touring' concept. My idea is that I'll be able to comfortably drive it all day, but still hold some of its handling sharpness for spirited driving & track events.

I'm considering ditching the coilovers alltogether to go for some of the TSW springs & some adjustable shock perhaps. It seems that people prefer the ride over stock & they still offer a performance enhancement.

I guess what I'm after is a ride more similar to stock, but just a little stiffer. I'm into keeping it reasonably lowered from stock height, within an inch or so. I'd like to be able to enjoy the roads again!

I'm open to suggestions, especially from those who've had some FHE with the various suspension options out there. Who's got the best 'performance touring' setup out there?

 

I felt that way about the Megans I had from the very beginning. For me, I lived in an area with lots of rough roads so I felt the jarring and slamming all the time. In general coilovers aren't the most comfortable solution.

You might need better springs on the Megans..I know some people have done that to improve the ride. For me, I went to Cross Coilovers from RMW and that solved my ride problems. Feels as comfy as stock even though I'm slammed.

Course, I have a new daily driver now, a 1988 MR2 and the struts on here are so compliant that I barely feel speed bumps whereas I avoided them like the plague in the MINI.

Richard

 

You may want to check out the H&R Street Performance coilovers at around $1,000 (These do not come with camber plates). You can start at .7-.6 inch lowering. I went for a ride in Longboard Mini's S with these and 215/35x18 (non run-flat) tires and was surprised to find the ride very smooth over bumps, expansion joints and such, and much more compliant than my GP with the JCW suspension and 205/55x16 tires (non-runflat).

See if you can find someone with these to go for a test ride.

I already bought some Cross coilovers which have not been installed yet and may be okay for me, but am considering going to the H&R's as I rarely track the car and may like the more compliant ride better. My next step is to take a ride in a Cross equipped MINI to help with the decision.

Good luck,

Lee

 

with 40K on the Megan's it's time to rebuild the struts and might need to upgrade the front spring rate. Check the front spring rate, in the early days Megan shipped 6kg front and rear, now we only ship 8kg front and 6kg rear.

Might also think about going back to OEM struts with TSW Springs and IE fixed camber plates. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you.

 

Aye! I did discover the spring rate change, contacted Megan & have procured the updated front springs per their recommendation. They're sitting in a box in my garage, so I've yet to test them out. I think that you're probably right about the struts needing a rebuild as well & likely what's causing the harshness in ride quality. I do seem to remember them being pretty live-able. Is the strut rebuild something my local suspension shop could do, or do they need to be sent in?

 

If you remember I worked with Meagan trying to sort out some of their problems...in the beginning the provided spring length was too short and the bumpstop was too large.

Their fix was to incorporate the rear bump stop in the front and obviously add longer front springs to the kit. The bumpstop is not the multicellular type found in the stock strut but a very hard rubber unit that caused a series of instant slides during my first track event with this kit. The slides were convincing enough so I checked the travel between one session and sure enough...

Once the bumpstop issue was fixed I went back to the track with near similar results...I did not notice the spring bind because when I checked for travel and bumpstop interference I removed the spring so I could compress the suspension with my hands. But alas, the springs reached block height very quickly.

AutoXCooper is correct...but the Meagan dampers - not sleeves - are throw away units at about $70.00 each. In other words not worth a re-build. Buy new...my very old Meagan headache is coming back

My suggestions...a TSW Adjustable coil over kit...or JCW springs (10mm drop) with either Koni single adjustable or Bilstein dampers...or Swift springs mated to Koni or bilstein as a stock strut...or Swift springs and an adjustable coil over kit you can purchase sans springs...Ryan has such a kit - Ryephile.

Personally if I were to read your mind and your goals I would stick with a stock strut setup - nothing adjustable. Select Bilstein with the JCW spring or Swift spring. Koni is fine, but the rear dampers must be removed to make valving adjustments...if you buy these you will no doubt go thru a setup phase that will have you remove the rear dampers a couple of times before you get it right...front and rear valving have to work to gether so this will be a forward and backward process. The advantage here is you can tailor the valving to your comfort level with a little extra up front work.

KIS...

 

Yes meb, I've spent hours reading many many of your discussions regarding the Megan coilovers & did end up getting some of the longer, stiffer springs for the front recently (though yet to be installed).

I feel that my mind has been read! I think I'm starting to agree that my best solution will be a closer to stock configuration. Unfortunately I have little time for tinkering around as of late, so a lack of adjustability might be just the ticket for me too!

 

The best easy and forget is JCW and Bilstein HD...both are availablewithout worry. Not that Swift is a worry, you have to select spring rates...

You can PM Khuevo and ask him aboout the Nurburgring Bilstein Dampers he used...these were tested there.

 

Who carries the JCW springs & the Bilstein HD?

I'm also considering the TSW springs, IE fixed camber plate & stock struts as AutoXCooper suggested. I'm thinking a simplified solution would probably be best for me!

I also like the idea of the Craven under tower indurators for a little more protection for my (now surely mushroomed) strut towers. I already have the M7 strut brace w/ plates. Any issues to be aware of with using these with the IE fixed plates?

 

There is no need to use the Craven under plates, or even top plates, with IE camber plates.

 

I agree since the spring suggestions are fairly close to stock. When you consider running 400# - 500# springs up front with the appropriate dampers then you should consider beefing up the strut towers...if you already have the M7 anit-mushrooming plates then you have made an improvement that you may not need...but peice of mind is hard to argue with. I used these plates with heavy springs with success.

JCW - John Cooper Works - order from Mini/BMW...they should basically be giving these away at this point. Replace the bumpstops too...I would advise you replace the rear isolators as well, but these can only be purchased with the upper spring perch and are a wee bit expensive - don't use poly here if comfort is one of your goals.