FSD's all installed this week re-using the stock springs (same as Justa springs, MCS with no Sport package).

Drove 700+ miles yesterday west to east and back across Washington state, riding on the just installed FSD's. Went over some good construction area rough roads and typical bridge joints etc all day long. Mostly 60-70MPH roads, rough worn concrete, new asphalt you name it.. Still need to wash all the grasshoppers out of the MINI's teeth. Not to mention the several dozen field mice that ran cross the MINI's path in the course of the midnight drive home - gave a whole new meaning to the term "run flat" tires!

Most def took the harshness out of the big bumps. Don't really think it's night-and-day difference over-all. Car has 16" Conti ProContact SSR run-flats. Still very firm ride most of the time, just like OEM. (Heck as far as that goes, my GMC 2500HD crew cab diesel truck rides almost as good as the MINI. Have Bilstien shocks on it).

I will say the Justa loaner we had for the install day, with it's thicker, softer, shorter bolstered Justa seats road the best of any MINI we have driven. Seemed like less headroom though on those thick seats. It had the same brand/model Conti ProContact tires, but in 15" non runflats.

 

Base MCS is far stiffer than Justa springs. Justa is quite civil and soft.
Anyway, how is it for control? If you hit a bump or expansion joint in a corner, does it still want to bounce in the air like the Delphi shocks causing you to jump sideways? They are a performance shock, so they should be firm. But they should do the job of a shock which is keeping your tire in contact with the road. A function not done by the MCS Delphi's.

 

Does anyone have the part numbers for the Justa spring vs base MCS? The dealership parts dept told me they were the same I thought, see my post #127 and your post 128 above. Maybe they just meant I had the softest MCS spring.

I thought Justa and Base MCS was 1 spring.
Justa with sport pakage, or Base MSC with sport package another spring.
JCW the 3rd possible OEM spring.
JCW with sport package the 4th OEM spring.

I know in the MINIUSA configurator you can add the sport suspension package to both the Justa and the MCS and JCW for that matter.

I would have gone Justa springs if it's different, too late for me - but others might want the info.

Yes the ride is VERY controlled and planted. I-90 over Snoqualmia Pass has a series of 3 or 4 huge sunken roadway dips that make most cars including my truck bounce a ways afterwards at 70mph. The MINI came down firm and planted off each ready for the next.



Interstingly - There is a new Justa at work that went the optional 16" black wheels, with the optional Conti SSR run flats. Even though it has a spare. Wonder how it rides......

 

Justa might have different shocks which could be a big part of the ride quality difference.

I'd still be worried about putting even softer (if they are indeed different then MCS) Justa springs on the already overdamped, short travel, MCS shocks. Overdamped with soft springs means the cars gonna jack down and ride like poo.

My gut feeling is that the springs are the same, the shocks are different. Or everything is the same, and the fact that the Justa usually is on 15 inch wheels accounts for the difference. I have absolutely nothing to back that up though. Really I have no idea.

I know I wouldn't bother putting Justa springs on an MCS to improve ride quality. Change the shocks and get rid of the runflats.

- drew

 

By much searching, and admittedly not fully reliable info, I found several references that the Justa spring was in the 3.2K range and the MCS in the 4.9K range. "Sport package" in the 5.1K range. As they are built in tender and somewhat progressive, who the heck knows without pulling them out and measuring them at inch increments to plot a curve. The "spec" number should be at ride height, but again, who knows. I also had a reference the R53 was in the 2.9 range.

Whatever the answer, the MCS Delphi shocks are garbage and that is most of the problem.

Drew, still trying to find a Friday to run my car by the shop. Darn job cuts into my play time. I will be at the C3M meet for coffee tomorrow.

 

Q & A:

Does a Justa base have the same suspension as the MCS base?

What does the sport suspension add to each Justa and MCS? Dif springs or just dif sway bars or both?

What does sport suspension add to the JCW? Dif springs or just dif sway bars or both?

 

#1 NO. Justa suspension is much softer than MCS base. Go drive them! MCS and Works have the same suspension. The Works PACKAGE is different and may be bought for any car.

#2 An increased REAR bar helps the balance tremendously. I would not increase the front bar on a street car. The goal for better balance is to reduce the horrendous under-steer. You do that by a larger rear bar on street cars.

 

Please take a look at my posts about a 2010 Justa with front suspension bottoming issues: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...bottoming.html

Has anyone installed Bilstein HDs on a Justa or used Justa springs on a Cooper S with Bilstein HDs?

Thanks,

DOC

 

Took the non runflats in my sig to transform our MINI's ride. I would recommend ditching the runflats FIRST. Then try shocks. I think we would have been happy with just the tires and no FSD's.



Side note - Picked up an aluminum roofing nail in the shoulder of one new tire only 16 days after buying them. Thankfully had Discount Tire road hazard as the tire was not repairable in that area.

 

With all the great reviews, I'm thinking replace my 2008 MCS base suspension with the Bilstein HD. I found www.bavauto.com $460 shipped. Is that the lowest price?

 

You will not be disappointed. The Bilsteins are such a great improvement over the stock struts. Bavarian Auto had the best price I found too. BUY THEM!

 

Try these sources:

http://www.shockwarehouse.com/

http://eshocks.com/

http://jdmultimate.com/store/product...?itemid=342345

 

So... close... to pulling the trigger on these

 

I can't find a price close to Bavarian Autosprot for Bilstein HDs for the Mini (even without their annual sale 10% discount, which has ended).

DOC

 

See my post about bilstein hd install; https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ttoming-2.html

DOC

 

Just can't wait until next summer for the 10% off sales from bavauto.com , ordered the HD today but was told they are out of stock and will take 4-5 weeks to re-stock.

 

Son of a... That's not good.

 

Blah!! I need them for the end of october for a yearly rally i've been looking forward to all year!!
My blown struts will not cut it...

 

FYI, ordered from TurnerMotorsport and they quoted only 1 week shipping delay from CA, then 1 week UPS ground to get to me from CALI to CONNECTICUT, so it will be 2 weeks total, which is half the time from Bav Auto. It maybe an estimate from BavAuto, but, at the same time, Turner also price matched me to BavAuto's Price, 459.xx shipped.

 

NEVER MIND: I found it via google. Thanks.....

Do you have the part numbers you used at TurnerMotorsport?

Also, a link to the proper ordering page, if you saved it?

TIA, I may need to get some new shocks on scooter with my tsw springs.

Ride quality has gotten a bit harsher with 31K miles and about 18K on the tsws and base shocks.

Don

 

Just to let anyone on this thread know, who is considering Koni FSD's: they do not help with the steering wheel jerking around in your hand when going over bumps. They vastly improve both the ride and the handling over the cheap OEM shocks, but they don't do a thing for bump steer, etc.

 

Whoops. Double post, sorry.

 

@Don Sorry I never saw your post, but anyways- read below, as it doesnt matter anymore.

I'm utterly upset. Its been over 3 weeks since I ordered my Bilstein HD shocks and struts from TURNERMOTORSPORT. When ordering, I was told Bilstein in Cali was a week behind in shipping, so they wouldn't ship out for a week. Once they did, I would get a confirmation and be charged via email and they would take another week to ship out ground to connceticut. Fine no problem. About 2 weeks. A week and a half later I sent another email to Turnermotorsport since I hadn't heard any confirmation yet. They simply said (now that my order has been placed) that they don't know Bilsteins shipping schedule, so he doesn't know when they'll ship out. Now, at the end of the month (ordered Oct 5), I haven't heard any updates. So I decide to email them again. He then responds 2 seconds later saying the rears came in on the 12th. Also, when they called bilstein they said they had 1 set in stock in cali but by the time the order was placed a few hours later they had been sold. They are not getting anymore until Feb 2011. ?!?!?!?
I wonder if I never emailed him whether he'd ever think to tell me or just keep me waiting for as long as I could?
ugh.

Also, when I emailed on the 15th, there was no mention that the rear shocks "came in", even though they were supposed to be sent directly to my address.

Whatever, thats another failed vendor/shop.

Should have went with bav auto in the first place. They have a strong rep, but since turner said 2 weeks vs bav auto's 4 weeks, I went with turner.
Now I won't have these replacements until next spring (prob at that point will wait till summer to get 10% off at bav auto)
ugh. Not a happy camper. This will be fun going through the winter with blown struts.

 

I have ordered lots of stuff from TMS before and have been satisfied with their producrts and service. Not sure what is happening with them but know Bilstein can be a pain to deal with. I ordered Bilstein through tirerack early this year and they delayed my order for 5 months, and even gave away my coils to someone else in the meantime and made me wait twice. Thank goodness for Alex and tirerack, otherwise I would probably be waiting for two more months.

 

Whoah! What a drag! If I buy them I guess I'll just see if I can find them locally; might spend more but there's no way in hell I'm waiting until freaking Spring to get 'em.

Sorry about that -- must be frustrating.