Ok so long story short, I got my Mini and it is my favorite new Daily driver. I have done a ton of preventative maintenance thanks to tons of parts from Way and Alta and I still plan on doing my tensioner and crank pulley, BUT in the mean time, I have also already lowered the car on Swift Spec R Springs and HSport Control arms. The springs ride GREAT on smooth roads and handle great in the corners, but the roads where I live are AWEFUL and the ride is fairly harsh at times.

I have a set of Powerflex control arm bushings and sway bar bushings getting ready to install soon and figured it since I have some funds, why not go ahead and replace my upper mounts (going OEM) and maybe upgrade my shocks while I'm at it to get off the 56k tired stockers.

So here's my dilemma, I was fairly positive I wanted to just get Koni Sports and install the Swift springs on there, but with the cost of Koni's (found for ~$650 shipped) and the $300 I spent on the swifts I would be at around $950 for my suspension. At that price, some other things caught my eye that seem like possibilities.

Option 1.) Get the Koni yellows and run those with the Swift springs, I know Koni's are fantastic as I had them on a previous MR2 in the past and they have the lifetime warranty.

Option 2.) Get coilovers, the 2 options I am looking at right now are the New ST Coilovers or Fortune Auto Coilovers (I don't think anyone I've read about is running them, but they are a great company and offer custom valving and spring rates, are affordable, and I have them on my other MR2 and they are GREAT). I haven't heard too many reviews of the ST Coilovers for the R53 yet.

Option 3.) Just saw the H&R Cup Kit suspension as well. Springs and shocks and seems like a great price, but I know H&R stuff in my previous experiences (again, MR2 experience) has been pretty stiff for everyday driving.

My mini is my daily driver, I don't necessarily have any interest in slamming it at all an the modest 7/8" drop from the Swifts looks great to me, but I am really looking for what can be the most comfortable ride for daily driving, while still handling very well in the event I ever decide to take it to the track, which I don't really have the intentions right now.

Any input would be greatly appreciated and if you have one of the setups, your impressions would also be appreciated!

 

If you are worried about the harsh ride your choices are only going to make it worse.

I have Koni FSD and they provide a great ride with good handling but you can't lower it.

 

I totally understand that lowering a vehicle will result in a loss of comfort, but I'm 99% sure if I install Koni's with the Swift springs to get rid of my tired stock struts the ride will definitely be better all around including comfort.

More or less I'm trying to gauge how the ride would be in comparison to ST coilovers or the H&R cup kit.

More and more I'm leaning towards just getting the Koni's. I would love to get some FSD's, but I love the way the mini looks with a nice mild drop and Swift springs give me just that.

 

I have only heard that the yellows on the softest setting are still a harsher rideold than stock. Even people with "tired" struts stated this. You are not moving in the direction of comfort so you will need to make a choice. Looks and handling or comfort.

I choose handling and comfort with the FSD's. Yes, there is wheel gap but the ride and cornering is pretty awesome.

 

I've been going back and forth for weeks over going to FSD's and back to stock ride height or keeping these springs and Koni sports or Changing to a softer spring like TSW and Koni sports. Its posts like this

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...2-post141.html

that make me want to try the Koni sports and see how the difference is and adjust from there.

The more I read, the more I am marking H&R off the list because it seems like that will be more uncomfortable, I just wish some people had some input on the ST Coilovers, but I don't know how many people actually have them installed and running them.

 

Yeah, I can't comment on them as I have never ridden or driven with them. Hopefully someone that has them can pipe up.

 

My car rides better than stock with Koni Yellows and some very mild drop springs (tein h-tech). The Swifts are pretty firm, so I can't say if it will be better than stock springs and shocks but adding the Konis will be better than swifts on stock shocks at least.

I'd probably go with the Konis. And get IE fixed camber plates....screw the stock top mounts. They suck and the IEs will make huge difference in handling (and help ride quality slightly).

- drew

 

I went ahead and got a set of Koni's, found them for a REALLY good price new.

I figure I will try them with the swift springs, and if its still too harsh maybe switch springs to HSport/eibach/tsw. Will keep updated!

 

Let me know how it works out. The ST coilovers are a great choice for the Minis. They are a lot like the KW V1s but cheaper and different type of housing.

 

I'll be watching too. I have the Konis but stock springs and am considering Swifts. You have a Cabrio blue2turbo?

 

No, mine is a hardtop. But I will definitely give you my impressions either way!

As for the ST Coilovers, they were very tempting, but honestly, I like Koni's warranty and this will also keep me from lowering the car excessively

 

True. Most of my ST Mini customers set em at 1.2" and call it a day

 

Won't the IE plates raise the front of the car a little since the mounts are thicker than stock......kind of canceling out the lowering from the springs?

 

They do raise the car a few mm...maybe 5? Not a big deal for me.

- Andrew

 

Well I heard they raise the car 3/8" due to the thickness of the plates.

BUT there was a thread, forget where it was, I can probably dig it up, of someone who lowered the front of his mini an additional 1/4" with his H$R springs by trimming the brake line bracket and modifying the pinch bolt location.

My upper mounts are in good shape for now, but when that changes, I will probably get a set of IE Fixed plates and do the same to cancel out the raised effects of the IE plates.

 

Found it

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...front-end.html

 

blue2turbo
I believe that the reports of the I.E. plates that raise the ride height 3/8" are for the adjustable plates. The I.E. fixed plates do not raise the height much at all. I will say un noticeable to 1/8" in my case.
Steve

[QUOTE=blue2turbo;3438036]Well I heard they raise the car 3/8" due to the thickness of the plates.

 

May be too late now, but one of the vendors on this site had the FSD's for $620. Pretty good deal, I think.

 

Do you remember what venndor?

 

Do you remember what vendor?

 

www.motoringwerks.com

Just enter fsd in their quick search bar.

 

I have the IE adjustables so I may have the added 3/8". Since the car came with them (PO tracked the car) and I have no plans on tracking or racing I wonder if these are even needed and if they affect the ride quality? This is a DD but only on gets 5k at the most per year as it's intended to be a car driven on nice/sunny top down days.

 

I doubt they effect ride quality, they may develop some noises down the road, but the only way I can think of them effecting ride quality is in the handling.

Honestly mine is a DD and will not see the track, so I don't want anything that possibly increases the wear on my tires. I even had some of the factory rear negative camber taken out when I got my HSport rear camber arms.

I'm going to continue to run the stock upper mounts and just get a 22mm rear sway bar as my next mod.

 

I get even wear with my setup...toe is the real killer, not camber (unless you run -2 or more). I also took out a bunch of rear camber to improve handling.

The fixed plates help ride quality and improve durability because they have a much beefier bearing and a little more cushioning than the awful oem mounts.

just my opinion.

 

The IE fixed camber mounts say that they will give around -1.25 camber when used with stock springs....and more neg camber with lowering springs.

Does anyone know how much camber they give when used with springs like the Hsports that give around a 1" drop? I would like to do the IE plates, and Hsport springs.....but I don't want so much negative camber on the front wheels that it really wears the tires down quick. This is a DD car....no track time.

Thanks!