Anyone that puts that much time, thought, and work into what they want their car to do deserves a thumbs up. Dosent matter what peoples personal prefferance is they can atleast respect the work.


IIRC Sport Compact Car magazine, had the Praxis system installed on one of their Subarus (a long time ago) and it had a bunch of problems, from the self leveling to changing the spring rates mid corner on the track. Needless to say they went back to static after the second or third track day.

I hope all of that got worked out.

 

Yah, I'm not quite sure what happened with that as I haven't looked into praxis much since then. My management is made by Accuair. They're an incredible bunch of guys and their management is easily the best in the industry. It has special algorithms to ensure proper leveling without ever leveling mid corner or during driving. It's constantly learning and comparing previous information to adapt to your cars suspension and your driving situations. If you make a suspension change, it will learn and adjust appropriately. I haven't had a single issue with it since I installed it. It levels to the same height every day when i turn my car on whether it's just me or 3 of my friends in the car.

3 preset ride heights for low show cruising, daily driving, and performance mode to make things easy. Just a hit of the button and you can go from my low daily height to a nice stiff spring rate and reasonable height to hit the mountain roads My -6 camber goes right back to OEM spec and the airride becomes nice and stiff with plenty of travel when the height is set to performance mode.

Here's the brains, manifold, height sensors, and compressors for the accuair management:

 

I like the looks of a moderately lowered mini......that's why I will never do it to mine.....because as you said it, I don't ever want to get "high centered going down a 2" slope in my driveway". ha!

 

So Stance, how much does all this cost installed? Seems like a nice setup for some folks.

 

Glad you showed up on the thread Rally. I have learned so much from you and the rest of the Pit Crew. Why people choose to be so closed minded about things they don't understand makes no sense to me.

 

Pricing on setups varies a great deal as it does with coilovers. You can get cheap struts or performance struts, manual management or intelligent digital management, etc.

Price ranges from the budget builds at $1500 to the high end builds that could easily get up to $5000. Like anything else, you get what you pay for.

 

not minis but beautiful

 

Ok I've been standing by watching people place wide rims on lowered vehicles all the while feeling left out. I love the look and I'm near 50yrs. I just realized I have a set of old school staggered BBS 16x8/16x9 2pc rims in my garage from my old 635csi. They're 27y/o. Now I know someone out there can tell me if they'll work on an R53 S. Other than getting the correct adapters and new clear coat (or Gloss Black powder) what's gotta be done?

STANCE: I know you're out there.

 

i love those i wish i could afford some

 

I don't know why I didn't think of them, they've been setting around for 10yrs.

 

Those are actually three piece wheels made by BBS. Check the back for stampings to indicate their offset. That will be the deciding factor as to whether you have the room for adapters or not.

Edit, just noticed you posted a pic with the stamping. They're et24 which is too low for adapters. You could have them filled and redrilled but some people don't like the idea of that.

 

anyone know where to get deals on old wheels like the corvette saw blades/ salad shooters or bbs lookin rims id love to save up and purchase them i live in colorado tho not alot of shops here locally

 

I Saw a few sets of the Salad Shooters on ebay last night. You'll want the mid 80's.

 

Rally: 4 lug to 5 lug conversion won't work?

 

what about these?

Bolt Pattern: 5x120.65 Rim Width: 8.5
Rim Brand: GM Rim Diameter: 16
Manufacturer Part Number: OEM 1985 Offset: 32 mm
Rim Structure: One Piece Number of Bolts: 5 (5X120)

 

i want these badly ahhhhh

 

$1500-$5000 just to lower your mini? All just for looks? Does a setup like that handle as good as $1500-$5000 worth of coilovers? I doubt it since all the money goes into the airbags and controller....not the compression and rebound dampening valving like a good set of coilovers.

What am I missing? Sounds like way too much money for what you actually get?

 

i agree

 

That'd be the point that you're be missing. The quality (expensive) air struts have customized rebound, damping, and valving just like high end race coilovers. I've owned MINIs for years and been through countless setups. Koni yellows, lowering springs, multiple coilover sets, etc...and my current airbag setup handles better and rides more comfortably than any of my previous settings. You're only going to get to $5000 if you're buying the absolute best of the best components and all the extra bells and whistles. I spent nowhere near the $5k guesstimate that I provided and my struts are comprised of damping adjustable bilstein race struts that were custom valved to my specs and shortened to my needs. Replace my bags with perches and springs and you'd have a competition ready autocross strut setup with superior travel specs compared to what's offered out there.

Other than that, you're paying for adjustability through the cockpit. If you're going on a long trip you can hit a switch and make your ride more comfortable. If you get to a parking lot with a steep incline you can instantly raise your car to get over it. If you want to be super low at a car show it takes a few seconds to air out. Want to stiffen up your suspension to hit a curvy road? It takes the flick of a switch and when you're ready to return home on the boring freeway you can go right back to a comfortable setting.

It all comes down to personal preference. Spending $2500 to lower your car and have adjustability is just like spending $2500 to get your car 35hp....it all comes down to what the owner wants out of their car. In the grand scheme of things, there's nothing rational about spending money to modify a car. You never get returns on your investment and the depreciation is exponential, but we all do it because we are passionate (and crazy) about our cars.

 

Doesn't your toe-in, and camber change every time you lower or raise your car on the airbags? Isn't your alignment all over the place? What kind of miles are you getting on your tires? I would think a setup like that would be awesome for a show car, or a car that doesn't see lots of miles....but for a daily driver that has 40+ miles of highway driving a day put on it...I would think that a static setup with a constant would be better. Right?

I don't see how you would go from stock ride height to slammed...without affecting all of your alignment on the front/rear end. Some of you guys are running 5+ negative degrees camber.....I bet that eats up tires like crazy!!

 

Those are why I was on ebay last night

 

i found quite a few sets none of them are able to ship lol except for some nice sets

 

In general you have your aligment set at the preset ride height where you spend 99% of your time. Your alignment would be out of wack at the "all the way down" setting and the "all the way up" setting...but you don't spend much time at those heights and it's generally spent going slowly over bumps or cruising at shows.

I put on over 13k miles on my car this past year and my tires have plenty of life left on them. I had them rotated when I last swapped wheels. I have -6 camber when all the way down, but it's not that extreme at my daily height.

Obviously you can easily adjust your toe and camber curves through geometry adjustments, which will also aid in the bumpsteer, roll center, and other issues inherent in slammed ride heights. That's on my to-do list.

Obviously this modification (like all others) isn't for everybody. Inevitably a static setup will be better for some owners based on their requirements. For me, airride has been a far better option than the coilovers that I tried. They didn't meet my personal needs. Like I've said before....it all comes down to what the owner wants out of their car.

 

Who cares how much it costs to get the look and performance that you want and can afford. Love the bantering, though. We are individuals, like our cars, right? Sorry for stating the obvious, it seems some are oblivious! Even if the mods aren't for me or my ride I can appreciate. Impressive knowledge here also from you guys about suspension setups. Nice pics too!

 

Not with the use of adapters. Adapters generally lower your offset atleast 18-25mm which will make those wheel offsets too low.

You could convert your hubs to 5 lug as I have done, but to get them to 5x120 you have A LOT of extra work and machining to do because there's not enough room to fit the 120mm PCD onto the stock hubs.