I'm glad that you are enjoying them, we have heard nothing but good things from our customers regarding Swift's springs.

 

More harsh than I felt at first, maybe it was the roads I was on right off or they are collapsing/ settling? Or my car with me and and all the other stuff loaded into it is heavier than most?

 

What shocks are you using?

 

27K factory sport stockers

 

JPMM,
I am running TSW springs. I originally put them on my sport shocks (Cooper S sport on the label), and felt that they were harsh as well. I picked up a used set of shocks from a JCW (Cooper S on the label), and noticed a significant difference in ride with no detriment to handling. I was a little suprised to see the labels on the shocks not say JCW or something special. For $80 for the set, it was easy money for me to spend, compared to konis or another major step up.
My car is a daily driver, and I just push it on some on ramps and such. Our roads are rough around Buffalo, so I like the change that happened with swapping out the shocks. Just a thought for you, if you want to think about changing your shocks on the cheap.
BTW, what are your fender lip heights? Mine are about 24", and the car looks like it should have from the factory (not lowered). I think that NM's are about 23.5".

Oh yeah, where are the pictures?

Have fun,
Mike

 

The Cooper S shocks that you got from the JCW were the stock S shocks not the JCWs. The JCW suspension upgrade is a dealer installed option and most people don't buy it (I passed it up for the Sports suspension). The S shocks are softer than the Sport shocks; the JCWs would be stiffer than than the Sport shocks.

BTY - Does anyone know the spring rates for the stock springs. My guess is that the Swift springs are stiffer and that will result in a stiffer ride.

 

 

Looking good, I like the rake on the car (started as a street rodder). Your front is probably a full inch lower than mine, and the rear is about 1/2 lower.

Good looking, agressive car.

 

thanks but remember I have those big tires too ,to fill up the gaps

 

Wow the car looks good. Are those real TE's?

 

thanks,yea I have some stickers I need to put on them

heres a set , might still be available, 8" wide too
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-bronze&cat=46

 

bumping an old thread to see if there's any additional input on adding koni's to the swift setup? I have a set of swifts on an '11 MCS and stock dampers, 15k miles. Love the handling and performance of the springs but medium road imperfections like concrete freeway expansion joints or the like will buck me out of my seat. Just wondering if this is normal fare for this setup and/or would some koni yellows mellow out those times when the current set up kicks me in the ***....hahaha

 

Koni yellows should improve the ride. And I'd trim the bumpstops.

- andy

 

I would not recommend trimming the bumpstops, as it is really unneccessary. The Koni's do have tighter valving which can be harsher on some roads, but I have heard nothing but good things about Koni yellows with Swfit springs on the MINI.

 

I disagree. The car runs almost on the bumpstops stock so dropping the car an inch is putting you into them at rest. Your springrate is ramping up very quickly and spiking quite high, making it easy to overload the tires. You might lose some turn-in, but you'll gain front grip with different or carefully trimmed bumpstops (trim from the stiffer end).

As for the Konis...it's just a better all around shock. OEM Mini shocks are junk and ride poorly.

- drew

 

The cutting of bumpstops is almost like a tuning device for your front rates. The bumpstop on the mini are a fairly linear rate, and progresses at the end. The stock bumpstops are also a zero rate for the first quarter of an inch, if you look inside you will see that it is hollow. When I measured the distance from the shock to where the bumpstop is at static height with the Swifts it sits about a quarter of an inch before first initial contact. If you factor that in the motion ratio you have more than half an inch of wheel travel before the rate of the bump stop is effective. Once you have hit the bumpstop you have about .6inches of travel on the bumpstop of 150lbs of linear rate, once again you factor in motion ratio, though not that much more than .6" it is still more.


Of course some people like cutting the bumpstops, but this should be purely for ride settings, this again is a give and take. If you shorten the bumpstop you are not only decreasing the stroke of the bumpstop but you are also sacrificing the rate, especially if you are cutting the bumpstop from the top. Even cutting the bump stop a quarter of an inch the bumpstop rate will increase exponentially, Which is exactly the opposite of what your wanting to do.

Customers have asked me about upgrading bumpstops, and although there are quite a few companies out there that make them, the ones I don't recommend are the rubber or poly bushings, ex. energy, eibach, longacre, as these are strictly designed to protect the shock and will not give any performance gains.

 

One source says 20mm til you touch the bumpstop on stock springs:
http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com/FCM_Products_Mini.htm

Another says 0.2 inches (approx 5mm):
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...on-travel.html

^ That's closer to my experience with my R53.

Either way, lowering an inch (25mm) with the Swifts put you into the bumpstops. I'm not saying that's the end of the world and Mini obviously designed it into the system for their own reasons like many other cars that are bumpstop active. I just don't like it.

If I had an R56 I'd probably go with the Swifts. It just sucks that Mini gave us so little bump travel to work with and I'd personally do my best to get some back with a shorter and maybe slightly softer bumpstop.

- andy

 

Thanks for the feedback guys. I originally had Eibach MEGAMINI (an ABF Spec Eibach) Springs on her and when they did the install they did cut the bump stops at the tapered end, not the wider base.

I'm looking into the Fat Cat Motorsports bump stops, KONI and any other resolutions. Like I said they are firm and comfortable on normal to small road imperfections but the medium to large imperfections are "kick u out of the seat" harsh.

We'll see what resolution seems best after some more research, but the FCM bump stops are a cheap (parts wise, not installation wise) starting point.

 

My TSW's behaved much better with the shorter bumpstops offered by WMW, and they drop the car less than your swifts. I recently added Konis, and reinstalled the bumpstops. There was some minor damage to the shorter bump stops, but I felt good about reinstalling them. My car rides significantly better with the Koni's then the stock shocks, and handling is more predictable.

Mike

 

To sumint's feedback on the ride - I actually traded in my '07 on a 13 and put the Swifts on the new car. On the '07 with the non-sport dampers the ride was actually really livable like I originally posted.

On the new car with the sport suspension dampers it is noticeably stiffer and if you get the right rhythm going on seamed roads I've seen the same thing. Still pretty livable as a dd, but I have a pretty high tolerance for stiff suspension. The sport dampers on the new car did up the ante a bit though.

I'm interested too on feedback on anyone with Koni Yellow / Spec-R set up, especially for track day / autoX use. I'm sure its great.

 

gowebster!! The new PW looks sweet!! Congrats man. Still hoping to get some Swift springs for myself