Hi everyone, I am thinking about lowering my MCS... but I hv no idea which spring to go for. (well. coilover is too expensive for me)! H&R...ALTA...H-Sport??? which one has the most drop?? which one has a stiffer ride?

thanks a lot

ED

 

well I've had experiences so far with 2. the H-sport is pretty stiff and is a 40mm drop fonrt and rear. The M7 spring is a 30mm drop all the way around but is softer, but progressive.

 

>>Hi everyone, I am thinking about lowering my MCS... but I hv no idea which spring to go for. (well. coilover is too expensive for me)! H&R...ALTA...H-Sport??? which one has the most drop?? which one has a stiffer ride?

ED,

HR is lowest at more than an inch, H-sport is next at 1 inch front and back. Both are stiff but not bad.
Eibach and Alta are a little less drop but very close to 1 inch and give a ride that is closer to stock. (not as stiff)

I have H-sport and it seems fine to me for street driving and for autocross.
I have never had a dropped car before.

 

thank you everyone...so basically which brand is more reliable?

thanks once again....

Ed

 

>>thank you everyone...so basically which brand is more reliable?

Generally springs are pretty good for reliability- or that issue is not a factor. I'm sure that sometimes a spring might go bad and only in one case with a set of eibachs have I ever heard there was a problem with sagging.

You do the install and wait a bit for the car to settle but usually the car is lowered by the set amount. Even with hard use the springs hold up very well. Most of us have only been using springs in 1 or 2 race seasons and we are just starting a third- so far no one is complaining.

Cost varies some. At Outmotoring.com
Alta Sport Springs was $259.95 NOW $179.95
H&R Sport Springs $259.95
Eibach Pro Kit Springs $269.95

From Helix13.com
H-sports are $215
H&R springs are $226
"All H&R springs are put through the exclusive "Blok Setting", a process whereby the springs are pre-sagged, preventing any settlement on your car. The Stage 2 springs lower the car 1.2" in the front and 1.3" in the rear and are 30% stiffer than stock for the Cooper and 24% stiffer for the S." Lifetime warranty.

 

I did some research and ppl said that it's better to get the REAR CONTROL ARMS if i m planning to lower my car. I have couple questions for tat.

1- is it jux the look? (the camber angle?) or

2- is it bacause I can't make it back to the right aligment? I'm a person tat will be annoyed by aligment problem!!!

Please give me advice guys

Thanks

Ed

 

If you're concerned with alignment, then control arms is a must. I just installed the Alta springs with H-sport control arms. Very happy with the setup! I have an appt for alignment on Friday as the camber in the rear is quite noticeable. :smile:

 

Moss currently has the KW springs on sale for $170. My friend has them and loves them. I am getting a set for me.
http://www.mossmini.com/Shop/ViewPro...eIndexID=34121

 

I have the alta springs as well.... couldn't be happier with them. the ride is almost the same as stock, (with a little sporting stiffness), and the drop is "advertised" as .75 inch, but i think its closer to 1.25 inch... its considerable enough to "look" lowered.

I did some research and found the Altas are actually made for alta by H&R.... so consider them similar to H&R springs that aren't as low.

 

The lowest drop is ACTUALLY FK springs which drop around 1.5 and those can be found at http://www.momentumminiparts.com

 

>>I did some research and found the Altas are actually made for alta by H&R.... so consider them H&R springs that aren't as low. :smile:

 

>>The lowest drop is ACTUALLY FK springs which drop around 1.5 and those can be found at http://www.momentumminiparts.com

THe link for suspension has been removed. Any idea how much those springs are?

 

H-sports is what I use. very happy with the stance and ride quality.

next up would be to go KW's for me.

 

to clarify this rumor, i will re-iterate that i didn't say altas were H&R's..... but altas are made by H&R... which i still maintain after talking to alta and hearing this first hand. Alta supposedly gives H&R their "specs", and H&R makes the springs for alta....

although for the record i can't imagine alta knowing spring tuning better than H&R, who makes springs for just about anybody. Methinks Alta simply said "Just don't make them as low as yours, and paint 'em blue!".....

 

With all this talk of springs recently, I would have thought more vendors/manufacturers would have responded. I'm still waiting for someone other the H-sport to post what their spring rates are. It is all well and good that they give the amount of lowering, but I also want to know the rates. It helps to make a more informed decision, and a percentage over stock does not really mean too much. Just my $.02

Fred

 

You might do a search and find many old threads about this same topic.
see
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...amp;topic=7702
and
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...mp;topic=11642

_________________
Aloha Hawaii

 

Hi guys.... as we mentioned the rear control arms perviosly, I jux want to make sure what do I have to get before I place my order. (assuming I am ordering the H&R stage 2 lowering spring)

1-will there be no aligment problem in the front, can they be set back to factory spec?

2-The problem from the rear is only a noticable camber? Will I be able to feel it while I m driving?

thanks a lot

Ed

 

My rear camber without the adustable control arms was way off. I had to get the control arms for proper alignment. Extreme negative camber (don't know degree ranges) is great for cornering but not so good going straight. You may also get MARKED wear on the insides of the tires. The control arms are not so difficult to install after the fact, you could always try with out the adjustable control arms and see. If you're going to get the H & R's, you'll very likely need the control arms. I have h-sport control arms with the H & R springs.

 

I have the H&R springs on my MC... after installing them, there is more negative camber in the rear, but it's closer to what I wanted it to be for autocrossing.

A couple of people in our local club noticed severe negative camber in the rear after install the H&R's on their MCS'. For some reason, it doesn't seem to be a problem on the MC's though.

I took mine to get it aligned, but when they put it on the rack and measured everything I told them to leave it alone. The camber in the front and rear was right where I wanted it (but not MINI spec). Of course, with more negative camber in the rear, you'll get increased wear on the tires but for me that's worth the increased performance for high speed cornering on the track and our local BMWCCA chapter's autocross layouts (which are more like mini road courses than anything, up to 1.5 miles long, with lots of high speed corners and longish straights).

You will definitely notice a difference...

One more thing - I love my H&R springs. Seems like everyone went with them and then lots of people started poo-pooing them and moving to H-Sports and praising them over the H&R's. IMHO, it's BS, but whatever. I personally didn't like the ride or ride height of the H-Sports compared to the H&R's.

 

>>>>The lowest drop is ACTUALLY FK springs which drop around 1.5 and those can be found at http://www.momentumminiparts.com
>>
>>THe link for suspension has been removed. Any idea how much those springs are?


hmmmm dont know what happened to the link on their page...but the springs were 185 including shipping

 

I have an 04 which by some account looks like a 4x4 when I see other 02,03 stock Mini's, which springs drop my car to normal Mini height?? Maybe somebody wants to give me there old springs?

 

>>With all this talk of springs recently, I would have thought more vendors/manufacturers would have responded. I'm still waiting for someone other the H-sport to post what their spring rates are. It is all well and good that they give the amount of lowering, but I also want to know the rates. It helps to make a more informed decision, and a percentage over stock does not really mean too much. Just my $.02
>>
>>Fred

I'll second that! This is the same question posed by M3NTAL_Kev over a year ago;

"Posted: Apr 03, 2003 - 03:13 PM
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speaking of numbers... does anyone have springs rates and lowering amounts for all the popular springs?

Rates:
H&R - F220 R225
Eibach -
H-Sport - F170->180->200 R220->350
Alta -

Ride height:
H&R - F 1" R 1.2" (after settling)
Eibach -
H-Sport -
Alta -
Anyone? "
___ ____ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ __

There are a few vendors selling both H&R and H-sports, etc. It wouldn't take a lot of time or money to put the different brands on a spring checker and it would help the consumer.
Also, H-sport sells the same set for both Cooper & MCS while other vendors usually offer Cooper or MCS specific sets. Does anyone have any insight on that? Weight, F/R weight distribution ( and often shock damping/swaybars) are different between the two models. Do all the aftermarket springs work equally well with SS+ and non-SS+ shocks on the street?
The existing threads are great for their seat of the pants impressions & lowering/clearance info, but spring rates would be very helpful.