I'm currently running NM springs with Koni yellows set to about 4. I've had this setup on my 2013 R55 JCW for about 6 months and the ride is too jarring for me. It's particularly rough over uneven pavement joints on the highway. I'm looking for advice on a setup that gives me the ability to be lowered 1.0"-1.5" with a ride comparable to stock. Is this possible?

 

Soften your dampers to full soft. I forget the exact setting, but I'm running the minimum that is in the instructions (maybe 1/2 turn from full CCW?).

Are you running the stock bump rubbers?

My first suspension change was TSW springs (about 3/4" drop) on the stock shocks. The ride was brutal, especially in the rear with my 9 year old daughter in the back. Then I put WMW bump stops on (which are about 1/2 the thickness of the stock ones). The ride improved very significantly. When I put on the yellows, the ride improved again.

If I was doing it again, I would look at the fatcatmotorsports.com bump stops. One of my WMW bump stops was damaged when I put the koni's on, but I had no choice to use the damaged part.

There is a really good chance that you are riding on the bump stops, which becomes very harsh very quick. One way to check is to jack up the car, pull the wheel, and look at the shock.
Push the bump stop all the way up, and put a zip tie around the shaft under the bump stop.
Pull the zip tie down against the shock body.
Put the wheel back on, lower the car. Bounce on the car a bit.
Jack up the car, pull the wheel, see where the zip tie is. If it is right under the bump stop, then your car has no free suspension travel. And that is without hitting a bump.

Have fun,
Mike

 

Investigate replacing your tires. I'd call Tirerack for starters, and see what I could learn. My experience is that's the easiest way to change handling.

 

The harsh truth is that all aftermarket suspension "upgrades" trade-off ride quality degradation for better handling. At least the best ones do, some destroy ride quality and do nothing to improve handling

You have very little suspension travel in a MINI to begin with, about 2.4". As your lower the car with shorter/harsher springs, every inch of lowering will be bringing you closer to riding on bump stops all the time.

You could go with a high-quality adjustable coil-over setup, like KWv2's or '3s (I have the latter), but I would lie to you if I told you your ride quality will get much better. My KWv3's, at the softest, are significantly harsher than OEM sport (optional) suspension.

Just about the only thing you could do to compensate is to get softer side-walled tires (I assume you already ditched RFTs, right?).
For example, my ride quality improves significantly on winter Blizzak tires vs. summer RE11's.

Beyond that, the only choice is to get KWv3's and source softer than stock KW kit springs. That would result in a more comfortable ride, but may butcher the performance (shocks will be over-dampened for soft springs).

Sorry about the complexity, but there is no free lunch in lowering and getting + getting cushier ride.

alex

 

Ohlins Road & Track suspension will give you the softest ride while being able to turn a dial to adjust them for the track, but there expensive! $2200.

 

This really is the first thing you should be doing. If you're contacting the bump stops it can make for a pretty uncomfortable ride in a hurry. The good news is replacement bump stops are cheap. The bad news is they are a pain to replace because the suspension has to come out of the car and be disassembled.

I think some of this depends on how you define "harsh". Our custom-valved DA Konis damp bumps and road imperfections better than the stock shocks did by far. The problem is the spring rates we run mean you still feel every little bump in the road but the bumps are "smoothed". Super pimpy shocks (JRZ, Penske, Moton, MCS, 28-series Konis, etc.) can actually be pretty comfortable even with stiffer spring rates. It's all in the shock valving.

 

Ditch the run flats.

 

Getting ride of the run flats together with v10climber (and Fly'n Brick) advice and you'll have a much better ride.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. Much appreciated.

 

I just got H&R sport springs on stock shocks installed and I could not be happier with the drop and ride quality. I researched for weeks and went back and forth as to springs vs. coilovers, what brand, etc.

I called up a local tuner and asked his advice. He said he "do not waste your time and money on cheap coilovers", when I suggested KW's or H&R he said everyone will tell you those ride good but they are a very harsh ride. His top choice for ride quality were the Bilstein PSS9, but I think those are around $2300. That is not in my budget, so he asked me what I was going to be using the car for. I told him I wanted to lower the car to get rid of the hideous gap, a comfortable ride as possible, and I will never take the car to the track. He said getting the H&R springs on the stock shocks was the best thing to do. He has done it many times for customers for over the years and has had zero complaints.

I asked him about the stock shocks and the longevity on sport springs, and he said they might go out prematurely but he hasn't seen it happen just because you put on sport springs. He said any shocks under abnormal load over time will fail, it could be two years or ten. He commented on the fact that a lot of people will tell you on forums not to do it, but he simply said its the best combination you could do for what you're looking for.

 

This week I replaced my Yokohama run flats with a set of Goodyear Eagle F1s and the difference is amazing. I read this before, but I guess I didn't realize how much of a difference it would actually make. The smoothness of the ride is now comparable to the stock ride on my wife's R56. It's good enough that I'm going to leave the Koni's set at 4 instead of making them any softer.

 

So true, last week I replaced my Continental run flats with Bridgestone RE760's along with getting the H&R springs, totally different ride. Very smooth along with perfect drop, it's the way the car should come from the factory. It almost makes me feel bad for all the Mini driver's who don't ditch run flats.