I'm looking to lower my r56 1.2-1.5 inches for better handling/appearance etc; but I don't want my suspension to feel like I'm offloading when I run over a pebble on the road. I'm looking at the Neuspeed Alpha springs cause they're not expensive and people seem to like the ride.

Give me your opinions! thx

 

At that amount of drop you may be bottoming out the stock shocks quite a bit. That will make the ride seem very harsh with any brand spring. My ride quality improved significantly when I installed shorter bump stops, but really got better when I put on koni yellows. I'm only down about 3/4" with TSW springs.

Mike

 

The most comfortable lowering springs will undoubtably be the ones that lower the least,
with close to stock spring rates, so that puts the JCW springs on the top of that list, and
the TSW ones next.

 

Good luck on the TSW springs, I have TSW springs that have been on backorder for over a year.

 

I have a few friends who run Swift Spec R springs and really like them.

 

Softer spring rates and higher ride height will offer the most compiant ride. But many people ignore that the shocks will be a major determining factor in ride comfort as well.

If you want the car to ride comfortably when lowered, then you need to replace the shocks too with shocks that are valved to cope with shorter springs, such as Koni Sports ("Yellows"). If you add lowering springs, but keep the factory shocks, then the shocks will be starting their dampening motion already partially compressed, and ride quality (and handling) will suffer.

 

At what point do you need to start thinking about control arms or camber plates?

 

Adjustable rear control arms are required to correct alignment when the rear is lowered. Some people don't need them, but most put them on with lowering springs.

Camber plates are used to get more camber in the front suspension, and those are not truly required. The MINI is built with limited negative camber available in the front suspension, and generally responds with additional front grip when more negative camber is employed. I would think that many people are happy with lowering springs, upgraded shocks, stiffer RSB, and rear control arms. When installing new shocks or springs it is convenient to install camber plates at the same time. Budget will tell you if you can do all at once.

Have fun,
Mike

 

Oh you want something inexpensive that is comfortable but also yields better handling and appearance? How demanding.

I can vouch for that. Noticeably stiffer than stock but always predictable and doesn't crash over bumps. They are linear spring rate rather than progressive.

FYI you shocks are more important.

 

H&R springs are a good choice for comfort vs. height that you're looking for. Perhaps even more important to the equation would be a fresh set of shocks. Technically, they're not designed for lowering springs, but we have put FSDs on cars with H&R for street cars (non track or autocross) with good results (cue the howls of protest). The ride is quite nice.

 

I can tell you that Koni Yellows will sacrifice comfort for performance and price.

A quality shock will make spring rates just relative.

 

I'm running my yellows nearly full soft, and that seems to be a good compromise between daily driver comfort and control.

I agree with the above comments that the shocks will affect the ride more than springs. Your spring rate needs to go up when you lower, because you will have less travel. The shocks therefore need to be stiffer to control the stiffer springs.

I don't think that you will be happy if you put lowering springs with stock shocks and bump stops.

Mike

 

Thinking of installing NM springs on Koni Yellow Sports shocks for my f09jcw convertible. I want to have a very a comfortable ride and help improve the handling of the car as well. Could I ride on the softest settings in all four corners and achieve this? The car right now has standard suspension.

 

I'm running about 1/2 turn off of full soft on Koni yellows, and am pretty happy. I think that running full soft should not be an issue. 'Very comfortable ride' is subjective. Remember that this car has limited suspension travel, and that will become less with lowering springs. I would expect that the car will ride more comfortable with the NM/yellow combination, but it will not ride like a non-sporty luxury car. You can't take the MINI out of a MINI. And that is a good thing.

Have fun,
Mike

 

Thanks for your reply. How much stiffer is Koni's at "full soft" compared to my standard factory shock do you think?

 

Sorry for the long reply, but here is some history:

I first installed my TSW springs with stock shocks (my car is factory sport suspension). Ride was harsh, bottoming a lot, especially in the rear. I put WMW shorter bump stops in, as well as a set of 'standard' cooper S shocks (not sport), and the ride improved by eliminating the bottoming and a bit more compliance. The ride was still harsh, feeling like I could tell the difference between riding over a dime and a quarter. This was with 17" non-runflat all season tires.

I put the Koni's on, with no other changes, and the ride improved significantly. Much better at absorbing small ripples than the stock shocks. No regrets, other than not going to the koni's sooner (that and stripping a rear shock lower mount).

Mike

Then I

 

When u first put the koni's on did u ever try them in the softest setting? I'm wondering how the konis in "full soft" setting compare to the shocks with standard suspension.

 

I have Koni Yellows (Sports) on my R50 which had the oem SS+ package, which had the early stiffer
pre-5/03 oem struts and shocks*, and found the Konis on full soft to be a little firmer on the big
bumps compared to oem when new, and a little more comfortable on the sharp, little bumps
than oem when new (win, win, in my opinion).

I found 1/2 a turn from soft had exactly the same extension resistance as full soft, so
I went for approximately 1 turn from full soft, which is a little firmer than full soft.
Actually, I chose about 1/4 turn past where the rebound resistance started to increase.

There seems to be some variation from with the Koni Yellows as to when the
resistance on rebound starts to increase from one shock to the next, so check
it out a bit before deciding on a setting.


* MINI changed to a thinner oil in the shock around May, 2003 to soften them a little.
Also, since I got the SS+ package, the shocks are the stiffer R53 style ones, rather
than the softer standard R50 ones, as well as the slightly stiffer springs and roll bars.

 

I did not try the konis on full soft. The rears have to be removed from the car to adjust (adjustment is through the top of the shaft), so I tried 1/2 turn from soft on the rear. I had the front firmer and softened them to 1/2 turn from soft. In my setup, I feel that the car is more comfortable with the koni's than the factory shocks when lowered.

Mike

 

Thanks a lot for your responses guys...appreciate your time!

 

Yep, I tried to order them in July and again last week. Still no ETA on when they will have them. Went with some NM springs instead from a fellow STL MINI owner to match up with my Bilstein B8 shocks/struts.

 

Holy hell, this debate on which lowering spring to choose is getting out of hand. A spring is just a device which dictates the maximum displacement and spring rate per corner. The focus needs to be on how to control the transient response of the car as it moves over bumps, in a lower than stock configuration. Thus, the component to modify in these transient conditions is primarily the damper. The springs have a set progressive or linear rate. That's it. Everyone wants to be low, but invest jack squat in the component that affects the transient response the most - the damper

Pick a spring rate and check the box. Next, invest in better than stock dampers.