So my goal is to achieve better handling be it street or auto x but my budget only allows for a set of springs. So from what I see m, swift, tsw and h&r tend to be the recommend when it comes to pairing with stock struts.

A) is there an issue with travel of the strut on any of these..
B) which is best... I'm leaning towards swift.

 

Better option is to install FSD which will greatly improve ride and handling .

 

Yeah I bet. But to answer my question, are one of the three springs a better fit with the stock strut?

 

I don't think any are designed to work optimally with stock struts. If I had to choose it would be the one that offered the least drop

 

The answer is none. Keep saving your pennies and do the job correctly (spring + strut combo).

 

The stock struts are crap when new...10 years later they're extra crappy. That's my opinion.

Anyway, these cars have very little travel so most springs don't work so well. The Swifts are okay but still lower a little too much IMO.

- andy

 

If your objective is handling then changing shocks would achieve this . Stock spring are adequate

 

Apex lowing springs and Koni Yellows here, along with IE fixed camber plates. That and a bigger adjustable rear sway bar. I can dial the Mini in for street, track, autox or Dragon! Big adjustments; adjust the sway bar, finer adjustments; adjust the Koni's firmness and extra fine tuning; with air pressures!

It's all about getting that perfect balance of neutral handling for me. Pushing just a little thru corners on the Dragon, firm up the rear shocks. Need a major change to help Mini rotate at autox, full stiff on rear sway bar and tweak shock firmness until fast!

Good luck enjoy the drive!