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The car started out with the standard suspension, not the sport or DCC suspension.
As you can see from the before photo, my stock height in the front was a little higher than in the back. I'm not sure why. I moved it around the parking lot several times to make sure I was on level ground, but it was always almost .5in higher to the top of the wheel arch. Weird. After the drop everything is now dead-even, so the total drop was about 1.25 in the front, and .75in in the back.
As for the ride, it is quite a bit more stiff and ride comfort has gone down a little over broken pavement, but it is not crashy or bouncy. You are just aware that there is less suspension travel to soak up the bumps. The good part is that the body roll is almost completely gone, the sense of a connection to the road is excellent and I now have confidence in what the suspension is doing, and is going to do, at high-speed. I think the handling is now on par with my old R53 with the factory sport suspension, but less twitchy and no where near as harsh/jostling on city streets. I'm loving it.
Looks great, but pricey for such a mild drop. Same look with NM springs but with the left over coin I added NM sway, Burger Tune and custom Magnaflow exhaust. Tune is +5boost so sitting around the 250-260bhp range and +270wtq. Suspension changes has it handling like its on a rail.
James it is really necessary to derail EVERY thread with pictures of your car? It looks very cool but pretty please try your best to keep threads on topic. Your car doesn't have the JCW Pro coilovers, so there should not be any pictures of your car in this thread.
-->BeerChan. Thank you for your post. I have the JCW Pro coilovers on order and when they arrive I'll do detailed stroke and bumpstop measurements to compare to the factory sport suspension.
When choosing to get the JCW Pro kit, the amount of drop was not my main concern. I think the final height is actually spot on, I'm not a fan of the 'tucked' look. Who knows, it may actually go a bit lower. I told my SA that I didn't like that look, and asked that the height be set to what it is now. I will jack it up over the weekend and see if there is any thread left on the adjustment ring. Also, cost was not a major concern. The price was well within the range of what other coilovers are going for and I was able to negotiate a few hundred off the parts price and got them to shave a few hours off the install time. I think they were being overly cautious on the time estimate because it was their first install.
I also chose the the JCWPro kit over just getting a set of springs because I wanted a matched set of springs and dampers. I've had mixed experiences with stock dampers and lowering springs, though I hear the NM ones are quite good. If I had started with the factory Sport Suspension, I might have gone for it, but I feel the base suspension dampers just don't have enough control over the rebound, especially at high speed.
To each his own.
BTW, I have a Burger Tune, and a Milltek exhaust, and an NM rear sway too. :D
No fancy paint job though...
When choosing to get the JCW Pro kit, the amount of drop was not my main concern. I think the final height is actually spot on, I'm not a fan of the 'tucked' look. Who knows, it may actually go a bit lower. I told my SA that I didn't like that look, and asked that the height be set to what it is now. I will jack it up over the weekend and see if there is any thread left on the adjustment ring. Also, cost was not a major concern. The price was well within the range of what other coilovers are going for and I was able to negotiate a few hundred off the parts price and got them to shave a few hours off the install time. I think they were being overly cautious on the time estimate because it was their first install.
I also chose the the JCWPro kit over just getting a set of springs because I wanted a matched set of springs and dampers. I've had mixed experiences with stock dampers and lowering springs, though I hear the NM ones are quite good. If I had started with the factory Sport Suspension, I might have gone for it, but I feel the base suspension dampers just don't have enough control over the rebound, especially at high speed.
To each his own.
BTW, I have a Burger Tune, and a Milltek exhaust, and an NM rear sway too. :D
No fancy paint job though...
I agree on the Oem dampers, JCW were not available when I did mine and I had budget constraints anyway and coils were not an option. The "fancy paint" is just Plastidip. How do you like the Miltek ? I just deleted the resonater and replaced the Oem muffler with the smallest, most open flow Magnaflow they had which is btn oem and the muffler delete I initially went with.
I agree on the Oem dampers, JCW were not available when I did mine and I had budget constraints anyway and coils were not an option. The "fancy paint" is just Plastidip. How do you like the Miltek ? I just deleted the resonater and replaced the Oem muffler with the smallest, most open flow Magnaflow they had which is btn oem and the muffler delete I initially went with.
The Plastidip job looks great, very unique!
The Milltek exhaust is nice, though it seems to have gotten quieter as it has broken in, rather than louder. It can be especially quiet once it has warmed up and I am just cruising around, light on the throttle. I can barely hear it. I think part of the issue is that the F56 has a lot of sound insulation as compared to the previous gens, and you just don’t get as much sound coming into the cabin. The B48 engine also seems very quiet on its own, seeing as how many people have done muffler deletes without complaining about it being too loud. If the Milltek just kept the sound it has from a cold start, and the first few minutes afterward, it would be great.
She looks great! I'm glad you like the suspension because I'm considering it myself. Where do you live/how're the roads there? Still perfectly acceptable for a daily driver?
I've heard comparisons of the JCW Pro suspension being more BMW M-like in terms of the damping, but I'm not sure if you can comment on that?
I have one final question concerning the ride height - did you mean that you had the dealer adjust it the highest it will go? I have some agressive spacers, and am wondering if there's additional upwards adjustability if I should run into rubbing issues.
She looks great! I'm glad you like the suspension because I'm considering it myself. Where do you live/how're the roads there? Still perfectly acceptable for a daily driver?
I've heard comparisons of the JCW Pro suspension being more BMW M-like in terms of the damping, but I'm not sure if you can comment on that?
I have one final question concerning the ride height - did you mean that you had the dealer adjust it the highest it will go? I have some agressive spacers, and am wondering if there's additional upwards adjustability if I should run into rubbing issues.
I jacked the car up and checked and the height is set at the lowest it can go. It looks like there is enough thread length on the adjustment ring to raise the car up about 1.25 inches. I live in Baltimore City and the roads are pretty terrible in some places, but I think the ride is perfectly acceptable for a DD. It is firm but not harsh. I am running non run-flats, so I have a little more give in the tire sidewall, though they are 18's, so there is not as much sidewall as a 17. Overall I am quite happy with the setup.
Nice! So could you talk numbers on the pro suspension?
Does anyone know if it can be port installed?
Also have or do you intend to track/autox the car with the suspension?
I have the R58 JCW with JCW suspension, it rubs sometimes under cornering/full compression. Have you had any rubbing?
Does it come with matched swaybars like the old JCW suspension?
How is understeer/oversteer?
Sorry for peppering with so many questions ;-)
I am not into autox, but I do drive like a low-skilled idiot on the county backroads and I love the suspension. It is very composed, and predictable. The suspension does not come with new sway bars, but I did put on an adjustable rear sway from NM Engineering. I highly recommend getting one put on, it compliments the JCW suspension nicely. I have very little understeer and I have it set in the 'softest' setting. I had it put on before I got the JCW suspension and it made a noticeable change in the feel of the car during cornering. The rear end was much more involved in the rotation of the car. Now that I have the upgraded suspension, I will play with the pre-load adjustment to see if it improves the cornering for me. Overall, it is still a street car and I don't want to make it have twitchy oversteer tendencies.
I have OEM 18" 506 JCW Crossspoke wheels, the original ones with flat faces that DON'T clear the upcoming JCW brake upgrade, with Michelin PSS non-runflat tires (amazing tires I might add) and I have no rubbing issues, even under full compression. There is plenty of clearance in the back, so much so that I'm thinking of getting some spacers. The front is closer to flush, though I hope I can get spacers that will help the wheels clear the JCW brake package, I would love to get it. I'm sure the extended wheel arch trim from the JCW will be available for purchase through re-sellers if needed.
This is the preprodcution (looked like production up close ) JCW Pro Suspension and it was dropped most all the way. MINI would not tell me how low they had it, as it was not out yet, but gives you an idea.
Ok thanks. I know the NM springs drop it by 33mm and the mini website says these will drop to 30mm.... Not super low for coils. I wonder what the "ideal ride height" is for maximum performance.
Big fan of the JCW Pro suspension on my F56 JCW as well. It feels like a well composed, taught, go-kart like BMW that is more refined (maybe the cabin insulation?) than previous version of MINIs I have sampled. You wouldn't catch me with lowering springs and less suspension travel on a car that is to smoke corners and eat beat up backroads at the same time. Then again, I'm more into the performance side than the looks, and springs are certainly cheaper. They both have their place.
Big fan of the JCW Pro suspension on my F56 JCW as well. It feels like a well composed, taught, go-kart like BMW that is more refined (maybe the cabin insulation?) than previous version of MINIs I have sampled. You wouldn't catch me with lowering springs and less suspension travel on a car that is to smoke corners and eat beat up backroads at the same time. Then again, I'm more into the performance side than the looks, and springs are certainly cheaper. They both have their place.
08-03-2015, 07:40 PM
