What do you all recommend for new shocks for a 2013 Cooper JCW?

Car is the occasional weekend car plus autocross car. I want to stay in DS so I am not changing the springs. I will be adding a larger rear swaybar.

My choices are Koni Yellows with adjustability or the Bilstein B6's?

Thoughts?

 

I have Bilsteins on my JCW, i can say they better than stock but you pretty much stuck with the damping rate they come with and only springs will make a difference for you. Since you not changing your springs and satying stock and plan on doing occasional auto-x id def go with the Koni's (hands down). When I did time trial racing I was at a disadvantage because I couldn't tighten the damping on the front and even with my Bilsteins I was still wallowing all over the place. Lets just say, high speed transitions trying to brake under a bumpy surface made for a trying time and cost me. Took me a couple of tries to learn a pathway that didn't upset the chassis so much due to having no adjustability I recall seeing several with Koni's making adjustments just after our first run and those that had them had their time improve each time we went out. If you'll be going to different auto-x tracks, most likely you'd also encounter different road surfaces (and not all of them are smooth). Might look it till you get out there under acceleration and feel one side loading up on you, but with the Koni's you'd have the ability to tighten or loosen where you need it (individually). Only thing is, do you have some sort of plan to allow you to adjust the rears, because i hear being able to get to the top of the rear shock towers isn't quick or easy to do.

 

Keeping stock springs and planning on autocross, get the Konis. Although I prefer the Bilstein B8s. If you decide on the Konis, be aware that the rear needs to be removed to adjust the damping. Even though the Bilstein are not adjustable for damping, they work pretty well. Also, European car, European shocks.

The difference between the B6 and the B8 Bilstein... same damping profile, but the B8s will work with lowering springs if you decide to swap them out later.

 

Thanks everyone.

Picking up a set of Koni's. I have had Bilstiens before on my GTI and liked them. First time using Koni's.
The ability to adjust the front rebounds made total sense if the car is used for weekend and autocross.

M

 

Where are you getting them from? I'm also looking .... additionally are you getting the newer red special shock Koni or the gold?

 

I use B6 and I think it's better than koni. But if you want to use your car on track you should buy B8 with eibach springs( B12 kit)

 

I wouldn't use Eibach for track use. If you plan on track use, and want to use springs, I would go for the Swift Spec R springs and pair them with the Bilstein B8 shocks.