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Hello! Fresh into Mini ownership, picked up a beautiful 2017 MCS on Friday. Looking to improve her handling before adding power. Does anyone have any recommendations as to where to start? I’m torn between thicker wheels/ tires, sway bars, and lowering springs. Would keeping the stock 17s, getting better tires and lowering her be a good start? Or would thicker wheels be a better first step? Later on I’ll be adding a Dinan tune and CAI, but handling is definitely where I’ll be starting for now.
Current chassis? Does the MCS have sport springs or no, if you know.
I've had four Minis and raced all of them, my sig shows where I wound up. Despite my having used Koni and Bilstein I have wound up of the opinion thet the JCW Pro setup is well thought out and an excellent balance between road and race applications.
There are many ways to get there, and others will also share their experience for your benefit.
Charlie and I did the same setup on our JCWs... The JCW Pro suspension. I track my JCW and, for basically a street car, it does really well. The thing Charlie has that I don’t is the K-Mac caster/camber plate up front. If you are doing the shocks/coilovers, these are a no brainer to include. For street -1.5 deg camber and an added 0.5 deg of caster is all you will need. And forget about doing the rear sway bar. It is not needed for street or track use. Charlie has it for the autocross racing he does and he is quite experienced at making good use of it without getting into trouble. But for the rest of mortals, that would like just get us into trouble.
Keep the 17” wheels. There is a better selection of tires that will fit and the ride will be better without sacrificing handling. For the street... Michelin 4s tires or The Continental Extreme Contact Sport.
You can read about my experience with the JCW Pro suspension here (link)
May sound silly but I’m unsure of how to reply to what’s my budget. I’d say I’m looking to stay in mid-tier product price, as most of my driving will be spirited street driving with occasional autoX.
It’s an F56, I decoded my VIN and she comes with stock gas’s pressurized shocks. For now I’m leaning towards lowering springs, as I don’t think I will need to adjustability of coilovers. Looking to drop her about 1.5 inches.
Originally Posted by cmt52663
Budget? There is a
broad spectrum before you.
Current chassis? Does the MCS have sport springs or no, if you know.
I've had four Minis and raced all of them, my sig shows where I wound up. Despite my having used Koni and Bilstein I have wound up of the opinion thet the JCW Pro setup is well thought out and an excellent balance between road and race applications.
There are many ways to get there, and others will also share their experience for your benefit.
I see, so thicker wheels (18x8) would decrease handling capabilities? Good news as I didn’t really want to spend the coin for new rims, was hoping new tires would be enough.
Do you have a good camber/caster brand recommendation? I’m completely new to to all of this, want to make sure I’m not missing anything.
Originally Posted by Eddie07S
Charlie and I did the same setup on our JCWs... The JCW Pro suspension. I track my JCW and, for basically a street car, it does really well. The thing Charlie has that I don’t is the K-Mac caster/camber plate up front. If you are doing the shocks/coilovers, these are a no brainer to include. For street -1.5 deg camber and an added 0.5 deg of caster is all you will need. And forget about doing the rear sway bar. It is not needed for street or track use. Charlie has it for the autocross racing he does and he is quite experienced at making good use of it without getting into trouble. But for the rest of mortals, that would like just get us into trouble.
Keep the 17” wheels. There is a better selection of tires that will fit and the ride will be better without sacrificing handling. For the street... Michelin 4s tires or The Continental Extreme Contact Sport.
You can read about my experience with the JCW Pro suspension here (link)
You're leaving a lot of open questions... What is your end goal? Looks, handling, both? Your budget will determine whether you go to springs or coil overs, and there are trade offs with either option. With springs, you are limited to either stock shocks, or aftermarket shocks. Aftermarket shocks will add cost, and eventually you'll end up in coil over territory. Coil overs typically have higher spring rates, and offer greater flexibility for ride height, but cost a little bit more. Figure $300 just for springs, another $700 for shocks, and $1200+ for coil overs. That should help you figure out budget.
Personally, the first question you need to answer is springs or coil overs? That's where I would start. Then, maybe wheels and tires. For the best handling, you want a light weight wheel-tire combination. Then, possibly sway bars, to fine tune your handling preferences.
I see, so thicker wheels (18x8) would decrease handling capabilities? Good news as I didn’t really want to spend the coin for new rims, was hoping new tires would be enough.
Do you have a good camber/caster brand recommendation? I’m completely new to to all of this, want to make sure I’m not missing anything.
I would not say that an 18x8 would decrease handling capabilities. What I would say is that the selection of tires that will fit the F56 MINI is better in the 17” size. This is an issues as rubbing will start to occur with a 225 wide tire. Also, with a basically stock suspension, even with lowering springs, you will likely not be able to take full advantage of the lower profile that the 18” tire will have. So, while it will look really neat, it likely won’t handle any better or much better.
Charlie is a seriously good autocrosser and he runs 17” wheels.
As for the JCW Pro coilovers, they are only height adjustable. So set the height and be done with them. You only want to lower a MINI about 0.75” to about 1”. Beyond that the roll center gets too low which will have an adverse effect on handling. If the JCW Pro coilovers are within your budget, they are worthwhile. They include a better set of shocks than your current ones as well as better springs.
You're in AZ, so ditch the all weather tires, and get some performance summer tires, size up one step, get a rear sway bar like NM.
Drive a while with that, and see where you want to go from there.
Start with tires. A 215/45/17 in a Michelin Pilot Sport 4S goes a long way. After that or at the same time, the JCW Pro coilovers and proper chassis setup are a great next step. As others have mentioned, they are a fantastic balance of spring rate and dampening for the street while providing enough support while on the track. Enjoy!
Beware of lowering. I spent a fair old bit of effort looking down that road. I considered LCA angles, roll center height, compression stroke, driveability, and outright performance.
Folks that are after a certain look skip all that, and go low. God bless 'em.
My ride heights are WELL within an inch of stock - as detailed here.
Those measurements show a .6" drop out front, and .4" rear.
