Ive been researching coilovers all winter.. and right now... ive come to the conclusion there is no kit that fulfills all my requirement

my requirements are
-price: elimated ledas here
-reliability: spax is gone
-damper adjustment: h&r somewhat gone (i will be doing ALOT of autocross this season)
-height adjustmen range: i do run oversized 215/45 tires, and would love to use full range

from my conclusion.. on my list obiviously pss9s, and for 1500 bucks at shox.com seems such a good deal...

tein ss was my favourite, because i do not have to take my suspension apart to adjust! edfc!.. till i found their spring rates is 500 lb/in! too much for street.. ive asked tein about their spring rate.. apaprently they can take up to 2 kg difference (so about 100 lbs less) before a valve-job is necessary, so i want to know if maybe i do a new valvejob with new springs, make the tein ss down to 300 front, keep the back valve job and get 400 lb/in springs for the back... would the car be very very bumpy? here in toronto we don't exactly have mirror smooth roads.. this adds about 400 bucks to the list price of 1179, add 360 for edfc, then add the shipping and freight for the revalve/respring job, and the spring/shocks to get to the revalve place, add all that to installation labor, and it doesn't sound so good anymore

h&r i like cuze its cost effective.. i love the sport (non rss) cuze i can make good use of the entire height range... 0.7 for winter, 1.5 for summer, and at a good price too... just no damper adjustment! i love the rss too.. is it worth the extra 200 bucks for the rss though

i saw konis just now.. they have it on hopupracing.com for 649!!! and it says it comes with shocks(with damper adjustment!) and springs! just seems too good to be true... is this real thing?

so i got a few questions
1)of these, and going with my list of my requirement.. which would fill out my criteria best
2)is damper really good for street/autocross use? is it a necessity? ive seen people just use konis on autocross, that is why i asked

sorry for the very long post!

appreciate ANY feedback

thanks

 

1) The PSS9's will fit your criteria nicely. I had them on my GTi and loved them. You might also consider KW Variant 2's.

2) Damper adjustability will be used slim to none on the street after you find out what works in your locale. The PSS9's are really easy to adjust, but you're not going to want to do it all the time. Damper adjustability is a great option for autox, but not a necessity by any means. There are a lot of people running aftermarket springs on autox courses with good results.

I had originally thought I'd be getting coils to replace my stock suspension, but on this car, I think they would exceed my needs (and maybe my driving skills). I believe that H-sport springs and a rear sway are satisfactory for most "spirited" MCS drivers, including me. But hey...if you got the cash, why not?

 

400lbs at the rear, for the street? That would be teeth-rattling stiff, IMHO. My car had H&R springs, Konis, and H-sport comp sway at the rear and it was pretty damn stiff. I would think 400s would be unbearable on the street.

I also think that a dealer would have something to say if the car developed rattles with such a stiff suspension setup. Dealers are getting very picky these days about mods and warranty issues.

 

how about the KW V1's?

 

i scratched that off imediately cuze i wanted a slightly firmer ride.. just not 500lb firm...

ive pretty much eliminated tein... its too bad i actually like it.. my main question now is damper adjustment important or does it help... i mainly do relatively tight autocrosses.. right now it boils down to h&r and koni.. bilstein is my choice if i can make that kinda money...

is koni coilover reliable? anyone have had koni coils on their car or previous car and can give first hand experience? i realize alot of people run koni struts, just no one runs their springs

 

I'm running the H&R's with 18" wheels and I like the just fine + I found them for $899

 

I agree, 400lb springs, especially in the rear, are too heavy for the street - from personal experience.

I believe Koni single adjustable dampers are fine so long as the spring rates are not high; again, from personal experience I do not feel they have enough rebound control for anything over 300lb - linear or progressive. Just too many rebound oscillations after the initial compression stroke.

I'm considering H$R springs for the front, H-Sport springs for the rear with a Bilstein damper. The rates appear to be a better street compromise for my driving style. The H$R spring will yield - so I'm told - a bit more drop allowing me to use a camber kit without worrying about raising the front ride height too much. Or PSS9...gotta take a ride in a Mini with these first.

 

I think you need to deside if you are racing this car or streeting it...cuase if you really are serious about the racing then sacrifice the slightly more hard ride...IMHO...I have spax and haven't had a problem...the whole mini spec team uses them...I dunno how much of a problem they have had but I am going to ask...