I am looking for guidence as to a suspension setup for my MCS. I will not be tracking the car, but I love to drive aggressively on curvy roads and want the car to corner "like it was on rails", as they say. Mountain driving is done often.

Is a R-Speed 22mm or H-Sport 25.5mm too aggressive for my desired results? Would the H-Sport or M7 coil overs be too much for my application?

I see posts that say that for street use... or for track use..., but nothing for the guy who likes to drive the limit on PCH through Big Sur.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

This really depends on two things. The money you are willing to spend and if you care about taking the car on really long drives, more then three or four hours. If these two things are of no concern I would go with the following.

• Any 22 mm rear bar set on the middle setting. I prefer the H-sport
• Front camber plates. I prefer Sol Snyderman’s
• Rear control arms, upper and lower. I prefer the Alta with Hiem joints
• Bilstien PSS9 coilovers. Get them from Turner motorsport for under $1600.
• If you are using coilovers then adjustable sway bar links are needed, front and rear. I prefer the Altas.

This above combo will bring a big smile to your face for certain!

 

h-sport springs and 22mm rear swaybar will do the trick.

need sticky tires too. :smile:

 

H-Sport springs are harsh but I've found that H-Sport + regular tyres is similar in harshness to stock springs + runflats.

I'd also think carefully before adding any major camber. My Yokohama Prada Spec-2's last about 5000 miles with -2.5 degrees of camber before being completely coned and unusable.

 

Although I own PSS9s and like them very much I think that H sport springs and Koni yellows are hard to beat for aggressive driving. I had this set up and gave it up because I was hitting my head too often. Wheels and tires can not be over emphasized but there are a ton of threads on those. You do need a sway bar set in the middle and the guys at R Speed are my buddies so I'm putting in a plug.

 

I'm with Kenchan on this one, but do one step at a time. The reason for this is you might find one change will suffice, whereas making a bunch of changes at once will not show you what really did what for the car (MCS).

Try the rear sway bar first and see how you like it. You will be surprised at what this one mod does. H-sport comp bar is fine on middle setting.

Then do sticky tires and lighter wheels.

Then springs along with adjustable rear control arms if need be (while you're at it, install Konis)

Beyond those changes, benefits become more subtle and will affect street comfort.

 

I would do in this order one at a time.

I would try grippier tires first (or even a wheel/tire combo).
S03's, GS-D3's type summer tires.


Then 22mm or larger rear swaybar.

Then springs. (it's more for dressup though)

Then Koni's if needed.


I drive spiritedly too on street and I think the stock shocks
hold up well to the H-Sports as long as you use a rear swaybar
22mm on stiff setting (Im using an Alta). otherwise the car wanders
a tad when you shift lateral load left/right and response is a tad too
slow for corner carving.

My car feels like it's going 35mph at 75mph on the expressway...
very stable and comfy.

 

Kenchan,


I'm wondering; I've read a number comments speaking to both how harsh the H-Sports are with stock dampers and how comfortable they are??? Aside from lacking context and direct comparison, there are two types of dampers out there, yes? When did Mini soften up the dampers? Which ones do you have?

Michael

 

On my 04 MCS here is what I did, and the handling for street and the occasional track day is great. Flat cornering, comfortable ride on the street and no understeer.

First was tires, Yokohama AVS ES100 in the size 215/45/17
Second was an Alta 22mm rear sway bar
Third was a set of M7 springs
Fourth was a set of Ro-Ja LT5 wheels 17x7 14.5 lbs.

The difference I felt when adding the springs was that the car cornered even flatter than after adding the sway bar. Being progessive, these springs offer a softer ride for surface imperfections and as soon as you start to lean on them in a corner they are a lot stiffer than stock.

Bill

 

mine's a 03. I believe MINI started using the softer struts/shocks on
04's. i could be mistaken...but my ride is not stiff/harsh at all. I know
what harsh is...I use to run coilover kits (TEIN HA's with upper
pillow mounts) on pretty stiff settings on my prevous WRX and
Prelude. those will knock teeth out...but the car stuck to the road
like glue on most streets.

lately Im more into comfort while being able to manuver quickly. my
current setup does just that.