I have exactly 24" from the ground, to the top of the front wheel arch. Curious to know what other folks have with their various springs or coilover set-ups...

 

Sorry Tony, I forgot to do a measurement today with the track tires on. I'll try and do it shortly and let you know ..

 

hmm.. Shouldn't ride height be measured from the center of the hub to account for different wheel sizes?

 

Good point ....

 

You are correct, to account for wheel/tire rolling diameter differences. I have particularly small tires for sure... It was just so much easier from the ground up, and for others to check the same...

I'm having bump-stopping issues (in the front), and I think part of it is due to me being particularly low, but I don't know. With much wheel gap (due to the small tires), I don't appear low, but I'm guessing that I am at 24"...

I'm going to take another measurement from dead-center to the same point on the wheel arch. If others can do the same, I would be most appreciative...

 

12" from wheel center to arch for me, with my KW coilovers.

 

gowest, thanks for the info!

I just went out, and with a straight edge extending outward from the center bolt, perpendicular to the ground, I measured upward, and got just a tad under 13".

This is with Ledas, and right now with the stock plates. gowest, any bottoming-out at only 12"? I'm guessing not if you are running that low... I didn't think I was, but after putting some small putty ***** on top of my bump stops, I certainly am, and at minimal speeds and impacts...

Oh, this is happening with 250 lb linear front springs...

 

24 1/2" ground to ctr of wheel arch.
13 1/4" ctr of wheel to edge of arch. eyeballed with yoyo.

Volkes ce28 17x7.5 on 215/40/17
H&R springs/konis and RDR camber plates.

Next time (soon) I have the track wheels/tires on I'll take same measurements.

kmickey

edited: ctr of wheel to edge of arch.

 

kmickey, thanks, for both measurements!

So far I'm in the middle (center to top of wheel arch):

12"
13"
13.25"

I'm certainly not excessively low, that much I can discern already. Unless you guys are also bump stopping and don't know it, it is strange that I am... I do indeed think that the Leda shock bodies are taller than most, and that could certainly account for bottoming-out. I have .75" shorter ones waiting to go on, along with heavier springs, if needed...

Again, if you guys have some putty or clay lying around, I'd highly recommend seeing if you are bump stoppig in "normal" driving conditions. It's nice to know what kind of forces make for this type of impact, which can be quite undesirable if it happens too easily...

Thanks again for taking measurements, and sharing!

 

Front............Rear
24 5/8..........24 3/8
13 1/8..........12 7/8

Looks like the RDRs take away any rake and thensome!

And I know I hit bumpstops, but not too often....

Matt

 

Matt, thanks for taking late night measurements and sharing here. Indeed, the RDRs do raise things in the front, and Randy's plates will do even more for me. So long as I can sacrifice enough travel, I'll just lower it down the amount it increases ride height...

When you say you bump stop sometimes, can you share under what type of conditions?

 

but I notice it most when the wheel is under load, like hitting a pot hole under braking, or the outside wheel in a turn. Jars the crap out of the car, cause I put on those dinky little peicies of iron rubber that came with the spring set. Also some roots on San Antonio Rd in Mountain View between 101 and Central (Tony and I live near each other so he'll know where that is). If you find yourself there going west, STAY IN THE RIGHT LANE!!!!!!

Watch out for lowering coilovers too much. While they are ajustable, lowering the car lessens the amout of travel to the bottom of the strut. You want the stored energy in the spring to be the same or more at the bumpt stops as for the stock spings, or you will bottom more often. If there is less stored energy, then you'll slowly but surely jackhammer away at the top of your strut towers....

And it's fine to bang them back into place. It's basically very strong sheetmetal. And doing that (pounding back into place) is much preferable to changing a shock tower, as that's major surgery in a little unibody car like ours.

Matt

 

The only time I've bottomed out was when I ran over some very uneven rail road tracks at speed. My front springs are about 1/3 stiffer than yours, my cheap looking (non poly) K-MAC camber plates actually lower the car, unlike every other plate I've heard of and the loaded springs still leave me with about 50mm of bump travel. Keep in mind that my KW's are the Competition 2 ways, which may make a difference. I am at what I consider min. ride height for a street car and am slowly wearing out my lip spoiler on drive way entrances and speed bumps.

 

13 1/8" from wheel center - H&R springs (front)

 

2/03 MC with SS+ and no sunroof (1/3 tank gas)

13 7/8" front ... 13 3/4" rear

 

Matt, you brought a smile to my face! Humor is good :smile: . The descriptives help much in my accessment of what's going on...

Indeed, I'm not trying to lower them too much for the reasons you explain, and that is the primary reason I started this thread - to see the range of lowering we are getting, and where I am in comparison, to find-out if I'm doing too much. It certainly seems that at 13" I'm not asking too much:

12"
13"
13 1/8"
13.25"
13 7/8"

JeffS and cristo, likewise, thanks for taking the time also.

Bump stopping happens, but it's my understanding that it should only be experienced like when hitting a bump or pot hole at a rather fast speed, or after catching air. In the normal course of driving, including braking, this should not induce such impacts. If so, at high speeds (heavier impacts), things can get mighty unpredictable...

Most camber plates do indeed alter ride height, and if mounted from the underside, an increase is generally to be expected. A coil-over system then can allow for lowering to where one was, but at the expense of available rod, or travel. Of course with no bump stop, there is more rod or travel distance, but a potentially major price of losing such a safeguard. My conical stops are about an inch tall, and I'm sure have a certain rating or durometer associated with them. Maybe one can keep that same rating, but go with something a little shorter in order to get a little more rod. Ah, just thinking out loud...

Thanks guys!

 

gowest, I just re-read your post. Sounds like you are running 325's or so up front. That's what I'm planning, along with 400 in the rear. That should indeed help me, and with a shorter shock body, I'm feeling mighty convinced that I'll be free of unwanted bump stops very soon Thanks!

 

Hey Tony,


I've always measured height from the jack points...and that's how the guys corner weighting and or adjusting ride height check for such things - my experience. Using the fenders, especially the front fenders, can provide you with inconsistent numbers; front fenders on most cars are bolted on giving the manufacturer a way to line up some in-tolerences if you will. I would think that the Mini might have even more tolerance from one car to the next - I cannot get my front hood/wheel arches to line up with the body Finding the exact center of the wheel can surely be another way, but for extreme accuracy the jack points are great...so long as they aren't damaged.

Also, ride height is an interesting animal; looks count for sure, but suspension travel, and, the camber curve for a give design matter a lot. As an example; the rear camber curve on 1996-2001(?) Honda Civics is very aggressive; as the car leans, negative camber becomes exponetially greater with each degree of roll. What this means is, even with adjustable upper control links, a lowered car is at static ride height in the very aggressive part of the curve requiring some fairly heavy damping to keep the rear tires from cornering too much on the inside shoulders. Hence, the rear spring rates, to a degree, determine the front rates for a given ride height.

I do not know - you would know much better than I - what the characteristic of the front and rear camber curve is on this car. Honda, many feel, did this to prevent the back end of their factory spec, non-lowered Civics, from swaping ends...more rear end grip means more understeer in the hands of those with less than white knuckle skill. The Mini was designed from the beginning as a handler. But I still would not expect the MacPhearson strut front end in the Mini the posses a geometric - not asymetric - camber curve...hopefull I'm wrong. Meaning, the amount of negative camber or camber gain increases in sinc with the degree of roll...

Did I make sense? As soon as I dive into this car I'm getting hold of the geometry - if available - so that I can determine what the camber does thru every degree of roll. Then I'll pick my ride height.

For another day, lowering a car affects the relationship between CG and RC (center of gravity and roll center) It is possible to increase the distance between the two - vertically - creating a condition that will actually cause the car to roll more after lowering!

I suddenly feel I'm babbling...
Michael

 

I have installed the pss9 without hitting bumpstop. Measuring from center of hub is 11 7/8" to bottom of fenders.Thats in the front. My setting is on 4/f, 6/b.

The back is 11". Slammed

 

Michael, shame on you! Come in here and spoil the party... rain on the parade with your pure.... well, common sense and logic . You are correct buddy, and I was secretly hoping you would find this thread though...

I was trying to make this easy to entice others to get involved with a rather simple measurement. The first thing I thought of were the jack points! Mine are not only damaged, but gone, in a box somewhere, due to a very exciting off-road excursion last year. We had a light rain the night before, I was gunning it to work through the canyon, and while exiting a narrow bridge at a nice clip, I noticed a pylon on the shoulder, then I saw what appeared to be a puddle of oil . I truly thought I was hosed. Man, that was the ONLY time I was thankful that I had the DSC on (I usually do in wet conditions). I really think it saved my azz! Needless to say, I went on the "shoulder", through weeds, and mananged to navigate back up, catching air to get back on the road - in my lane . Two cows were a witness to this spectacle... Well, that's why I don't have jack points .

That all said, I didn't realize that the wheel arches have such play, or that they employ slotted holes for positioning. Ok, reverting back to Stats 101, with enough data points such a universal discrepancy will be averaged anyway - so there!

I'd love to comment more, but if anyone can out-babble Michael - it's me! Saturday is the day with the wife, so gotta go...

Eastsidemini, thanks for sharing You are low indeed! So far:

11 7/8"
12"
13"
13 1/8"
13.25"
13 7/8"

 

Wow... If I don't go in my driveway at an angle I rub... I'm still trying to figure out how to install the M7 splitter without ripping it off in the first week, and you're well over an inch lower... I'm not sure how you do it

 

I feel like a bone head sometimes with all this stuff I keep adding here, sorry Tony.

By the way, off topic a hair - I was looking at Wilwood's small big brake kit. Is that the kit I see installed on your car? Very nice!

Michael

 

Indeed, it's the 11.75" WW BBK. Fading is history, as is the brake dust, virtually .

Serious weight-savings in that photo:

Volk CE28N's (16x7) = 10.75 lbs
Yokohama AVS ES100 205/45 = 19.81 lbs
WW 11.75" BBK = saves 5.5 lbs per wheel, 1.5 of that is the rotor

 

I have a slope driveway and I drive up at an angle very carefully, My car is always on 2 wheels. I have a photo of Peter (M7) standing next to it and it looks like a gokart. I'm not sure if I can show the pic without his permission

 

Well, if you can show it, I'd love to see it! Sounds like a hot MINI. I'm not sure, but did you say you have the M7 splitter? Does it rub? How low off of the front bumper does it sit?