I just wanted to get some thoughts on suspension upgrades. I looking to replace the springs, front & rear sway bars, sway bar links, and the control arms. Any suggestions?

 

All of the above.

 

I second the all of the above, minus the front sway bar.

 

Being that I had done all the above, I just feel I need to mention that putting lowering springs on stock shocks could be a mistake. I only speak from my experience, but looking back I believe my shocks started to fail within 5k miles after I added H-Sport spring. Removed them at 10k to find that they were total goners and the springs themselves were on their way out due to the shocks failing.

 

Are there any particular brands that anyone can recommend? I was going to do H-Sport springs, front & rear sway bars, and Alta for rods and sway bar links

 

The more I read about stock shocks with after market springs the less appeal that has. Keep in mind I've been autocrossing for 30 years. That said, if you had the hot's for a particular set of springs then you should combine them with some upgraded shocks like Koni's. But what I recommend if you're willing to go that far is just to take the next step up and get some coilovers. I've loved both sets of KW's I've had and hated the Leda's. PSS9's are highly regarded as well. Forget the front sway bar and the links and in a pinch you could get only two control arms. Get the H-Sport arms!

 

I'm starting off with a H-sport springs and Competition rear swaybar.

I will eventually jump onto the PSS9s(I had PSS on my miata and loved it) but can't afford it right now. Hopefully, I can get the coilovers before my stock shocks wear out. But I do not track my car. Only occasional autocross.

 

Both the H-Sport springs and M7 springs are good. It all depends on what you’re trying to gain, the M7’s drop a bit more, but the H-sports are a bit stiffer. The H-Sport comp. front and rear bar set up is really nice on the street and track. I run the front bar on the softest setting and the rear bar on the stiffest setting. The car turns nice and handles well at high speeds. The H-Sport rear control arms are a nice set and very easy to adjust. I still have the stock end links on my car and have never found a need to replace them yet, but we sell the alta sway bar end links. Let us know if we can help you out. Good luck!

 

I have a a set of H&R springs and an H-sport front sway bar for sale, about 3k miles on them. Send me a private email.

Phil

 

ShiloD,
First ask yourself why you need to do any suspension upgrades?
Looks? Performance? For track or autocross?
Next ask what is your total budget and what is the big picture on your upgrades planned?

What do you use your MINI for? Street, how much performance driving- track, driving school events, autocross?

These answers will determine the best match for you that suits your needs and your budget.

For the average street use MINI-
Lowering springs- Mild drop and good street manners: Alta
Low 1.3" drop and good street manners: M7
Moderate drop and good performance with slightly rougher ride: H-sports
Front adjustable Sway Bar- Not necessary unless going for track use.
Rear sway bars- adjustable with three holes- 19mm for MC and 22mm for MCS or H-sport comps for MCS if for track or autocross. RDR, R-speed, Alta or H-sports are OK
sway bar links- Not needed unless adding coilovers or for track use
control arms- adjustable- helps for setting rear negative camber but not required. Alta, RDR, Ireland, and H-sports all OK.

Note that with these suspension changes you will have better performance but much rougher ride characteristics. You may need to fine tune alignment and match your wheels and tires to your suspension for best results.

Also if you autocross these suspension changes will put your car into a modified and more competitive class than stock class.

 

On that note, could someone clarify if i need / dont need these parts on my MCS?

I dont intend to track, so its just street driving ( the occassional drag here or there I would like my first mods to be the suspension to improve handling etc.

On that basis i was considering:

Eibach springs
22mm rear sway bar
adjustable control arms ( for negative camber? ) - do i need this, not 100% what its meant to achieve only going on with what ive been reading
Front strut bar.

Im totally unsure about anything like:
- Shocks?
- Coil Overs?
- Camber plates for strut bar?

cheers, id appreciate the help.

 

Eibach: good choice, tons of euro minis are using this brand, but M7 and h-sport both make very popular choices as well,

sway bar: basically gives the rear end a shot of adrenaline... a stiffen rear end would allow the mini to trail brake and turn into oversteer.... can be dangerous if you are not used to reacting to it though, but it is the one suspension mod that would make the biggest difference

control arms: good for lowered minis because too much rear negative camber can cause bumpy ride, as well you shorten tire life... (lowered minis usually run higher camber, way over stock), adjustable ones also lets you fine-tune your rear camber or your rear grip...

strut brace: not needed typically... mini is probably one of the stiffest cars on the market today...

the other stuff included discussed is
shocks/struts: some people replace them, others don't... some have claim lowered minis shorten oem strut life... others buy struts because they want to adjust compression/rebound setting without coilover setups... either way, a strut replacement is typically heavier duty, so it doesn't hurt the mini... if anything, should sharpen your springs a bit more... as your shocks are now better suited to the higher spring rate...

coilovers: if you go with springs, dont bother.. coilovers are VERY expensive suspension replacements... most allow ride-height adjustment, some allows dampener adjustments... they are the ULTIMATE setup if you are doing track work, but for street can be a bit overkill unless you dont mind the setup cost (corner balancing, and if you tinker with ride height everytime you swap out your summers for winters, you'd have to corner balanceAGAIN)... making coilovers a bit more expensive... and they are expensive to begin with... H&R base coilovers can be had for just slightly over 1000, to over 3000 for LEDA full blown race setup

camber plates: good to adjust camber up front... again, fine tuning handling balance is why camber plates are useful... but street cars wont need them

if you are doin just street.. stick with sway bar, springs, (possibly struts), and control arms if you have severe negative camber... you dont need a full coilover setup... im sure others would disagree though

 

First set a budget.
Next, ask yourself if you want a smoother ride or if you can tolerate a bit of bumpiness for the sake of better handling- it's a compromise. Or ask yourself if you have ever owned a suspension tuned car before- if not, don't go overboard. Go for a drive in a MINI that has lowering springs and or various suspension upgrades and decide for yourself.

It's really quite subjective what some owners find acceptible while others think it's smooth enough.

For street use:
Lowering springs- Eibachs are OK, M7 is smooth with lower 1.3" front and rear drop, Alta is smooth with minimal drop. If you go with H-sports it's a 1" drop front and back but it's stiffer so rougher riding and slightly better handling. Any of these are good. Test drive them if possible.
Rear swaybar- adjustable 22mm is fine, try the softest or middle setting. H-sport, R-speed. Reduces understeer.
Alignment- For pure street use- get toe set to factory specs. The camber that you get is not adjustable except for the rear in 2005 models (set to -1.5 degrees).
----------------

Adjustable control arms- can be added but not required for street use. Helps to allow you to make more or less rear negative camber. Lower adjustable rear control arms cost about $200-240. Optional. In your case I'd wait.

Front strut bar- not needed for street driving. Save your $$$.

- Shocks? For street use- No, not initially, see how your ride feels.
- Coil Overs? No-unless you have Coil overs in your other cars and a large budget for suspension upgrades ($2000-$3000)
- Camber plates for strut bar? No- not needed for street use. Camber plates are not for strut bars, they are for adjusting front negative camber to increase or decrease camber for better cornering at speed. Best suited for track or autocross and expensive ($500+).

------------
Back to basics-
Other than the adjustable rear sway bar, everything else is optional.
If you consider the wheels and tires as part of your suspension then one approach is not to tune the stock suspension other than to stiffen the rear sway bar. This doesn't void the warranty, allows for a smooth ride yet allows for better handling from the wheels (reduced weight, wider and stickier rubber).

Spend your $$$ on lightweight rims and good street tires-
Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3
BFG G-Force T/A KDW2
Avon Tech M550 A/S (good street tire)
are a good examples in 205/45-17, 215/45-17 or 215/40-17.

Again, if you find an owner that has this sort of setup then go for a ride and see what you think. You be the judge. More upgrades is not always the best choice.

 

skuzy,



i'd say for what you want to use your car for just get some springs. the rear sway bar is a great change but you don't need it for street driving or drag racing. why bother. even if you do end up tracking your car learn how in the most stock form you can get. don't make every change in the world thinking your gonna rule the track in your pimped out MINI when you get there. learn how to drive the car on the track then start making changes little by little. the only thing you will accomplish working on the suspension now is getting a rougher ride for no reason.

 

Okay, here's my 2 cents:

M7 Springs
Rear Sway Bar (forget the front bar)
Lower Rear Control Arms

I recently completed these - and I am blown away at what a totally different, and BETTER handling car it is. I did the rear sway bar first (so I got to feel what each mod did)... and last weekend finished with the springs and control arms. It's much more comfortable... and solid feeling! I never would have guessed the car could feel this way. It's like I bought a new car... I'm extremely happy.

Oh, one final thing... I am just a heavy hard drivin street guy... no track or auto x etc.

 

It rocks, that there are so many fellow motorers out there ready, willing, and able to lend their 2 cents I am going to have read over all of the advice carefully once I have a moment and find the best prices , whereever they may be.

 

So if I just want to improve the handling of the rear end, I can add ONLY a rear swaybar and that will make the biggest difference, right?

I really don't want to get into camber, lowering, etc. Just a bit better handling out of the rear.

 

this is true, a rear sway bar is the best out of the bunch, but springs are a close second. they really are a night and day ride and look. rear camber links is just because of the springs. if you have a new 05' you can adjust some of it out and maybe get away without them. good luck with your mods. once you do you you do a lot more! let us know if we can help

 

The biggest difference for what kind of driving?

For normal street driving the rear sway bar upgrade isn't going to make that much difference. It doesn't help with straight line driving and while it does help with cornering by stiffening the rear suspension and reducing unwanted understeer, it's best suited for performance driving as you would experience on the track, at autocross or at driving school events.

If you do only normal street driving and never get to the track then I think the one best upgrade would be to change from runflat tires to non runflat performance tires. Only at the limit of getting understeer in corners would the stiffer rear sway bar take effect- are you there yet? For your driving are you getting understeer on corners regularly? If so then an adjustable rear sway bar set to soft or middle would be worth the effort.

Point is the stock rear sway bar on the MCS isn't wimpy. Stock class MC and MCS with 16 and 17mm rear sway bars respectively are doing darn well at autocross. Could they do better with a stiffer rear sway bar? Sure. They also do well with better than stock tires.

The best test is to take a test drive in a MINI that has the rear sway bar upgrade installed and similar wheels to what you have. Do some cornering and see if you can tell the difference.

 

like minihune said. your not really gonna see a diffence unless your driving the car harder than you should be on the street. i'd recomend not acting like a ricer and doing that. it only enables you to bring the rear end of the car around easier. if your on the street you don't want or need that.

be prepared for the kids and stupid adults that are gonna respond saying they do want that while street driving.

i'd say if your gonna do something get the springs. they make the car look better and lower the CG (center of gravity).

 

Wow - execellent feed back, thanks for all the different opinions, its opened up my eyes more to what i should be aiming for. Thanks so much everyone

Well i guess in the end my only mods (suspension wise) would be tyres, springs, and the rear sway bar - maybe the control arms ( depending on the outcome of the new tyres and springs )

Keep an eye out on my mcs as it matures

Cheers

-s

 

this is true, but however we do all drive different. and i know so many people that have a lot of mods on there car, and drive them on the street, (as you do too as it says in your sig) fast or not. in the end no one needs anything for the car to have fun with it till you start to over drive the car. then you keep stepping it up to the next item. and it's fun all along the way. that is part of the fun here, waitting till the next mod. all we can do is direct you to the mod you ask about or feel you need and give you the best advice. the rest is up to your checkbook..

 

H-sport springs and Alta 22mm rear swaybar is my setup along with wheels/tires and i am quite pleased so far. :smile:

 

I'm a bit nervous on the spring part since I was reading about "blown shocks" and the like. Not to mention, I really like the current amount of clearance I get with my current setup. Would one of the rear stress bars that mounts in the rear cab make more sense? I've read mixed posts on their effectiveness.

Oh, and thanks so much for all the comments!

 

The dampers will blow eventually, just part of the game.
but the lowering for me is more for aesthetic reasons than performance.

That being said, I would say if you like the current ride height I'd keep
your stock springs and add a 22mm or larger rear swaybar and you
should be set. There's nothing wrong with the stock height while
running stock wheels/tires. It's when you start adding aggressive
offset or larger diameter wheels when the car starts to look lifted. :smile:

I'd probably do the 22mm swaybar and try the softest setting first.