I am looking around for a suspension set up to install in the spring. There appear to be those who are divided on the issue. I was initially thinking KONI FSD with H-sports, but after reading about the sagging issues and over all cost, I started to think about coilovers.

My MINI is mainly driven on the street, but is put away for most of the winter. I am still worried about coilovers in the winter, should I be? Also, some say you need to corner balance, some older threads said it was not cost effective for a car that is not regularly tracked.

Finally, what is a good coil over system with a reasonable cost? the pss9(i think thats it) looks like a great system, but at almost 2 grand...is no longer reasonable.

Thanks,

Sean

 

Do you want a softer ride? Harder ride, better cornering or what? These questions will guide you to your answer......

Some things you'll run into... The lower you go, the more you scrape and bottom the suspension. The firmer you need the shocks so that you resist the bottoming, and this make the ride even rougher. If you lower a lot, you should really have a stiffer spring, so that the same force causes less deflection.

If you're happy with the way the car drives, save the $. If you really want to make a specific change in performance, let us know what that is and we can then make suggestions. If you just want a look and don't really care the compramises that are made, spend as little as you can, and guys like me won't be able to help. Not because there's no advice to be given, but because I don't really like changing the looks to imply performance. I find you change for performance and the looks come for free.

Matt

Matt

 

Opps, In all my rambling, I forgot to cover those points, thanks for bringing them up Matt!

I would like to keep the ride close to factory, if not a bit smoother. I would like to also get better handling if possible. I am not looking to "slam" the car, but get ride of some of the fender gap...so possibly around an 1 inch lower, possibly a bit more. It is my understanding that anything more than that will start to create problems with CV joints and scraping as you mentioned.

 

The cheapest way to do it is just with springs, Helix sells them. They will lower the car by about an inch. I have them on my car, and the ride is a little stiffer than stock, but still tolerable. I just prefer the stance of the car when it's lowered a little bit.

 

FWIW, an H&R/Bilstein SP setup will drop the car 1.2-1.3" front stock and still provide great performance... I ran this setup on my daily driver for 2 years, with autocross and track days mixed in.

 

if you're mainly concerned with just lowering it i would just recommend springs. H-sport and H&R to name a few...

 

Hey Sean, come on over & we'll heat those stock springs cherry red....then watch the magic as your car hits the ground.

 

sagging issue? mine are H-Sports... no sagging on mine...

 

Can we practice on blue brit?

It is just what I read. Why dont you put some FSD's in so I can see how mine would ride

 

lol... mine rides fine still with the stock 03 dampers.

 

I have 53,xxx on mine though...I doubt the dampers will last long....

 

ummmmm...megans? once they fix the issues that is.

 

and see what you like. I had H-Sport progressives, and liked them, then didn't. I think I prefere linear springs, even though they are a bit more firm on small bumps... But a bit more predictible in transition.

To each his own! But springs are cheap, and the sell well in the marketplace, so if you don't like the ones you do get, you can always sell em and get different ones...

The FSDs will give you a nicer ride for sure, but won't do anything about ride height...

Matt

 

Unfortunatly not many people in my area have lowered there cars, or have already gone on to coil overs. I hope to ride in a Megan car soon. I have been in a car with H-sport springs and it was alittle ruff on the bumps like you mentioned...I was hoping the FSD's would fix that...

 

You're young....who cares how stiff the ride is

you wanna meet sometime during this week? You could ride in my car, check out the wheels, and we could go find some columbus buildings to do a photoshoot.

 

If I didnt drive so much, I wouldnt worry to much about the ride, but the highway is no fun. If I want a ruff ride...I have the Jeep... ...No one has figured out how to tune that yet...except Air ride.

I already know i want the wheels.

Yeah, You got a PM with my number. Give me a call, going for a drive tomorrow...why dont you join us...

 

I got HSports and FSDs and they run great. No sagging issues. There was a person who had an issue with a convertible. I've read people having sagging issues with just springs as well. I don't think the FSD/HSport combo has anything to do with it.

 

Thats good to know. I guess I need to just hop on a plane and get a ride in your car..then you can teach me how to detail properly.

BTW, your new car looks great!

 

Haha that we can do!

The FSDs are a huge improvement over the 2005 OEM struts, which were a huge improvement over the 2003 OEM struts! I had set the cushiness baseline to my wifes Nissan Murano which seemed to absorb all the bumps and jolts that my '03 with HSports seemed really harsh--and then I got the FSDs, and I'm pretty sure it rides even smoother than the Murano now.

My comparison is on a 1 mile stretch of bumpy, pot holed construction area near my house that I drive every day. So I got the best combination of ride height while offering an even smoother ride than stock!

re: new car
thanks!!! I'm loving it as usual!

 

Hey, thats the pefect comparison for me. My parents Bought a Murano about a year ago(right before I found the used 03 MCS). It does ride nice and sporty with the SE package, Hum...Thanks Richard!