OK...I believe that I will be going with springs from racing dynamics because I can get a great deal on them. My question is this....can the stock shocks on a Cooper support normal sport springs?

 

I'm running the H&R springs on the regular shocks...not sure as if it will shorten the lifespan or not of the shocks, but for now it's fine.

 

Thank you! for the response. I was beginning to think noone loved me anymore.

 

The answer is with normal use you should be just fine. The stock shocks are OK with any of the sport tuned springs. I think that all of us that change only the springs are using stock shocks.

Are you prepared for the stiffer ride? Watch out for speed bumps and curbs- even slight ones can be trouble. Cornering is great though and will make up for the lowering of the car.

If you have aftermarket wheels- (I know you do) then you will be OK. The stock runflats are kinda harsh with upgraded springs. Rough roads are really jarring.

 

I am fully prepared for the added roughness of the ride. Lowering my car will up the aesthetic value of my car so much that I'll deal with it. I have a killer wheel gap right now.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

Your car is so killer with all those mods. Do you wear dark shades when you drive?
Do you drive it like you stole it? If I was the cops I'd be on the lookout for you.
You're lucky you like in the US.

While on my trip to the UK I really don't see as much going on with MINIs. People are content to drive them stock- maybe they don't have access to tuning shops or maybe not the support that MCO can provide. I'm sure there are some nice MINIs but you don't see them much at all.

I know in Hawaii we have a bunch of crazys that have done up their MC and MCS to the extreme. $10,000 in mods is not too bad- gotta be at least 7 or more like that and very easy to spot. Not sure what they are doing with all that extra "beef". It's not hard to find them and we have events and will see them come out. Almost like a car show sometimes. It's good to be organized.

I have H-sport springs and madness rear swaybar (I don't think you have the bar yet). See how you like the springs first. You might not need the bar- it's not useful in street driving. Only in really hard corners. Can you say "triple" the marked speed limit on turns? Well, if you have an MCS.

 

I really WANTED that harsh ride. I just had a regular sports suspension, not the SS+ - so the springs & RDR adjustable sway bar (Helix) were exactly what I wanted. My wife's car has the cushy feel, I wanted to feel the road.

 

I have a question on springs....How long does it take on average to install them and what kind of a price is charged. Finally are rear control arms needed?? Or can you go without them.

 

I have a rear swaybar off a Cooper S that I haven't gotten put on yet. I will probably have it put on when I have my car dropped since that swaybar is really all up in there.

 

The only issue you will have is that you will have 2 to 2.5 degrees of negative camber in the rear. Excellent for Handling, killer on the inside edge of your rear tires.

Some one please correct me if I am wrong


And there is always Luv for L.Mini

 

>>I have a question on springs....How long does it take on average to install them and what kind of a price is charged. Finally are rear control arms needed?? Or can you go without them.

Average install for a shop is about 2 to three hours for springs. Roughly $200 or less in labor costs. Stock rear control arms are OK. Some people replace them with either two or four fixed or adjustable control arms. The fixed ones are sometime lighter weight than the stock. I have H-sport adjustable control arms- just a pair in the rears although you can do all four but it is more labor. Adjustable means you can dial in or out some of the negative camber in the rears.

 

>>The only issue you will have is that you will have 2 to 2.5 degrees of negative camber in the rear. Excellent for Handling, killer on the inside edge of your rear tires.

This is a good point. It doesn't have to be killer on your tires.
After you do the springs you will note a distinct negative camber to the rears depending on your set up and tires. The tires look like they are leaning inward from the top of the wheel wells. This is good on hard cornering but wears out the inside edge of the rear tires.

After you do all your suspension mods like adding the rear swaybar or control arms or links and such then take the MINI to a good alignment and brake specialist shop and they will be able to adjust your MINI's suspension back to factory specs or anything else that you want. Just tell them how much negative camber you want in the rears. I took it to a shop and asked for about -.75 degrees in the rear and they adjusted toe in and camber all around as well. Took about 100 minutes and cost about $80- well worth it- the car handled and drove very nicely after that. Before the alignment the car wasn't doing so great and my negative camber in the rear was about -2.4 degrees. Stock is about -1 to -1.5 degrees.

 

Yeah TJ has a bad camber issue on his Focus. So do you think it would also be worth my while to get the rear control arms?

 

Rear control arms- probably you can use the stock ones unless you need to:
Lighten the weight? Not much to gain. Cost is rather high plus the cost of labor to install.
Need to adjust for negative camber? only if you race or like to change camber in demand- most times you choose your camber and align it and drive it.
Like the looks?- I like the looks of the H-sport control arms- costs $242 or so for the pair and you can see them peaking out from under the car. Plus they are adjustable. Not much weight saved. The stock control arms are stamped metal. Functional but not elegant.
As long as you do the alignment at some point you should be fine.

 

OK I will probably pass on getting new rear control arms for now. And I know of a couple places that I can go to get the alignment done very soon after I get the springs done. Thanks for all the info...you guys RAWK!!!!!!

 

I wouldn't use the RD springs-they advertise a 1.5" drop. That's really a lot for a car that has a very vulnerable underside. I have the H-Sport springs with a 1" drop and even at that I find myself crawling along sometimes. If you must have that slammed look go for it, but most other kits stay within 1-1.25 drop max.

Just my 2 cents.

Ulrich

 

I too have the H-sport springs with 1" drop front and rears- I find that to be a good choice and it looks OK.

 

L.Mini,

I would agree that the Racing Dynamics would lower the car too much. At least based on the 1.5" drop they advertise. I installed the H-Sport springs and they are plenty low. I drove last weekend and came across a Coke can in the road on its side. I thought I would have no problem clearing it when all of a sudden the lower spoiler picked it up. Careful how low you go!

Jason

 

So with RD you can ONLY get a 1.5" drop? That does seem like alot. My friend is the one that is trying to hook me up and I know that he wouldn't try to steer me in the wrong direction...but I will check out my other options as well.

 

How would the alignment shop get rid of the excess negative camber, front and rear? (without adjustable control arms and front camer plates?

 

[quote[ How would the alignment shop get rid of the excess negative camber, front and rear? (without adjustable control arms and front camer plates?[/quote]

I second that :smile:

 

L. whasssup!

The RD springs do lower the car 1.5", and because of that you get quite a bit of rear negative camber. The front ends up still being shy of what you really need for some fun driving - but it's enough for a street car that does highway driving.

The real issue is travel. With that large of a drop, you lose what limited travel you had with the stock Delphis - around 5 inches. That means you will be bottoming on the bump stop often, which will wear your shocks prematurely (but I hear they have medicine for that now).

If you do get a screaming deal on the RD springs, great! You would need the rear control arms to dial out the camber or you will wear out the tires on the inside edge much quicker. You will also have premature wear on the stock shocks. That doesn't mean you still won't get 60000 miles out of them - you may - it just means they will wear out faster than they would have.

If you go with the H&Rs, there is less of a drop, but still more in the rear than the H-Sports, and you will probably again want to go with some control arms. I do have a used set of these (actually two) so I could give you a good deal on those.

The H-Sports are the best option. They lower the car evenly and correctly, and the rear camber isn't so excessive that you will run your tires out in 500 miles. As long as you are religious with the tire rotation, they work well without the rear camber arms (though I have seen differences in rear camber from car to car believe it or not). The reason is because the fronts tend to wear on the outside edge of the tire, while the rear will wear on the inside. THat gives you a pretty good wear pattern with rotation.

Hope that helps!

Randy

 

Hey L! :smile:

I'm running KW springs with equal drop as the RD you're talking about. I don't hardly ever hit my bumpstops, can drive over a Coke can no problemo, don't have issues going over speed bumps and love 'em to death. The car will looked slammed, which I definitely like. Also to note, I've put on over 3k since the springs were installed. Haven't noticed any horrible tire wear. There's a bit more on the inside edge of my rear tires vs my front, but nothing crazy at all. So the negative camber is not the tire eating machine some would have you believe.

You will *not* need an alignment after they install your springs and or swaybar. If you switch out the control arms, then yes, you'll need to get an alignment most likely.

FRONT BEFORE


FRONT AFTER


REAR BEFORE


REAR AFTER





R

 

*DROOOOOOOOOL*
I LOVE that slammed look.

I am going to have my friend price me out the H-Sports (thanks, Randy!) as well because I am concerned with having bad camber....but then again Davbret is a testamonial to the fact that it might not be THAT bad. I can get the RD springs on special the entire month of August, so I have enough time to decide what I want to do.

Thanks so much for the input guys! :smile:

 

I'm running the H&R's without rear control arms, and with regular rotation, my tires are fine. If anything, any wear is due to the aggressive cornering I do. I should take a shot of the rear of my Cooper to show you the camber...