Help me decide !

I'm about to order the JCW.

I'm not sure if I should go with the DDC, or stay with the "standard" JCW suspension. The car will be a daily driver, and occasional longer road trips with little or no track time.

I'm leaning towards the DDD. What say you ?


Jim

 

It's standard equipment on the JCW, but you can dial in the normal suspension as you like just by switching off the 'sport' mode. Even in the sport mode you have a way of turning off the firmer suspension in settings.

 

You have three options for suspension on the JCW:
- Sport Suspension is the default and is 30% stiffer than the standard suspension found on the Cooper/Cooper S. It also has a better sway bar too.
- DDC which is a $500 option and has two settings: GREEN/MID is 10% softer than the Cooper/Cooper S suspension, in SPORT, you can configure 10% stiffer than the Cooper/Cooper S suspension.
- If you really want, as a no cost option, they can put on the suspension from the Cooper/Cooper S. IMO, if you're getting a JCW, go with one of the other two options.

DDC is nice because you can choose whether you want a stiffer ride or a comfier ride on the fly, but the stiffer setting is kind of a compromise. You feel it, but I don't think it feels really "stiff". That being said, it works well enough for me just driving around. I don't track mine but once or twice a year for fun.

People I've heard from that have the sport suspension, or the standard JCW suspension, don't usually say it's "too stiff". If anything, I hear from a few people that it's not stiff enough!

Honestly, I think if you can, test drive with both (if you can) and see how you react to them.

 

So do you get the same sway bar as the default if you choose to go with the DDC?

Mike B.

 

I don't believe so, but admittedly, I don't know for sure.

 

I have a JCW with the sport suspension only....I'm in my 60's, been a car guy my whole life, and the ride is NOT too harsh even in sport mode. Some liked getting the DDC to use on long trips or in pothole laden streets to make the ride "cushy" when desired, but I don't lean that way. I wanted a sports car, not a "Frankenstein car"! LOL!

For only $500 the DDC may be worthwhile but I only see it as one more thing that can go wrong with the car. If you worry so much about a smooth ride, don't buy a JCW! My car still has summer high performance run flats on it and the ride is just fine. It makes me smile every time I drive it!

To be sure, try to find a JCW with DDC and test drive it....but, good luck with that (if you can find one to drive).

For me, I'd put that $500 into something else!

Have fun & don't over think everything,

John

 

You can do the NM Eng. springs if you do get the DDC. The DDC might fit you better for long rides and daily comfort.

 

I have the DDC and NM springs and I love it, for the bad city roads or long drives I switch to green mode to save my ***, for when I want fun I switch to sport. For me it was worth the $500 dollars cause even on lowering springs it doesn't feel like a lowered car with a harsh bumpy ride. As for the rear sway bar the DDC optioned car has one on I just don't know how stiff it is compared to a JCW with just sports suspension.

 

I have the DDC and am very happy with ride and option to allow auto compensation for road condition in "mid" and green modes. Am about to install NM 22mm RSB to deal with sway issues. Best I can tell, RSB with DDC is 18.5 mm. Car is daily driver, but will see the track a few times a year. I notice the need for stiffer RSB even when able to safe ly plush turns on public roads. Spring stiffness of DDC sport mode suits my needs.

 

Either DDC and add rear sway bar (you NEED that), or the free sport suspension, which I have on my JCW and it's not harsh at all, the car is my DD. I recommend the latter. The former will cost you $800 total. The standard suspension on my friend's F56 MCS is pretty bad (soft).

 

What are you used to and what are you looking for?

*DDC option = you think a BMW 750i rides reasonably smooth
*factory Sport suspension = you think a Ford Focus ST is way too firm
*JCW Pro coilovers (dealer accessory) = you're used to sports cars that have feel and response



You don't have an F56 JCW, so your comments on your R58 are tangential at best. The sport suspension sway bars on the F56 JCW are totally acceptable and allow for higher cornering speed than any previous factory MINI offering.

 

DDC would be good for DD , depends on what you will be doing, just DD or track car. Think Ryephile has a good assessment.

 

So if I understand correctly, DDC on a JCW only allows for the selection of softer damping, i.e. it doesn't allow to dial in a damping that is stiffer than the "stock" JCW sport suspension. Is that correct?

I'm currently shopping between the new Miata and the new JCW to replace my 2005 JCW (yes, I hold on to my cars a long time). My 2005 JCW has stiffer (but not appreciably lower springs) and Koni yellows - I like the stiff ride. The only reason I would opt for DDC option is if it allowed to go even stiffer than without it.

If I go the new JCW route then I may consider the JCW Pro Kit suspension though it would be nice to know what % increase in stiffness that delivers over JCW stock, and what the minimum height drop can be (this is my DD and I live with snow 5 months of the year - don't want to lower more than 0.5" else I become the neighbourhood plow!).

Thanks,
Eric

 

I have a 2016 JCW with DDC. Take a look at the post from siriuszero from 1-18-16 regarding spring stiffness. I believe the info is correct.

I will not be lowering the car, so didn't consider Pro Kit. I will be doing occasional track days.

I put on the 22mm NM RSB, which I strongly recommend. (Stock JCW RSB measured 21.5 mm (somewhat crudely) and is a hollow bar) With that add-on, the sort mode suspension fits my needs perfectly. Have done some "aggressive" street driving and, while haven't tracked the 2016 yet, I am confident the suspension "sacrifice " will not be an issue.

You may have other performance/appearance needs/wants, but that's my report.

 

Ryan (aka Ryephile) is your guy! PM Ryan and he'll explain it to you. I would attempt to but I'd likely get something wrong. Ryan has the Pro Kit on his JCW and he knows the ins & outs about the JCW suspension.


I still love my stock sport suspension fwiw!


John

 

Thanks John. Just for reference, the F56 JCW is my 6th MINI, having owned 3 R53's and 2 R56's in the past. IMO the F56's sport suspension is too soft for the character of the car, and the JCW Pro coilovers are perfect without ever being too stiff. Of course we all have our preferences and comfort limits, and admittedly I feel more comfortable in a sports car that puts performance and visceral feel as the highest priority.

I also live in a snow belt, and even with the F56 1.25" lower than stock, it's still much higher than I'm used to. One of my R53's I did some extensive subframe and suspension changes and it resulted in a whopping 1.2" of actual ground clearance, about a quarter the clearance of the JCW I have now,....and I still drove it in winter and never got stuck. The important part is having good snow tires, and the MINI's excellent mechanical grip will snowplow until you're to your destination. Of all the cars I've owned [and it's becoming a lot], the MINI's are the 2nd best in winter, the Evo IX on snows takes that award, as you can imagine.



Anyway, back on topic. Please drive a MINI with DDC and see if you like it. It will always be softer than the sport suspension, but if you want that authentic sports car feeling, the JCW Pro coilovers are your only "OEM" option.

 

So do the F56 JCW Pro coilovers lower the car 1.25"? And I gather that that package doesn't have thicker swaybars included. Did you change swaybars too? How much was that option, installed? As I recall the JCW suspension upgrade for the R56 included swaybars and lowered the car about 1/2" and cost $1300 plus installation right? I'll tell you one thing, when I drove my friends' F56 with the standard suspension it was not good. Lots of body lean. But it was pretty comfy on bumps.

 

The JCW Pro coilovers (dealer accessory) have an adjustable ride height, however as I stated in my Unboxing thread, they're designed to run 1.25" lower than stock to retain the same droop vs. compression stroke ratio.

The JCW model (factory) comes with thicker sway bars from the factory, thanks to the sport suspension being standard. They're thicker than the standard and DDC suspension sway bars, however I don't have the difference figures.



Body lean is not a representation of lateral grip. My Lotus Exige S had lots of body roll but it had incredible lateral grip. The R53 MINI had very little body roll but in today's context it doesn't have very good lateral grip.


Even a stock standard suspension F56 has better lateral grip than an R53 with its factory SS+, because the suspension kinematics are more evolved to have more mechanical grip whilst also being more comfortable.

 

Thanks for all of the help, guys. I'm off to test drive the JCW and the MX5 this weekend. And I have a list of things to check out thanks to all of the advice on NAM. It's been a few years since I spent any time on the forum - I had forgotten what a great community it is!

 

Awesome, let us know how you like the new F56 JCW.

 

I have the F56 JCW with dynamic damper control and it does make for a better ride for not a lot of money. I just returned from the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains and a plethora of hard runs in the twisties including, but not limited to three very hard runs on the Tail of the Dragon. There was very little traffic this time of year and all of the drivers we encountered who were normal pulled over to let us pass and I thanked them. Anyway, these were fast and hard runs in very technical turns that are some of the best anywhere. The car performed flawlessly at high speed with minimal drift, sway, and yaw and was a pleasure to drive. No one we encountered was able to stay with us on any of the passes. I drove two of them and my wife one. There were some modded Subarus that we didn't hook up with, but I would have liked to as they are great little performers. Mazdas, one Lexus sports car and some others were unable to stay with us on any of the runs. Alas, there were no other minis on the Trail while we were there. Some Ninja bikes were burning up the road and they smoked everyone! We were running with the original runflats with an NM module and the JCW PRO exhaust and I think somewhere in the 270 HP range from my butt dyno, but I hope to have a real deal dyno soon and some Michelin Pilot Super Sport shoes on the toy before MOTD and the season really begin.

 

Sorry if this post belongs elsewhere but since this topic already came up in the 3rd Gen JCW forum, figured I would ask follow-up questions with regards to my F60 Countryman JCW.

Just ordered it recently and I think I made a big mistake. I had no interest with the CTM S as the "feel" wasn't quite right. After test driving a JCW, I knew that was the one (perfect feel and what i was looking for). However, I was not well educated on the effects of the DDC and ordered it thinking it would give me an option to switch out of the JCW sport suspension when I would want a comfortable ride (my wife hates the stiff ride). Now my understanding is that DDC gives you a feel similar to an S which is what I was trying to avoid. There is no turning back now as its in production, but wanted to get some ideas from you all on how I get that feel back. Do I replace the Sway bar and that should be enough? Anything else to give me a more sportier feel? Will any of this void my warranty?

Also note that I will be running 19" runflats (but that is also what I test drove).

 

I chose the JCW coil overs over the Sports suspension for the same reason Ryan did - too soft.

DDC seems a gimmick to me and will add weight to the car. Not sure how it performs on the track, autocross or mountain roads, but the JCW coil overs work for me.

 

Do this: get a 25mm rear antisway bar added to the DDC. I have a JCW with the factory sport suspension. I drove my friends' new F56 stock suspension. Lots of body lean/understeer compared to my current car. The Sport Suspension difference is about 80% due to the rear bar. That will fix what you didn't like about the suspension I bet. It's not the ride it's the body lean and understeer people don't like. The car actually steers/handles pretty good stock.

 

DDC does not add weight to the car.
Its just a motorized damper adjuster at the damper stems.