It seems that with all the talk about shocks/springs, there was a "missed opportunity" here. Already having a track car, the idea is to improve upon a great vehicle in the JCW Clubman. For a great street car that is capable on the track the car needs 2 things, being that it is very "understeer challanged". It needs a larger rear sway bar (which it has) and it need camber plates (for the street the Ireland fixed is a great choice). The basic ride will be unchanged but the streering response will improve 100%. For me it was to the point I didn't think the car needed any thing else. Shock and spings will the icing on the cake after these 2 parts

 

Are those actually 5100 rears? They are obviously inverted... but the 5100s Ive seen have a different top mount adapter/section on the top of the inverted shaft.

Maybe that is simply to allow for conversion to double/triple adjustables in the future, given that the pics Ive seen of the 5200s have the remote reservoir hose attached to that section. Could be a way of cutting cost on the 4100s... regardless, it seems to allow the upper spring perch to sit higher/closer to the actual top mount... which should allow for use of a longer spring. It also looks like the "adapter" section increases the overall length of the strut shaft, which would decrease actual shock travel at a given ride height

 

That is just a picture of an older 5100. The design has changed

 

Spend your money on track time and that will be the cheapest was to get your time down. Running all stock JCW with standard suspension and Jan tune the car was assume. Yes it still had the Dunlap RF on it and stock brakes. All did excellent over the 2 days. Added CarbonTech X10's Front and
X8's rear to keep up with the new tires and wheels. Konig ECO 1's 14 LBS
and Nitto NT01's R comp tires (track). Biggest improvement for me came from 2 days in Phil Wicks Race car with Phil riding shotgun. Better than any mod to cut your times and it goes with you to other cars.

 

Are the pictures here: https://picasaweb.google.com/racamaj...66412951382706


... a newer or older design?

 

It's a newer 4100 design. I think with the older design, the 4100s were not inverted in the rear which required drilling the frame rail to access rebound adjustment via rear shock cable adjustment.

 

That picture in post 27 is the 5100 with the Vorshlag rear mount. So the tops do look different.

Island maser, you are correct about track days helping but in my opinion they are not cheap. But they are necessary. The stock suspension is generally fine for the street, the sport suspension is too hard especially with run craps.

 

The stock JCW did pretty dam well at the track. There was some body roll but it just rides so good on the street I do not want to mess with it to much.
It is a pretty stiff car but not like a race car. Actually the Dunlop RF did very well at the track and they ride suprisingly well. I was going to dump them day one but the 17's rode better than my 2010 s with 16's! The rocked it pretty well at the track and held up great but it was cool and damp the first day.
They are $1300+ a set and they is just crazy. I am going to wear them out on the street and rain days at the track. Last night I bolted on my new Konig
ECO 1's and with Nitto NTO1's. The wheels are not as good looking as the stockers but more open for cooling and lighter. I dropped 3.5 lbs a wheel.
Stockers were lighter than I thought and the NT01's are on the heavy side.
Conti Extreme DW's on the stock rims will be in the same ball park. I left the sensors out on the track rims. It was cold and raining last night so I did not take them for test yet. Wet this morning but drying. I think these will ride even better and they seem very sticky. Track days are about $200 to $300
per session. Ferrari day is $500 as it is much smaller groups. 2 days with Phil one on one in his Race car was like $1600 and the best money I ever spent.
You learn things from a pro you just will never pick up on your own or on the street. Started on street tires in the rain and then slicks in the wet going to dry. If you get yo car rotating fast you have to look out the side windows
for the next corner. Something that never happens on the street. Second is learning the line and beign able to repeat it consistantly. Through in some traffic and it is not easy. Break the habbit of following the car in front of you.
He is slower that why you caught him. Drive you own line as it is faster. I followed a 911 deep into a sharp corner because I loved chasing that whale tail. Not good as the MINI needs to Apex early and be on the gas. The rear engine 911 lives on late entry and steer with the throttle out. I ended up wide up on the dragons teeth. Don't follow and run your line. Leason learned
with no damage or hitting the dirt. You can not learn this on the street.
You need to be able to repeat the corners to get the line and on the street the margin of safety is just to thin. Track has run outs etc. that you will use if you push the edge. On my last half day at TH I was using all the track and needed it all on the fast corners. Now with different tires and brakes I will start all over again and hopefully drop some serious time but not go over the edge. One mistake is all it takes on the track or street for and ugly result.

 

Island maser, I ran about 20 track days on all forms of basic Mini suspension so far, some lightly modified and some heavier. And I have also run on run flats especially in the rain. The basic issue I have is that they do not seem to communicate well in terms of their limits. Also understeer is really quite pronounced. I like TTO and TBO and it was almost impossible to get much TBO with the understeer. The other mini track days were on coils.

With 32 track days on my street/track Mini so far (many more on my other track cars), i would like to say that it is great up to near your limits and when it is close to the limits, the car behaves rather poorly. Many people like the Mini as a track car because you can drive fast quickly but you may not pick up some of the survival basics. Just take it slow and get enough seat time before going too close to your limits.