We got word today that the Sport Springs have landed. We've got several sets inbound -- should be here in about a week.

These are a claimed 1.4" drop -- the European springs are rated there at 30mm, which is 1.2" although I'm guessing our stock springs are taller than Euro springs, so the H&R product is probably the same.

Street coilovers are also in-country now, too. No RSS kit yet, though.

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

Great news, Dan, thanks for the updates! Please keep us posted, I'm definitely looking forward to the RSS (can't afford to drop over 2k on a coilover setup), hopefully, there will be more options when my car finally gets here.

 

Thank GOD ! Thats the one thing I agree with all the R53 people. The R56 definately needs to be lowered.

 

Great to hear more options are coming out for the R56. Are the springs linear or progressive? Spring rates F/R?

 

The H&R's make a huuuuuggggggeeeee difference in how the car looks and rides:



I highly recommend them. At my local MINI event this past week, you could look across the sea of MINIs and pick out the R56s by the higher roof, beltline and wheel well gap of the newer cars. I got a lot of positive comments on the stance of the lowered R56. The differences in the generations become much more subtle once the R56 right hieght is sorted properly.

 

Group buy?

 

X2 on the goup buy.

n00b question: can these springs be used with all the stock components with no problems?

 

Definitely YES. The H&R's are only marginally stiffer than the stock standard suspension springs, so they'll work for both Cooper and S, standard and sport suspension. The only thing you may want to consider is an alignment to pull the rear camber back a little bit, lowering the MINI increases rear camber slightly. For people running aggressive offsets, more rear camber is good because that's the only way we can tuck the rear tires, LOL!

 

Tuck is step 2

Thanks for the quick answers!

 

We generally do NOT do group buys. Here are some of the reasons:

- Group buys are quite a bit of work to administer; in my experience, more work than a normal sale would, on our part. (Hence, it actually costs us more, not less.)
- From experience, if 40 people say they're interested, in the end, two will actually pay.
- The group buy people always want full normal customer service (and who wouldn't?), despite ordering through a group buy, so customer service ends up costing us the same as a normal sale.
- Group buys always take longer than they're supposed to, and the members get annoyed.
- I'd like people to order when they want the item, rather than wait for a group buy.

We pride ourselves on our service level, and the group buy thing just doesn't seem consistent with our standards of customer service and prompt order-handling.

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

Sounds good then how about a discount then?

 

I'll take a set! You taking deposit or pre orders?

 

You can order now. HERE.

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

Sweet! Thanks do you know when you will have them ready to ship out?

 

So all i gotta do is buy these handr springs for this price, and thats all i need to lower my (future) mini (of course w/ install)? NICE

 

That's right. As with any spring install, I advise getting a four-wheel alignment performed afterwards...

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

Discount or not, I'll give a on the price!

I paid $318 after tax and shipping... so $275 shipped (to my zip, at least) seems like a good deal to me.

See what I get for wanting to be the first guy on my block with a set of H&Rs (or actually, second behind Ryephile).

 

By Tuesday.

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

Can anyone tell me what springs would have the smoothest ride for the 07"s?

I now, I now, lowering and smooth don"t go hand in hand . I would love to leave the stock springs in, but that stance in just not right, but I don"t want to compromise the ride quality too much.

Thanks in advance!

 

Just my opinion, mind you, but...

...you're not going to be able to get what your looking for with springs alone. Lowering springs reduce the suspension travel enough up front that anything softer than H&R's stiff sport sring (or comparables) will allow the front struts to bottom easily (making for some harsh jolts, yes?).

A shorter shock/strut body in a coilover set-up is the answer manuy have come to and there aren't many options to choose from right now. The down side is you've gone from $250 woth of srings... to a $2000+ coilover kit. So it's a pretty tough decision to make.

 

Does anyone have these installed yet? I would like to read some sort of review and see pics of course

 

Ryphile and msh441 have them. Search for threads from them. (And msh441 posted a pic and mini-review above...)

The first orders have shipped!

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

Thanks for the input and suggestions. I was always under the impression coilovers were for more aggressive driving and a firmer feel, I realize they are very adjustable though. Could this give me a smooth ride and still improve handling? If so, are there specific brands that might have more of the comfortable ride I'm looking for? It's hard to do a search on this. I am trying though.... but little success.

 

There are several models that allow you to spec your own spring rates and will valve the shocks accordingly (CROSS, which has a kit out for the R56 and Leda, which does not) but these are at the upper echelon of the price spectrum. Also, there are not that many choices for the R56 yet; the aftermarket needs a bit of time to catch up. You could wait for Bilstein to come out with R56-spec PSS9 coils and get the H&Rs as a stopgap.

IMO, the best single thing you can do to increase ride comfort is to ditch the stock runflats. This will also improve handling.

 

Thanks for your thoughts, I can wait for the market to catch up, not like i have 2000 laying around after buying a new car, lol