R51 Mini Cooper: Ride is too firm

[jcpeden]

I've got an R51 mini cooper that for the most part, I'm very happy with. The ride however, is pretty firm and I don't know how much more abuse my spine can take.

I love the sharp handling but not at the expense of the ride. Anything to reduce road noise would be a bonus as this gets quite tedious if the road is anything other than silky smooth.

I've read a few bits-and-pieces about Koni FSDs or coilovers but I'm really not sure how much to budget or what I should be looking for. I'd prefer to keep the run-flats but wouldn't be against swapping them out if necessary. I'm running the standard 16" cooper alloys.

[Mid Life Mini]

I think changing fron run flats would make the world of difference.

I have ordinary tyres on my Dooper Convertible and a friend has just bought a new one and specifically ordered it WITHOUT run flats as he old one had them and he hated the ride.

[mab01uk]

As said get rid of the runflats with their stiff unforgiving sidewalls.

[goonerij]

Would agree with the comments above regarding runflats .... get rid! Runflats have been the culprtit for so many complaints about the ride quality of the MINI. It's not so bad on the 2nd Gen MINI's but even so, MINI decided a few years ago to stop fitting them as standard on most models.

[jcpeden]

Ok, thanks for the feeback guys. I raised this with the mechanic at my local BMW/Mini specialist who said that standard tyres wouldn't fit on my 5-spoke standard alloy Cooper rims.

What's the next step then? Choose a set of 16s (or 17s?) and pick up the spare tyre kit?

[Angib]

Quote: Originally Posted by jcpeden (original)

....who said that standard tyres wouldn't fit on my 5-spoke standard alloy Cooper rims.

Yeah, people do seem to like saying this - but it isn't in any way true. Standard tyres fit fine.

Quote: Originally Posted by jcpeden (original)

What's the next step then? Choose a set of 16s (or 17s?) and pick up the spare tyre kit?

If you want a better ride, then changing to 17s would be a bad choice. Just get some non-runflat 16s and a compressor/tyre sealant kit (there's a neat Conti all-in-one).

However I will say that I found swapping from runflat 16 to non-runflat 16s didn't make a huge difference - but it was on a 2nd Gen car which did not have sports suspension. I think it's sports suspension plus runflats that is real purgatory.

[The Nun]

You could put air suspension seats in it out of a lorry.

[jcpeden]

Thanks Nun, I'll bear that in mind.

So from a financial perspective, would it be better to sell the r51 and upgrade to an r53 or invest in a set of non-runflats and upgraded suspension?

[mab01uk]

From a financial perspective you would mostly need to consider the higher annual road tax and fuel consumption costs of the supercharged R53 Cooper S against your R50 Cooper.

As said normal tyres will fit straight on to your existing 5 spoke rims despite what some uninformed mechanics/tyre fitters may say!

[Boleigh]

Oh I can sympathise. I've spent four hours in my R50 today and my back is aching. I even started planning the route home on the basis of the smoothest roads!

[JohnnyC]

Quote: Originally Posted by jcpeden (original)

So from a financial perspective, would it be better to sell the r51 and upgrade to an r53 or invest in a set of non-runflats and upgraded suspension?

Where did the selling your car and buying an R53 come from?

Ditch the runflats, see how you feel after that. You may not even need to upgrade the suspension.