[The_length]

hi, i have 17" S spokes on my cooper and i've recently replace the stock runflats with 205/40/17 toyo's, found that the wheels now look tiny in the arches. i've decided NOT to buy coilovers as my wallet didnt like the idea and have settled for the springs option, i cant decide between 30 or 45mm?? i dont kno if the 45mm will be too extreme for the stock shockers and if the 30mm drop will make much difference as im already kitted with the "sports suspension" anyone help me ?? either with pics or advice from what they've done themselves??

[Ryephile]

In my experience if you lower the MINI's suspension more than 1.5" [38mm] the roll center gets too low and the handling balance gets messed up. My best advice would be to get a set of H-Sport springs. They lower the car about 1" [25mm], yet their spring rates are improved over stock [same rate in front, stiffer in back to reduce understeer]. The net result is better stance and slightly improved handling.

The MINI's suspension tends to be a delicate flower in terms of tuning. Spring sets from H&R, M7, and KW [I have 1st hand experience with all of them] all lower the car but add understeer, which is something the MINI already has too much of!

For what it's worth, the factory sport suspension does not lower the ride height versus standard, it only adds firmer dampers, spring rates, and sway bar thicknesses. Everything above is referenced from the factory sport suspension.