[Alan W]

I am considering purchasing coilover suspension for my new Cooper S and would appreciate feedback from anybody who has fitted KW, H&R or Eibach coilover units to their Mini's. I wish to retain ride comfort at least comparable with the O.E. sports suspension plus if possible. Feedback on coilover ride comfort, quality of the replacement units fitted and any clearance problems encountered would be much appreciated.

[QQQ]

I have the KW v2 coilovers on mine and am really very happy with them. They're continuously adjustable. Mine is lowered about 50 mm front and 45 mm rear. Ride is much better as with standard shocks, both comfort- and performance wise. No more jumping on fast corners with bad road surface (which was pretty scary so now and than with standard set-up), annoying understeer much improved and far better exiting out of slow and middle speed corners. With the standard S-spokes you need 15mm wheel-spacers but I understood that KW has new springs now with which no wheelspacers are needed anymore. In short, they're absolutely amazing, can't go wrong with them really

[Alan W]

Hi QQQ,

Many thanks for the comments on your KW V2 coilover suspension. I think it would be an understatement to say you are pleased with it! Can you advise if any of the O.E. Mini suspension components, such as the top mounts, are used when fitting to the car? Are 'C' spanners included with the package? I await your reply with interest.

If anybody can provide feedback on the H&R coilover kit I would be glad to hear from them.

Alan W

[gowest]

I have KW v1's, on my MCS, the ride is at least as good as OE. They come with a spanner wrench and you use the OE top mounts. New dust covers and bump stops are included. The design of the KW front springs has changed one or more times. Mine have a typical linear rate main spring and a tender spring. To lower my car more than 1.25" with the OE 16's it is necessary to either remove the tender spring or use a spacer. The wider the spacer the lower I could go and the two could be combined to go lower with a minimum change in offset/spacing. Newer v1's and v2's have a tapered spring, I think, which eliminates the need for a tender spring and has more travel than just the main spring I have. As QQQ mentioned, this will allow more lowering without the need for spacers, at least up to a point. With my autocross tires on, the car is lowered 2" and is dangerously low for street use. I do like mine a lot and have ordered a set of their 2 way coilovers for the added adjustability and the ability to use a broader range of springs.

[minhi]

i've had a short drive in a Cooper with the Racing Dynamics Coil-overs (which are Koni shocks, and i think AP springs). the ride comfort is actually better then normal (because the rebound control is so much better). the car feels a lot more composed with the coil-overs.

one issue with the Koni shocks is the top-mounts on the front require some work to fit correctly. last i heard they were working to solve this.

[paulmon]

I too have been reading and researching about coilovers. It won't be an investment I'll make until next year however. I've looked at the SPAX the KW and the LEDA.

The LEDA stage 2 look like they're going to get my vote. They're custom designed for your car. The car must get corner weighed before they can put together for your car. You can specify maximum height. For example the SPAX are around .75" drop at the heighest setting while the LEDA can have anything you like, even .5 above stock if you really wanted (don't know why you would). I'm going for the top being stock (for the winter months) to give me around a maximum drop of 2". The dampers are adjustable for rebound and compression, etc etc. The LEDA do carry a premium however, $1800us for their stage 2 so around $300us more than the KW but worth it in my opionion.

It all depens on what you're looking for. I was going to do just springs but as I'm getting into autocross and track events more and more I figured I'll do it right the first time.

Cheers,

Paul

[Alan W]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the feedback on your coilover suspensions and your reasons for considering Leda paulmon.

Of those guys that have fitted the KW units can you advise what sort of camber angles and front castor were induced when lowering by the levels you have (1.25" to 2"). With the more severe camber change taking place at the rear are you using adjustable bottom arms to reduce this back to near O.E. specification? How are your tyres wearing if the resulting camber has not been corrected, or am I anticipating greater change in camber than is being experienced? Please let me have your feedback on these points.

So far I am favouring KW v2 because you guys with them seem very pleased with your choice. Nobody has replied about the H&R units which doesn't help, but they are not rebound or bump adjustable and the bodies of the shock absorbers are only galvanised unlike the stainless steel housings of the KW units. This is a big plus in favour of the KW units in my opinnion, especially living in Scotland. Bilstein will be offering their PSS9 fully adjustable units in the U.K. at the end of June, that have stainless steel bodies similar to KW, but the price will be approximately £1560! They have a great reputation in motorsport but I don't think I can justify that amount of money purely for road use.

Any more feedback or thoughts will be greatly appreciated before I commit my hard earned!

Alan W

[jlm]

try out the search function. I did, on the word "coilovers" in the performance forum over the last 6 months and found this:
http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthrea...ht=coilove rs

the search engine cannot deal with single letters (symbols), as in "H & R"

[Alan W]

Hi Jim,

Many thanks for the link to your previous thread. You have certainly put in a lot of hard graft and I look forward to digesting it in detail over the next couple of days.

Do you know if H&R have made any changes to the units as a result of your findings over the ride height adjustment not being as specified by them?

Ride comfort is important to me because of the state of our roads here in Scotland and I wonder how you would rate the H&R dampers against the original sports suspension plus units, if you can remember. Our Scottish roads are full of potholes, very bad repairs, uneven and coarse surfaces and I have replaced the new runflats with Goodyear Eagle F1 GSD3 tyres (215 40x17) which has made a considerable improvement to the ride quality.

Thanks again Jim.

Alan W

[QQQ]

Quote:

Originally posted by Alan W
Of those guys that have fitted the KW units can you advise what sort of camber angles and front castor were induced when lowering by the levels you have (1.25" to 2").

Alan, don't know about angles but the negative camber on the rear looks absolutely awesome, looks even better when you have 7.5 or 8J rims instead of the S-Spokes' which are 7J. I didn't notice any difference in tyre wear and mine is lowered 2".

A while ago Sengy started
this thread for a discount buy of KW-coilovers, you might contact him for info on prices

QQQ

[Alan W]

QQQ

That negative camber on the rear may look good but your car would handle better on the limit if it was reduced, and I'm sure tyre wear will be an issue, eventually. I don't mean to be negative (ha ha) about your reply on camber because I appreciate your feedback and responses but if you take a look at jlm's thread link above you will see that he has modified the lower rear controls arms to allow adjustment of the excessive rear camber induced by the lowering. Don't take offence to the above as I must say that your MCS does look like a race track refugee!

I spoke with the U.K. importer of KW today and await their reply to some technical questions I put to them. I had noticed the group buy coilover thread started by sengy but I don't think it ever got off the ground because the official importer advised that they have not yet brought any KW coilovers into Britain for the MCS.

jlm/John

Sorry for replying to you as Jim but I wasn't wearing my reading glasses when I replied to you in the small hours of the morning, when I should have been in my bed!

Thanks again Guys for the responses.

Alan W

[QQQ]

Certainly no offense taken Alan I don't think I have too much negative camber on my rear wheels, I have done about 15,000 km with them and the tyres look just fine. Also, negative camber on the rear will generally improve the handling of understeered cars (like the MINI), at least that's what I have always understood.

[Alan W]

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the above thread.

Today I placed an order for KW Variant 2 coilover suspension units for my MCS.

Alan

[QQQ]

Quote:

Originally posted by Alan W
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the above thread.

Today I placed an order for KW Variant 2 coilover suspension units for my MCS.

Alan

Excellent choice Alan. Are you gonna adjust the negative camber?

[Alan W]

QQQ

It may not be necessary, based on your experience, and I don't know how low I'll go yet. Although it is tempting to go all the way! Watch this space.

Alan