lowering

[soopercooper]

im thinking about lowering my cooper.it currently has the sports plus suspension set up on it.just wanna know what are the best lowering springs to install to give me improved handling and a less jarry ride.i feel the sports plus set up is too harsh.any suggestions will be awesome

[Gismo]

Springs alone will not give you the best, for that you'll need a set of coil overs as a minimum

[Gorbash12346]

another vote for coilovers.... Kw variant 1's are about the best low maintentance set you can get though if you can get them properly set up variant 3's are the dogs danglies ;)

[james f]

springs are more a comsmetic fix that only improve the handleing abit buy giving the car a lower center of gravity for optimum adjustment and improvment coilovers are the only way due to the fact that the normal daper is replaced with a perfomace optimised set up and more importantly ones that have been desinged for the drop the lowest the standards should be dropped is 35mm any more is to much from what ive been told

[vintageb3]

Load of bricks on the back seat....will give it that spax adjustable look

kewl

mark

;)

[Ivano]

I have just had KW Variant 1 Coilovers fitted and loving them, although Gorbash has now got me panicking over rubbing issues....

Ivano

[Crombers]

In a word , dont!! Anyone I have spoken to on NMS who has lowered their suspension has regretted it & may be along later to explain.

[AN03REW]

I dont regret it, My car looks alot better and handles better to. I just put in 30mm lowerin springs in my standard one. Springs would be far to hard in your car, So I also agree coilovers for you but there alot of £.

[ELFMAN]

I had 'Sports Plus' on my S, and while it was great on smooth roads, I often found it too stiff & edgy on our crappy tarmac. Swapped to JCW suspension as it retains all the handling, but without the jarring/skipping which affected the O.E. suspension. It works a treat, BUT... although it's only 10mm or so lower than standard, I can now catch some 'Road Calming' (%@&*^$€#!!) bumps (can't avoid them as they're where I live!) and some multi-storey car park ramps which I cleared before with the lower flexible front plastic lip/spoiler. This isn't really damaging (yet) and only happens a few times a week depending on where I'm driving, but it's bloody annoying and sounds terrible when it hits. Having said that, I wouldn't change it though, and even a 10mm or so drop gives the car a better stance. In my case, any lower and I'd be wacking the front end all over the place.

I thought about a Coilover setup, but decided to go for JCW 'cos 'EVO' magazine gave it a good write-up and for ease of fitting/warranty etc my local dealer - bit of a cop-out I know, but it wasn't too dear (fitted) and it DOES work. So mod the suspension to suit the roads you're on as well as for the looks!

[ELFMAN]

ps I took ride height/clearance etc into account as well when I chose the JCW setup.

[james f]

im getting jcw suspension on the S when it comes for the same reasons ^^ as ive not herad a bad thing about everyone who has it raves and since my car inst going near a track i dont feel the need for adjsutable coiovers on it and the 3 cities were is spend my time arent the best for a dropped car and as i plan to keep the s only for a few years befoure looking for a GP or high spec 06 works then i dont want to have a coilover set up that i then have to reomve from the car ease of sale as well

[Aberdeen Al]

I also wanted to lower my MCS with the GTT lowering springs but changed my mind once I went down to GTT earlier this week.

Who has lowered their Mini by 25 / 30mm and regretted it? Why did you regret it?

Cheers,

Al

[james f]

why the change of mind the GTT spings are eibach and ive not heard folk reget fitting them

[Aberdeen Al]

I decided to get a lightened crank wheel and brace struts instead.

I might leave the springs until later on in the year - I'll wait to see if anyone comes back with a legitimate reason not too lower.

[james f]

ah tis a good choice as well my mate did all that and GTT fly wheel his car revved manicly after that

[Aberdeen Al]

Yeah it does rev very freely indeed!

I've ended up with an MCS probably pushing out 220 ~ 230 bhp so I'm very very happy :D

[james f]

yeah my mates had the 230 conversion but he plummed for the light weight flywheel to and rolands super special ECU mapp man that car was scary fast

[ELFMAN]

Just for interest, what's involved in fitting the Lightweight Flywheel? ie What has to come out to get to it and how much to do? I know the standard one was meant to be pretty heavy to make it smoother to drive I remember reading ages ago. Mine revs really well as it is just now, so I probably won't bother with any mods in that direction - just nosey!

[james f]

i dont think its near as bigger job as say having LSD but the part is about 350 but the effect it has is scary but like all good perfomace mods it dose have a few draw backs dosent make it to much harder to drive but its not as smooth as it was and if your gunning it and suddley let off theres not always enough momentum and the engine can stall if you not careful its more a track mod i think

[Aberdeen Al]

I can't comment on the stalling as I drove the car back from Blandford then ended up offshore the day after.

The lightened flywheel probably is a track day item.

[Gorbash12346]

lightened flywheel would be quote good on your car elfman would make it pick up much quicker and as it has plenty of torque there shouldn't be too much of a trade-off when pulling away or climbing hills on the cooper s it's a bit more involved than a cooper or one but the general parts removed are the same... loads tis... whats your chassis number and i'll get the particulars for you

disconnect battery
remove intake filter housing
drain gear oil
remove front left wheel arch trim
remove bothe driven shafts with steering stub carriers
remove trottle assembly
remove suction pressure sensor
remove impact tubes
remove front subframe
secure engine in installation position using special tool
remove top engine support bracket
remove bottem engine support bracket
remove manifold heatshield
remove shift cables
remove clutch slave cylinder
remove supercharger inlet pipe
remove starter motor
release trans. mount (upper right hand engine mount)
lower engine zapprox 135mm release trans bolts and remove trans.
then it's just case of removing the clutch (if your repalcing the fywheel it's probs a good idea to change the clutch too then lock up the crank and unbolt the flywheel (it'll be loctited on and i'm pretty sure we replace the flywheel bolts as a matter of course..

then rebuild in reverse order and refill with gear oil

quite a big job but imo i think it'd be worth it

[ELFMAN]

Thanks for that Gorbash and J & A. It's the kind of thing that would've been good to do when the JCW conversion was being done, as bits would have been off for that - BUT - as I don't think JCW/BMW do a light flywheel, the Dealer wouldn't have fitted it... (I've been told by them in the past that they won't fit non-BMW bits). Anyway, I reckon I'll stick with things as they are for a while - car's managing to rev very well and wheelspins in third on these greasy roads with the TC off - so even quicker revs would be OTT for me. Food for thought though. If only it was as easy as GT4 on a PS2!!!!!

[james f]

hehe i wish it was as easy as modding my cooper s on forza that eats ferraris and porkers :p jcw (as in the old jcw garge and works home that bmw have now bought)did a fly wheel as part of thier motorsport range and if you had them fit your works pack they would add stuff like that on reqest but bmw will never allow non approved parts (gits)