15 replies to this topic

[james105]

Hi guys,

im thinking of going down the coilover route all round, opinions? So show me pics of your coilover set ups.

Iv heard that for on the road with coilies the back end is very sketchy/jittery, and can cause braking difficulty and things. Is this true on am i being lied to. I intent to use the car on the roads, but do track days as well. I want to lower the car a lot, and its going to be running 10x6 wellers for the beginning till i save for 10x7 split rims.

Iv looked at this package and considering it, anyone know much about it?:

Coilover package

Any info im grateful for


Cheers

James

[steveobennet]

i run coilovers............



.......but have yet to use them on the road.

if i were you i'd get the kit form minispare which include the brackets, plus your 5% discount!

if you are going to run really low on the front you might need some home made bottom mounts, as the originals hit the subframe.

original


modified




as long as you have tehm set up properly you shouldn't have a problem using them on the road.

[Ethel]

My kitcar is lighter than a mini with rear coilovers.

Much smoother ride and not skittish at all - just kittish :0


I suspect they had the dampers set way too hard.

[james105]

o right, cheers

so this kit?:

http://www.minispare....aspx?pid=32775

Is that what you are running?

James

[andywaller]

simular thing to me, mines going to be a hardcore road car and track day goer and am going to lower it as much as safely possible.

and i have been advised that coilovers are the way to go as you can change the spring rates for the road and the track.

i have just emailed pro tech to get some details on their shocks so i can forward any info they send me if you like?

[james105]

simular thing to me, mines going to be a hardcore road car and track day goer and am going to lower it as much as safely possible.

and i have been advised that coilovers are the way to go as you can change the spring rates for the road and the track.

i have just emailed pro tech to get some details on their shocks so i can forward any info they send me if you like?

that would be gratefully recieved, cheers!

James

[Ethel]

The Spax rear shockers have offset mounts that are really useful on a mini to avoid too much chopping and battering of the wheel arches. Make sure you get 1.9 inch springs even then you may well have to do a spot of "reprofiling" of your arches.

[james105]

The Spax rear shockers have offset mounts that are really useful on a mini to avoid too much chopping and battering of the wheel arches. Make sure you get 1.9 inch springs even then you may well have to do a spot of "reprofiling" of your arches.

do you know what size comes with the kit from minispares?

cheers

James

[Se7enS1ns]

My mate had the Gaz coilovers on his, they didnt stay on too long as even on the softest rate the backend kept "hoping" and tried swinging the back end round on a few occasions. Not pretty.

[zomerzet]

I've got the SPAX coil-overs you were looking at fitted to my mini (With 12" wheels). I've got the lowered type on front and standard on rear and have had no problems with oversteer. I use it all the time on the road but took it on my first trackday a few weeks back and if anything found it understeered slightly. After speaking to an experienced mini racer there he said I should set the front shocks softer and the back harder (I had it all set midrange) as this would encourage a bit of oversteer. After a quick test run I found it did help.

Fitting wise, the rears need to be the offset mount type, but otherwise I found mine fit with no problem. The only thing to bear in mind when fitting coil overs is the fact that the weight of the car is suspended on the inner wings on the front and arces on the rear. Make sure all this bodywork is in good condition as the mini is designed for everything to be attached to the subframes.

Lowering wise, my lowered height coil overs on the front are set at the tallest height which is the same as standard so it could go a lot lower!

Attached Files

•  DSC00007.JPG   302.85K   23 downloads

[james105]

I've got the SPAX coil-overs you were looking at fitted to my mini (With 12" wheels). I've got the lowered type on front and standard on rear and have had no problems with oversteer. I use it all the time on the road but took it on my first trackday a few weeks back and if anything found it understeered slightly. After speaking to an experienced mini racer there he said I should set the front shocks softer and the back harder (I had it all set midrange) as this would encourage a bit of oversteer. After a quick test run I found it did help.

Fitting wise, the rears need to be the offset mount type, but otherwise I found mine fit with no problem. The only thing to bear in mind when fitting coil overs is the fact that the weight of the car is suspended on the inner wings on the front and arces on the rear. Make sure all this bodywork is in good condition as the mini is designed for everything to be attached to the subframes.

Lowering wise, my lowered height coil overs on the front are set at the tallest height which is the same as standard so it could go a lot lower!

O rite, cheers, is that the spax kit from minispares: http://www.minispare....aspx?pid=32775 or the one from minisport?

In relation to needing the offset mount type on the rear do this come as default with the kit?

Cheers

James

[Ethel]

Yes the spax kit is designed especially for Minis offset mounts and 1.9 springs. You can buy springs on their
own from the like of demon tweaks. 2.25's are more common so be sure you are buying 1.9's if you do a spring swap.

[james105]

Yes the spax kit is designed especially for Minis offset mounts and 1.9 springs. You can buy springs on their
own from the like of demon tweaks. 2.25's are more common so be sure you are buying 1.9's if you do a spring swap.

marvalous news! cheers

So is the general opinion to buy the minispares kit with 5% discount instead of the minisport kit?

very gratefull for all your help

James

[Ethel]

Got mine from Huddersfield Mini spares but that was ages ago

[Jammy]

My mate had the Gaz coilovers on his, they didnt stay on too long as even on the softest rate the backend kept "hoping" and tried swinging the back end round on a few occasions. Not pretty.

And I bet he never got the set up properly.

I fitted that MiniSpares Spax kit before, and they are as easy to fit as any other standard damper.

I presume Protech coilovers will require a bit more modification as I believe they don't do offset mounts.

Whatever you do, when you get a kit, make sure you have them set up properly. That means having the car corner weighted, and may require buying a new set of springs, depending on corner weights and leverage ratios.