47 replies to this topic

[Carlos W]

I bought the fast road mini tastic ones, they were great, more bouncy/comfy than the rubber ones but I probably did not have the dampers set as firm as they could be. I just decided to go back to the original rubber setup. I replaced the rubber ones when I got the car with the coils, having done very little miles on the original rubbers, so never really experienced what new ones were like. I also upgraded the subframe mounts to solid, and fitted adjustable bottom arms, basically overhauled the front and rear suspension with new everythings..!

Are you looking to sell the springs?

I'd also be interested to hear how your new cones compare to the springs!

[rally515]

I bought the fast road mini tastic ones, they were great, more bouncy/comfy than the rubber ones but I probably did not have the dampers set as firm as they could be. I just decided to go back to the original rubber setup. I replaced the rubber ones when I got the car with the coils, having done very little miles on the original rubbers, so never really experienced what new ones were like. I also upgraded the subframe mounts to solid, and fitted adjustable bottom arms, basically overhauled the front and rear suspension with new everythings..!

Are you looking to sell the springs?

I'd also be interested to hear how your new cones compare to the springs!

+1 on that

[Skortchio]

Slightly OT but it's relevent (i'll be brief). I'm running Minitastic fast roads and have been for about 5k miles now, as said you feel a lot more compliance in the suspension with them and with dampers wound to the same settings as rubber you'll get a really comfy (if a little wallowy) ride.

For me, absolute performance wasn't the priority. It's a regularly used car on the road, not only does the opportunity not exist often enough but I'd suspect my driving skill doesn't warrant race stage levels of handling. For me the springs are the perfect trade off, with adjustable dampers set slightly firmer to retard the rate of travel you reatin a high level of comfort compared to new rubber which doesn't nose dive after a few K miles either. While still giving a predictible reaction from the suspension when you feel the need to 'press on' with your driving.

[maccers]

The springs are sold already last year, they did go quite fast...! Initially the rubbers to seem better, for now. They are 500 miles on, dampers set on soft to give the rubber a chance to settle in. But even now I got to say the car settles back much quciker than on the coil springs. But like I say I never had the car setup, not even dampers when using the coils. I am using the same AGX Red 8 way adjusable dampers on the new rubbers as I used on the coils. I set the hi-los to a high setting again to allow cones to settle in and measure any drop.

I am going to have evrything set up correctly by someone with correct measuring instruments and skills in a few hundred more miles time. Overall i'd say the car feels more predictable and more like a mini really using the rubber cones.

[Jordie]

I bought the fast road mini tastic ones, they were great, more bouncy/comfy than the rubber ones but I probably did not have the dampers set as firm as they could be. I just decided to go back to the original rubber setup. I replaced the rubber ones when I got the car with the coils, having done very little miles on the original rubbers, so never really experienced what new ones were like. I also upgraded the subframe mounts to solid, and fitted adjustable bottom arms, basically overhauled the front and rear suspension with new everythings..!

Are you looking to sell the springs?

I'd also be interested to hear how your new cones compare to the springs!

I bought these, rears currently fitted to my green one. still need to find time to fit the front ones!

[Carlos W]

I bought the fast road mini tastic ones, they were great, more bouncy/comfy than the rubber ones but I probably did not have the dampers set as firm as they could be. I just decided to go back to the original rubber setup. I replaced the rubber ones when I got the car with the coils, having done very little miles on the original rubbers, so never really experienced what new ones were like. I also upgraded the subframe mounts to solid, and fitted adjustable bottom arms, basically overhauled the front and rear suspension with new everythings..!

Are you looking to sell the springs?

I'd also be interested to hear how your new cones compare to the springs!

I bought these, rears currently fitted to my green one. still need to find time to fit the front ones!

I'd be interested to hear a review once they're in!
See how it handles Morpeth to Rothbury or something

[Jordie]

Yorkshire Moors will be the real test....roll on june!

[rally515]

Just seen these cheepo's from huddersfield spares on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3a7d9c1d8c

Wonder if there any good They do quote this "These cones are similar to the genuine cone" Which means jack in comparison to these ones

[finch661]

"similar to genuine"..... so non-genuine then...... same with any other non-genuine part, pay peanuts - get monkeys. only minispares has the correct tooling/moulds to create the cones

[998dave]

So, a quick question from me - who's running Minispares Red Dots? I think they're my first choice for my Hornet, (with fully polybushed subframes and Gaz adjustable dampers).
Any thoughts?

[Dan]

I am, red dot cones with real Hi-Los and AGX Evolution dampers. Had them on for around 6 years now on my daily driver and they are great. Still the same as when they were new too, no hardening or dropping so far. They provide a great ride, nice and compliant to start with but stiffening up quickly as the suspension travels. So you don't really feel the small bumps and lumps in the road but the car still holds the road well. They do exactly what springs are meant to do. The best thing of course with rubber springs is the self damping and with the progressive shape of these springs (and the progressive Hi-Lo too) the self damping effect is progressive at the same rate as the spring. So you can keep the dampers set lighter than you otherwise would so it stays really compliant of small knocks and low amplitude vibrations like rough road surfaces. When I fitted them I changed from standard late production springs (which curiously were also 6 years old) and Spax and the difference was like night and day. Although the late production springs were awful as said above and the current genuine Dunlop offering is miles better.

[Tamworthbay]

Just seen these cheepo's from huddersfield spares on ebay

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item3a7d9c1d8c

Wonder if there any good They do quote this "These cones are similar to the genuine cone" Which means jack in comparison to these ones

Very true and when find they are no good you get service like this:

http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/topic/244144-huddersfield-spares-misleading-photos/

[Skortchio]

What on earth is a progressive hi-lo?

[mini-luke]

What on earth is a progressive hi-lo?

Essentially with the original hi-lo's more of the rubber comes into contact with the hi-lo as the cone is compressed, increasing the spring rate

[Skortchio]

Surely that's true for any hi-lo or the original trumpet for that matter? As the rubber is compressed the shape distorts, causing the contact patch to widen, much like a deflated tyre.
The hi-lo doesn't affect that, it's only the thing the rubber contacts against, like the road surface in the tyre analagy?

If there's some data on this I'd be interested to see it, or the difference between the contact areas on the genuine item and the machined variety.