My goals were to improve the stock street handling without making the commitment of switching to coilovers. I just wanted to bump the handling up a notch. So far I'm very happy with the changes, it's an improvement over the stock OEM (non-Sport) spring setup. I haven't really tested them on any local "twisty" roads yet, but there is a noticeable less harshness to the ride. The first stage compression of the progressive springs do a nice job of providing a comfortable "firm" ride over a slightly "jarring" OEM ride. When I changed out the OEM springs with the Swift R-spec it was very difficult to compress the stock springs by hand but you could easily compress the first stage of the progressive Swift springs. This is the stage I'm feeling on city streets. And I'm liking the ride. There is no change in NVH with the IE fixed camber plates, which was big on my list of wants. The increased camber is noticeable with improved turn in. The MINI just seems to go where you point it...... just better now. Still on the OEM "Sport" dampers..... When they need replacing, I'll most likely go KONI yellows. Can't wait for the Conti run-flats to need replacing.... I'm planning on having Chad at Detroit Tune go over my DIY alignment and double check my front end, and since I haven't had time to set the rear, he'll make the necessary adjustments there as well. In summary.... The MINI just seems to stick better in the turns, the ride is better and the camber plates aren't any different than stock in the NVH department.... So I'm glad I switched to these parts...... Just what I wanted.....
Better handling & a nicer ride. I think you did great. So many times when trying to improve handling we do it, but at the cost of a harder harsher ride. Glad to hear it worked out well for you. Have you added a rear swaybar? If not I'd recommend one. For me it did not add any harshness to the cars ride. As far as those runflats go, drive harder Chuck! :smilewinkgrin:
I've sent an email to confirm but from the information I was given with mine, the Swift springs are linear not progressive. The first bit of tighter coils is compressed when installed and acts as sort of a helper spring. That said the ride is better with them!
Well, there you go.... I assumed they were progressive based on the spring design.... Whatever you call them, I like the way they handle..... Post up what you find out....
Will do. Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, when I first opened up mine and looked at them I thought they were progressive and was assured that they are not. You can read on their site about characteristics of progressive and linear springs for hard cornering, even going into detail how the energy is stored and released in the turns.
Well, to tell the truth, the Spec-R are listed by Swift as more of a track performance spring than their other "more OEM improved" type spring and I didn't think they would promote a progressive spring for the track.... However the shape of the coils on top were tricking me otherwise. Ha ha, now I need to go back and add "Non" in front of my "Progressive" post.....
Thanks for the info! Anything to improve the ride has my vote! I have the "Sport Suspension" on my "S" and it rides pretty rough unless it has Driver,Passenger and about 200 lbs of load. Considering going to Koni FSD's or Yellows. Not sure I need the camber plates because when I put the Rear Sway Bar in (22mm Alta soft setting) it made a very big difference in Turn In, for the good!
whew... finished the camber plates today. Too tired to post pictures right now. Damn tie rods are seized, I couldn't do the wheel alignment myself. Went for a quick drive and it sure needs one! I'll have to take it in for that asap.
Ha ha ha..... Yep, wore me out too.... Quite a workout.... I think I drank a gallon of water doing mine.
Here are some pics with some tips that might not have been mentioned elsewhere. The first one is of the drivers side wheel well. Don't forget to detach the sensor for the headlight leveller or you might snap it off and your lights will be aiming about 2 feet in front of your car. I had to make a new bracket for mine (pictured) - not sure if it was me that broke it or the garage when I had the ball joint replaced. about an hour later: the removal was not too hard. Here's the strut re- assembled. The metal stub in the middle is what the Koni adjustment knob turns. I had to dremmel it down to half it's height in order for the cap to fit on. I see why the garage didn't bother to put them back on the first time. The bearings on the old top plate were full of dirt - the caps are needed for sure. And back in it goes, with some help from Jack. I didn't show the tricky part. The view from above - new bearing cap in place. It's easy to see how the strut is now offset to the right. You can get maybe another 1/2 degree with the slots too, but the springs are getting pretty close to the firewall. All finished! Should have take a shot from further back to show the wheel camber. Oh well. By the way, I still haven't had the alignment done - waiting for new tierods now. They are completely seized: they tried pb blaster and a propane torch, nothing could get them loose. Dam road salt :mad2:
Coming back from DT in the Daaaaaarrrrrkkkkkk, my headlights were about 2' in front of my MINI. I really don't drive much in the dark and I noticed this heading up to DT Saturday morning. I figured it was pretty much due to my new Swift springs. Made a mental note to do a headlight aiming adjustment when I got back. Project for this morning..... Pulled the drivers side wheel off to see if the aiming mechanism was damaged. Nope, everything was OK.... Went here for instructions since the Bentley was lacking in this area..... Excellent DIY by the way.... Voila, I can see now..... They were way low..... Here's my cardboard aiming template..... Daniel Stern Lighting Consultancy and Supply
The Swift Springs lowered your Ride that much!?! Wow. I am really impressed you found a piece of cardboard that big! I would have a better chance of finding a blank wall 25ft from the headlights (think parking lot and big box store). That Stern lighting site has good info, thanks!
The pitch changed with the spring install. 2' in front of the MINI was an exaggeration, but it sure seemed like it. The low beam pattern was probably 6" low at the upper "H" line, and they needed to be 3" down (the "B" line) at 25 feet. Yeah, 4' x 10' sheets of cardboard are aplenty. That's how my sheets of stainless steel arrive....
I'm surprised you did not use a big sheet of unobtainium for your aiming. Good thing you had that donut box hanging around....
Thanks Metalman! Interesting that such a small change could have such large results in the lighting. That cardboard sure makes great templates, as well as aiming point patterns
Very illuminating.:idea: I see why my horizontal aiming controls don't function - they are disabled for North America because we are stupid - I thought they were broken.
The horizontal aiming screws are under that plastic cover. That is if you have the HID units. Take a small flat screwdriver and you can pop the cover out (poke it in the curved edge). The screw adjustment is under the cover. I just needed to adjust the vertical and all was fine......