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R53 coilover advice

13K views 22 replies 18 participants last post by  knightrider 
#1 ·
OK I know coilovers are not very popular on this forum:laugh: but I'm looking for a bit of guidance and advice.
The time has come to start looking at replacing the stock setup on mrs sando's 2005 R53.
I don't want anything special, basically just something to replace the standard setup, maybe lower just a little bit. Has anybody any experience with these?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RACELAND...m=282516995029&_trksid=p2045573.c101006.m3226

I suppose alternative would be AP but do I really need to pay nearly double?
Also would I need to buy anything else like spacers, top mounts etc.? It has stock 17" alloys with 215/40 tyres.
 
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#5 ·
2.8f and 3.8r kg/mm are going to be very soft, even Meisters are soft at 5. I'd stick with OEM and find some camber plates rather than use anything that doesn't come with its own top mounts and independent height and preload adjustment.

Maybe make your next tyres 45 profile and stickier which will fill the gap more and drive well which'll be better value than cheap suspension. -1.5 front camber or -1.8 I think some plates go to, and -1 or 1.5 rear with toe revisions as neutral as possible and wait on the suspension, put the £250 into the largest adjustable rear bar you can find, which for me was Hotchkis, and set it for now in the lowest position.

Then you've wasted no money, but only my2p of course ;O)

NB, sneak a mild cam in too. She won't notice, service it at the same time and she'll think it's you making it go better haha.

::getcoat::
 
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#6 ·
Avoid those Racelands etc like the plague. They will be insanely stiff and yet horribly damped. The MX5 lot buy them and they are plain horrid.

I run APs on mine as that's what it came on and I rate them to be honest. They can be a bit crashy but they're really well damped and when pressing on over a bumpy B road they maintain good tyre/road contact.

A bit soft for track work and will be swapping them out for a set of BC RMs at some point.

181115_SR_BH_Cars_1385 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr
 
#9 ·
Astroboy has Teins I think, only recently fitted and seems quite happy with them,
 
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#11 ·
Have we fallen out of love with MeisterR Zetas? Where we ever in love with them? I'm still wobbling on what to get for mine, for daily drive and fast road. Might do a track day but won't be "a thing" as I don't have the right car (full pano roof) for a track weapon.
 
#13 ·
Fwiw,

YCW's Aeris coilovers with Swift springs valve'd, dyno'd, with adjustable camber top plates and 32 point rebound adjusters, and assembled in the U.K. to order for the R53 are £1440, considering Swift springs are ~£500 on their own, coilovers with this quality and spec are few, Aeris are also upgradable. Spring options are 4kg to 34kg to your spec and valve'd and dyno'd to suit or built to known manufacturer data. Install is only £288 plus sundry parts as required. If you happen to know corner weights for your car now, I can have them built to suit. This can be adjusted later as a cost option. Also there are caster adjustable top mounts available.

Also now available are Swift Sports Spec-R lowering springs for your R53 offering more control and at a budget to suit a road car with occasional track use. 5k/5.5k springs with 18/13mm drop £564 with install £180 plus sundry parts as required. For many daily drivers this option may be all that is necessary. Fit and forget.

Geometry check (sub contract) and alignment if requested @ £72.

Aeris specifications are:

Forged 6061-T6 Hard Anodised Aluminium Front Upper Mounts
- Strong and Lightweight, Forged Upper Mounts are Hard Anodised for superior Corrosion Resistance

Forged 6061-T6 Hard Anodised Aluminium Rear Upper Mounts (Where Applicable)
- Strong and Lightweight, Forged Upper Mounts are Hard Anodised for superior Corrosion Resistance

High-Tensile Carbon Steel Front Camber Plate with Anti-Slip Coating
- CNC-Machined High-Tensile Carbon Steel supports more load than lesser-quality mounts
- Camber Angles can be adjusted precisely to your driving needs (MacPherson)

Forged 6061-T6 Hard Anodised Aluminium Upper Spring Perch
- Strong and Lightweight, Forged Upper Spring Perches are Hard Anodised for superior Corrosion Resistance

65mm ID Cold-Wound Japanese HS5.TW Steel Linear Springs from SWIFT
- Made in Japan by Tohatsu Spring Company, SWIFT Springs are made from the highest quality Japanese-grade spring steel, using proprietary manufacturing processes. These are the #1 Performance Coilover Spring on the market, providing an industry leading +/- 3% deviance from rated load over the entire stroke, and are backed by SWIFT's Lifetime Warranty against Spring Sag
- Not all springs are manufactured the same. Lesser-quality, Taiwanese-manufactured springs offer inferior performance and durability
- Although more expensive, the increase in performance more than offsets the marginal increase in manufacturing costs

OEM-Balanced Spring Rates
- The majority of budget coilovers currently on the market offer default spring rates that deviate from the OEM-balanced spring rates
- By not accounting for Motion Ratio Calculations and just replicating race-car setups, this results in a very unbalanced and uncomfortable ride on a Street Car
- All Aeris Series Coilovers are supplied with OEM-balanced spring rates, offering you increased performance without sacrificing ride comfort

52mm OD Cold-Drawn Japanese SAE 1020 Seamless Carbon Steel Shock Body
- Offers superior physical properties and strength-to-weight ratio over lesser manufacturing processes

Black-Zinc Plated Fully-Threaded Shock Body with 250hrs of Salt-Spray Testing
- Offers superior corrosion-resistance
- All coilovers include a Salt-Spray Test Certificate

Forged SAE 4140 Chromoly Steel Piston Rod
- Monotube shocks, although offering increased performance over Twin tube shocks, have an inherent weakness; a load-bearing Piston Rod
- An over-engineered solution to the problem, with only a marginal increase in manufacturing costs, is a proprietary Chromoly Steel Piston Rod. YCW are the only company to manufacture this type of Piston Rod, and is currently used by several high-end European brands under a "transfer-of-technology" agreement
- Offering a substantial increase in tensile strength over lesser-quality rods, not only does this keep costs down, it significantly increases product safety

32-Level Rebound Adjustment
- Aeris Series Coilovers allow 32 levels of Rebound Adjustments, allowing you to fine-tune your vehicle comfort and handling
- Proprietary Bleed Needles and Jet Valves from the USA are used which significantly increases fluid control sensitivity between adjustments

BS 420S29 Steel Shims
- Only the finest British 420S29 Steel Shims are used
- Offers superior fatigue strength over the cheaper Taiwanese spring steel shims which lose their elasticity after only 12 months of normal use
- Offers superior surface finish and dimensional tolerances, increasing fluid control sensitivity and smoothness

Silkolene PRO RSF 5.0 Damper Oil
- A proprietary formula providing consistent damping over a wide temperature range and superior anti-stiction/anti-friction properties. This British lubricant is the best performing damper fluid on the market today, as used standard by both Penske and Ohlins

Viton Performance O-Rings
- Upgraded O-Rings offering better performance and durability than lesser-quality Rubber O-Rings

Nitrogen Pressure Schrader Valve
- Allows convenient loss-free fine-tuning of Nitrogen Pressure
- Gone are the days of using a Nitrogen Needle + Self-Healing Rubber, which are prone to leaking

Forged 6061-T6 Hard Anodised Aluminium Lower Spring Perch Locking Collar
- Strong and Lightweight, our Forged Locking Collars are hard anodised for superior Corrosion Resistance
- 1pc Locking Collars, providing secure and hassle-free adjustments

Fully-Threaded Forged 6061-T6 Hard Anodised or High-Tensile Carbon Steel Lower Mount
- Threaded Lower Mounts allows use of a longer shock body for increased performance
- Shock Stroke is unaffected by Ride Height changes
- Allows an increased Height Adjustment range

Fully Rebuildable
- Aeris Series Coilovers are fully rebuildable, with spare parts always in stock and available for purchase directly from one of the service facilities

I hope this helps, I will have quality coilovers a tier below this available again soon I hope, as fitted and demonstrated on my own car for the last four years, a fast road or track option at a budget of £1200, 8kg/6kg springs as standard, but fully upgradable to Swift springs or YCW spec as cost options later should you wish.

I was thinking of doing something daft like maybe affording MT'ers with more than 250 contributory posts or something, a free Newman Cam PH1/2 installed on any R53 or a PH1 on any R50, when any coilovers purchased from and installed by me. I'd run that until 31st August say, and do something similar each vehicle registration period or something. What do people think? Any good? Upgrade the cam for £120 maybe? Offer could be extended to other family cars with a YCW coilover application and the Mini have the cam. Just thinking aloud that's all ;O)
 
#17 ·
Swift springs, yes.

5kg/mm and 5.5kg/mm

Personally I'd be recommending the coilovers but not everyone wants or needs them, so if compromising you might as well do something that works,
 
#18 ·
@CarsOrBikes Thats an interesting post re springs I have an R53 which I intend to sprint and as you say unless you spend over £1k on coilovers its probably not worth it (I ran AST on my Clio) as I am a noob on Mini's would you recommend any dampers to suit or are they not worth the outlay. You can move to pm if you wish.
Thanks
 
#20 ·
I'm racing on BC RM series coilovers with 9kg springs.

I've found them to be great, only one way adjustable but unless you know what your doing (and 99.9% of people dont) then just get one way adjustable.

I could have spent more, but these are genuinely good, aftersales is excellent and they're not crazy expensive.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
#21 ·
FWIW, I have been running Racelands on my car now for three years. Screwed down full they are stiff, not crazy but go kart handling. The lifetime warranty swung it for me and as its just a cheapie mini for messing about I could not see me spending 50% of the cost of the car on suspension as it would never be tracked. That said, I did do one track day and it was fantastic. For a budget set up if your budget does not allow you to go £1000 plus then these are as good as you get for the money. Racelandeurope.com
 
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