Koni recently released their Sport dampers for the late model MINIs. Obviously, Koni is well known by MINI enthusiast as their Sport and FSD dampers seem to be the popular choice for the R50, R52, and R53 enthusiast. The damper install took place February 17th and I wanted to put some significant miles on them before posting an evaluation. Since then, I have driven about 1,200 miles with them installed, which includes a long excursion to Las Vegas and a Southern California sales call loop which found me motoring on several freeways, the 101, 210, 15, 91, 57, 110 and 405. If you are from Southern California, you know that those different freeways provide unique challenges for any suspension system.
PARTS AND INSTALLATION
Let's start with the dampers themselves - Koni has been around for ages now and their engineers did a fantastic job with these. Both front and rear units are twin-tube low pressure gas units that provide externally adjustable rebound damping. This is a plus as the front units can be adjusted while they remain installed on the vehicle. We drilled a small hole in the rubber upper bearing cap to facilitate adjustment. Unfortunately, the rear dampers need to be removed from the vehicle for adjustment as there is no way to reach the top of the piston rod while they are installed. There may be a way to drill thro
ugh the floor of the trunk to provide access, however, I do not recommend this.
As is the norm, installation was very straightforward. The front units are complete strut assemblies and simply replace the OE units without much fanfare. The rear units require some minor mods for installation - the upper spring hat and washer needed to drilled out so to accommodate the slightly larger Koni shock rod. Also, the OE rubber stone chip guard needs to be transferred to the new units.
ugh the floor of the trunk to provide access, however, I do not recommend this.
As is the norm, installation was very straightforward. The front units are complete strut assemblies and simply replace the OE units without much fanfare. The rear units require some minor mods for installation - the upper spring hat and washer needed to drilled out so to accommodate the slightly larger Koni shock rod. Also, the OE rubber stone chip guard needs to be transferred to the new units.
MOTORING IMPRESSION
Just to recap, I have been driving our company MINI daily using our RS-a lowering springs. With the OE dampers, the car, to me, actually rode better than stock...however they did lack a little rebound control when driven over rough or uneven road surface. After having significant seat time with the Koni Sports, my opinion is that any lowered MINI owner that wants to improve the ride and handling should purchase these right away. The chassis is significantly more controlled now and handling is razor sharp. With the OE units, any significant road irregularity during cornering would unsettle the chassis, whereas now they are soaked up very nicely increasing confidence when motoring at near the limit of physical adhesion.
In terms of ride quality, one of the chief complaints is the choppy ride nature of the MINI synonymous with almost any other short wheelbase car on the road. With the Koni Sports installed, the car can still feel rather choppy, especially along certain swaths of uneven concrete sections of the 101 freeway...however the "choppyness" seems a quite a bit more subdued now because of the increased rebound damping - Good job Koni!
On the several long drives I have had since installation, I found the car to be very comfortable on the wide varieties of highways here in Socal. On the drive to Lost Wages, I mean Las Vegas, most people do not drive at or near the speed limit. Cruising along at a constant 110 mph was a breeze, the car was very stable, almost unflappable. There are some nice, high-speed, long sweeping turns as you drive through the Halloran Pass before entering Nevada and again, the car performed beautifully holding its line when the occasional "whoop-dee-do" was encountered. Overall, the Koni Sport dampers are well engineered and definitely provide an upgrade over their OE counterparts.
Quick update, here we just received some Koni FSD kits for the 2nd generation MINIs. We will be installing very soon on our R55 and I will report back with some feedback. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions by emailing me.
In terms of ride quality, one of the chief complaints is the choppy ride nature of the MINI synonymous with almost any other short wheelbase car on the road. With the Koni Sports installed, the car can still feel rather choppy, especially along certain swaths of uneven concrete sections of the 101 freeway...however the "choppyness" seems a quite a bit more subdued now because of the increased rebound damping - Good job Koni!
On the several long drives I have had since installation, I found the car to be very comfortable on the wide varieties of highways here in Socal. On the drive to Lost Wages, I mean Las Vegas, most people do not drive at or near the speed limit. Cruising along at a constant 110 mph was a breeze, the car was very stable, almost unflappable. There are some nice, high-speed, long sweeping turns as you drive through the Halloran Pass before entering Nevada and again, the car performed beautifully holding its line when the occasional "whoop-dee-do" was encountered. Overall, the Koni Sport dampers are well engineered and definitely provide an upgrade over their OE counterparts.
Quick update, here we just received some Koni FSD kits for the 2nd generation MINIs. We will be installing very soon on our R55 and I will report back with some feedback. In the meantime, let me know if you have any questions by emailing me.
Last but not least, I would like to send a special shout out to Koni for generously donating shocks for our project car!
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2 comments:
Do the rears have to be completely removed from the car to be adjusted? Or can you just unbolt the bottom of the rears and rotate to change the settings?
What setting did you go with? Most stiff? or lightest?
I'm planning on slapping those on with the stock springs to make sure I stay in GS for autox.
I'm also looking in general for less body roll and a more buttoned down feel in the long swepers. (Such as highway 35 here in norcal) Currently when driving the long sweepers the car can feel a bit twitchy if you need to brake or let off the gas in one of these sweepers which can be a bit unsettling.
Unfortunately, the answer is yes. The rears need to be removed to adjust as the adjustment is performed with a knob at the top of the piston rod. When installed, the piston rod is actually inserted into the frame rail and provides no access.
Currently, my shocks are adjusted a 1/2 turn from the base/softest setting. I really wanted more rebound control and this setting, at least to me, provides very good rebound control now. With the softer OEM springs, you may want to try to softest setting or maybe a 1/4 turn toward "stiff".
There definitely will be improvement in body roll as Koni has dialed in higher compression values with their Sport shocks. With the body motions being more controlled, the MINI will feel more buttoned down in the situations you described in your comment.
Thanks for dropping by. If you have any other questions, let me know. BTW, I have Koni Sports for the MINI in stock. Contact me for a quote when you are ready...via UPS ground, they are only a couple of days away from NorCal!
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