Opinions on front shock absorbers for a wet car

[Bertam]

I've gotten a recently bought hydrolastic Mk2 SDL back to a basic roadworthy condition after nearly a decade of slumber. The car is completely standard at this point but my long term intent is to fit an improved engine (of say 60-70 horsepower?), fully adjustable (camber/caster/toe/etc.) suspension and front discs to make the car more fun to drive as well as usable in modern traffic.

The car has a front shock absorber kit fitted and the original (non-gas) units were shot so I replaced them with pair of near new standard (also non-gas) shocks that I already had on the shelf. On it's first decent run I found that they aren't really up to it in terms of dampening control (mainly pitch) so I was looking to see what shocks others have found work well on a moderately improved wet road sport car?

I intend to retain the hydrolastic system and my own line of thinking was either Kyaba gas-a-just or possibly Bilstein B4s but I'm open to all thoughts / opinions?

Cheers,
Andrew

[mk1coopers]

Iv'e got adjustable Gas Spax on the front of mine, they seem to work well

[Bertam]

I fitted a set of Spax 7-way adjustable shocks on my prior Mini, a dry car on 10" wheels. It had Hi-Lo's and fully adjustable control arms, etc. on it as well. Maybe it was just our crummy roads, but I found them to be a bit too harsh, even at the softest setting.

[Spider]

Keep in mind that they do need a stiffer rate than you may first think as they are not doing then fronts alone, but also the rears. Shocks with 50 / 50 damping rates are about 'on the money' given what is asked of them.

[InimiaD]

The new old stock Special Tuning shock absorber kit I have has these shocks included. They look standard (ish) to me.

[Dr S]

Have you got the competition bumpstops fitted? They make a huge difference especially on the rear.

[Bertam]

Regarding bumpstops, these were on the rear when bought and have been left on: https://www.minispares.com/product/Clas ... J3313.aspx

What I meant when saying "standard" shocks is the car has basic oil filled Unipart non-performance type shocks on it right now.

I left the Spax adjustables on the other Mini when it was sold last year - they were nice on smooth roads but quite harsh and choppy on anything else.

[carbon]

Have you got the competition bumpstops fitted? They make a huge difference especially on the rear.

Competition bumpstops on front also makes a big improvement, works well together with standard shocks and +1.5 deg neg camber front arms.

[mk1]

If it was my car I'd use a set of Koni Classics. Adjustable & look the part.

M