Rosebud, from the angle of your photo I cannot see if you have the poly spring perches.

For your front tires, have you tired "0" or full soft for the front shock and putting some more air in the tires? You are using your tires as shocks and generating more side wall flex and heat.

Regarding coil springs for the classic Mini, there doesn't seem to be an industry-wide color code standard. I have blue springs from Delta (Japan), and they're identified as "performance" springs. Delta's red springs are considered "road" springs. S-Racer's color coding is the opposite; red is hard, blue is softer.

It took me ages to dial-in my suspension. Hi-Lows were a must in order to get the ride height right, and as other's have said, shocks play a huge part in the equation. I have Gaz adjustables and began with a mid-way setting of 20 clicks, which to my surprise, was way to firm. I now have them at 5 clicks. I found that front tire pressure was also a big deal. 23 psi seems just about right. Here's a link to an article I wrote about dialing in my suspention.  link 

That is a good question. My mini is my only car. I've tried all suspension options available for comfort and daily use that includes the original cones, smootha- ride, blue coils, town & country coils and LSS coils. Shock absorbers play an important role as well.

My current set up is the town & country springs, cheap Gmax front gas shock and smootha ride HD rear shocks from kit. There is heavy lean on curves but I can still face plant my poodle into the rear windows ( she rides in the back ). We have rough roads here. I find these 4 coil springs very good for my comfort. LSS are basically the same spring. When I get around to it, I will change the rear shocks to the soft original shocks. Maybe try a rear sway bar.

I find the cones and blue coils too busy for daily use. By busy, I mean bouncy and jittery or constantly active. I even found the smootha ride cone too active but a little softer that original cones. 

You have to take into account what you are using the mini for, the condition of your roads and how often you use your mini. The number one issue with original cones is they collapse and the second issue is they get hard. Also the more "heavy duty" your shocks are the harder the ride.

To answer your question, the reds will be the same as the blues. Stiff and bouncy because there is only one coil, but the upside is they won't collapse.

this has probably been covered, but i couldn't find it...... what is the realistic difference between the red springs and the blue springs for street use?......or should I not bother and stick to the rubber cones?