i recently installed some H&R RSS Club Sport coilovers, having previously had M7 springs. with the M7 springs and stock sway bars my mini had mild understeer, with just a touch of trail braking induced oversteer.
then i installed the H&Rs with IE adj camber plates up front. initially i set the camber at 2.5 deg all around (i do not have adj rear control arms). my car was so stiff that it didn't even lean in the turns AT ALL. it also pushed terribly. i figured that since it was not leaning, i should back off on the front camber. so then i tried 1.4 deg camber in the front and 2.8 deg (i lowered the rear a bit) in the rear. (i know 2.8 is too much, i am currently looking for a set of used urethane bushed control arms. BTW, anyone have some laying around
?) now it was turning in. steering response was immediate. but, still pushing.
so, i thought, should i get a stiffer rear bar? how much stiffer can this car get. wait, how about REMOVING the front bar... sounds crazy, but with these springs rates, i think i'll be ok...
well it IS ok. it's GREAT! and... roll is still less than with stock bars and M7 springs! turn in is just a tad less razor sharp, but the front feels so much more planted. and the car is still "neutral" (in my view), meaning i can induce oversteer with the brakes, trail braking will pivot the rear around juuust enough. i can go front mild understeer to mild oversteer by modulating the brake/throttle. (i think i will try just a bit more camber in the front, since now it does lean a little, like 1.8 degress or so...) i get a little less inside front wheel spin. i also like the fact that both front wheels are now completely independent of each other. so, say going around a turn to the left and having the l/f wheel go over a bump. with a sway bar attached, when the l/f wheel goes over a bump, a force is transferred to the r/f wheel acting against the weight of the car (away from the pavement) causing a slight decrease in traction. with no swaybar, the r/f remains unaffected.
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anyway, i'm only posting this as an interesting experiment. i don't think most people will be able this. if you were to try this on a stock mini you would lean so far over that any handling benefit would be outweighed by very poor tread patch contact and very sloppy steering. but, if you have a very stiff suspension... hey, give it a shot. it's easy to try. all you have to do is remove one front link rod. that's it. the sway bar will not get in the way, it will follow one wheel up and down. yeah, i know, nitpickers will say that one side has more unsprung weight, which is true, but not much at all. besides, it's just to try it out...
i remember years ago on the VW forum there was a huge debate about this. one camp was no front bars. the other was huge front bars and even bigger rear bars. i used to be in the latter. now...?
anyone else ever try this?
