for those of you with SS (not SS+) which brand, diameter and hole setting have you had the best results with for aggressive street driving as far as a rear bar is concerned? 2 of my worries are squeaking and driving in the rain with a bar? i know some bars come with teflon tape or non-poly bushings to keep them from squeaking. are people chosing these or just re-greasing theirs every so often. i alson don't want the car to be less stable in the rain - having to change the holes would be extremly annoying. i'm also assuming 3 predrilled holes are a better idea than the infinately adjustable bars?

 

I have ss with an r-speed 22mm bar. The only setting I use is the softest. I have tried the middle setting and it is way to tail happy. The soft setting works great. If I had it do do over I would get a 19mm bar like the Alta.

 

Hi, I have the H&R 18mm 2 hole bar on my Cooper with SS. Set on stiff and it is very very neutral, some tail out action only if you try hard (eg, enter an on ramp at 60mph, load up the suspension, in the middle of the on ramp lift off the gas and you'll have to countersteer a bit) I did have an unwated oversteer once on an icy curve just coming off a crest in the middle of a corner that naturally unloads the car, and I was being an idiot trying to push it to the limit anyway so it wasn't totally unexpected.

An advantage of H&R bars (I think they only have 19mm now) is that the bushings are coated, it needs no grease! I live in the land of snow, it gets down to -40f usually once a year atleast. The bar has been on the car for over a year and absolutely no squeaks, ever! I've had sway bars on another car before where the grease would just freeze/dry/leak out after a while and sqeauk, I would never buy a bar with that sort of bushing again, no matter how good the performance is. I'm the sort that wants to jump into the car and just drive, not having to spend a second to think about the health of my car.

If you haven't read enough I wrote a bit more on my own website about the sway bar and how it interacts with different tires.

http://www.xp.solidhelium.com/Mini/handr18mmswaybar.htm

 

excellent article. thank you!

Are things different or the same on a MCS suspension, the sport suspension +?

doh! i just realized this is non-s forum! pm me if you want instead of answering this!

(however that article is great universally)

 

I favor the 19mm rear H&R bar...

 

I have the same setup - '06 MC with the standard sport susp. Went with the H-Sport 19 mm 3setting adjustable. Has grease fitting for lubrication - not a single squeak or groan from it. Started out on medium setting, then changed to stiffest. It does dial out some of the understeer, hasn't made the rear squirrely, and I think it's perfect for the MC

 

I've got a 22mm Mini Madness sway bar. The middle position is just right for fast street driving. The 3rd position (farthest from end) keeps the wheels too planted. Fast and loose is faster than planted and not sliding.

I greased the bushing upon install about 3 months ago and yet to have some squeaking. But, so what if it squeaks? Either live with it or re-grease the bushings. No big deal.

Overall difference between stock sway bar and this beefy 22mm is night and day. As well as a 15% supercharger pulley, larger diameter sway bars should be standard from the factory.

 

I'm running the H-Sport 19mm bar also. It's on my MCS, but will work well on your Cooper as well. I run mine on the stiffest setting. The hole closest to the bend in the bar. When the weather changes & I put my snow tires on I will be switching it to the softest setting, the hole closest to the end of the bar. You don not want a stiff bar when it's slippery out. At least I don't. The bar has been silent so far. If it starts making noise a shot of grease in the Zerk's will quiet it down.

Edit....Rain doesn't worry me, but ice & snow sure get my attention.

 

royce,

I favor the h-sport 19mm, anything bigger will make the car tail-happy. The factory designed understeer into the cars to make them safer for the "average" driver, but that doesn't apply to most of us, does it . An 18 or 19mm bar is more than sufficient and works well with h-sport or h&r springs.
And don't worry about driving in the rain, unless your being too aggressive
--Dan

 

I disagree with two things.
1. Loose isn't faster than planted, and 2. A 15% pulley should not be standard on an MC

 

I replaced mine with a MCS sway bar. I do not know the measurement but it was thicker.


Art

 

I have the H-sport comp on middle setting and it's tail happy. I should adjust it back to soft.

 

22mm RSpeed bar on middle, on HSport springs. Just right.

I dont think it's tail happy at all. If anything I could use a bit more for those canyon corners in 2nd gear at 5500rpms, holding steady.

 

I did the same. I think that the S bar is 17mm.

 

The r-speed on the middle setting works quite nicely below 60 mph. Much faster and you get unwanted oversteer

Throttle steer on the softest setting is more predictable and manageable on the track for me

 

ive heard the middle setting causes some nasty oversteer. sounds good for autox considering oversteer is easy to control at low speeds. Is the softest setting about the same as stock or do you still corner flatter??

 

With a 22mm bar it's going to be stiffer than stock even on the softest setting.

 

My 22 bar on softest setting is significantly better than stock. You are right about the middle setting being better for autox. The reason I would go for a 19 next time is it gives you some usable adjustments. The r-speed is to stiff for a ss on an MC.

 

I see, is it easily adjustable.. say before track day??

 

I have a 25.5mm H-Sport bar and I am extremely happy with it, I have it set on full stiff and it has made the car into an animal, I am also running a 27mm front bar

 

There are a lot of variables that affect what is the "right" size rear swaybar. The size of the front bar, the springs and dampers, alignment (front camber plates, etc)...

My setup is pretty good for me, but I think I might be happier with a slightly smaller rear bar. I've got the stock sports suspension front bar (the small one), the Helix 22.5mm rear bar, JCW suspension upgrade (minus the swaybars, obviously), Helix front camber plates set to -2.0°, zero toe in front, everything else stock (I believe).

For a long time, I ran with the rear bar on the softest of the three settings - no problems at all. Recently, I've moved to the middle setting. It's pretty forgiving, but not 100%. I just got back from two days at Watkins Glen, which is a fast track. There was one turn where the car was very sensitive and if I was too far on the wrong side with my inputs, the car would get loose (90mph before the downhill braking zone, with a tire wall right in front of me - the laces / chute at Watkins Glen).

Sure, it's driver error that gave me problems more than car setup, but I'm not a good enough driver to not have a little driver error now and then.

The rear stepped out once in my first session, while I still had DSC turned on, and the combination of my corrections and the DSC brought the car back in line very quickly. The problem was due to me trail braking a bit too much - turns out trail braking at all for that turn would make things interesting.

During a later session, with DSC turned off, I held the brakes a little too long again, and the back end started to step out. Counter steering and throttle kept it going in the right direction, though. But I wouldn't want to tempt fate too many times in that turn.

I should have a short video clip of that soon...

So, ummm... the Helix 22.5mm bar might be a bit too much for my Cooper. There's no way I'd make use of the stiffest of the three settings with my ability level, so why not get a bar where I could use all of the possible settings?

 

That front bar balances out that rear bar. With a stock front bar you'd most likely find that 25.5mm a bit much. Especially on a fast track.

snid, you're helping me prove a point. DSC isn't needed when the driver has skills. You obviously have a high skill level. I agree with you, that may be too much rear bar for your car.

 

What about changing the swaybar endlinks to the Alta links? Would that stiffen things up more? I've been considering doing the front and rear links.

 

any disadvantages to the MSC sway bar on the MC- not agressive enough?

 

If you optioned the sports suspension plus on your Cooper, you already have the same rear swaybar as an MCS.

Otherwise, I'd say if someone was giving you their take-off for free, go for it. Maybe pay $50 for one. I wouldn't pay more than that, though.

It might not be aggressive enough, and it certainly isn't adjustable enough.