I thought I heard 1/16th toe out in the front and zero toe in the rear from Bgarfield but I did a quick search and couldn't find the info(proabably looked right through it). Is this correct?

Camber? I am 99.99% sure I can't adjust the front, what about the rear, where should that be set or can I not?

I assume with my 16" A3S04's being slightly lower, maybe I have a very very slight negative camber in the front/rear anyway? So, if the front is maybe .5 degree negative, should the rear be set at .5 as well?? Or is there no adjustment?

 

A little toe-out in the front gives you quicker turn-in. The more you do, the quicker the turn-in. But the drawbacks are that toe-out makes the car wander...a lot, and tire wear. So a good compromise for an everyday driver is 1/16th toe-out. Some go as much as 1/8th, but I wouldn't if it's an everyday driver.

I've said in the past that you're safer getting rotation by using tire pressures, but bringing the rear toe to 0 wouldn't be bad. I actually keep toe in on mine, especially since I have shocks. But, without shocks, I'd still recommend 1/16th toe in unless you just can't get rotation at all with that.

Camber is NOT adjustable in front or rear, tires do not make any difference in camber. Putting weight in the car does.
One problem with the MINI's negative camber is that the design of the rear suspension actually gains negative camber quicker than the front if the whole car were lowered evenly. For this reason, you're better off loosing as much weight in the rear of the car for rotation, keeping the suspension from compressing. This is why I run NO gas and my Supertrapp. On the other hand, in the rain, running a full tank of gas will increase negative camber a tad, and if nothing else, will keep the rear planted.

Again, the only alignment settings you can adjust on a Cooper or Cooper S is the TOE, nothing else.

Good Luck!

Brian

 

thanks for the reply. What I meant with the tires was... Since I have the smaller diameter tires, the Cooper is actually riding 1" lower than with the stock wheels/tires since the A3S04's are a smaller diameter than stock 17's or stock 16's.

Actually I do have the shocks, they are going in on Wednesday and the alignment will be done at that time, so, I definitely appreciate the input so I'll know where to start.

Its definitely a daily driver, I guess I'll try the 1/16th out in the front and 1/16 toe in for the rear.

I have been running zero gas and the alta exhaust(20lbs) will be here tomorrow. I know its not as light as the Supertrapp but its a good bit better than stock and I stumbled onto it for $300.

thanks again
Craig Wilcox


_________________
SSR Comps 16X6.5 With Hoosier A3S04's(80lbs less than stock!)
Koni SA's (firm rear, soft front)
SSR Comps 16X6.5 with 215/45 Azenis
Alta Exhaust (20lbs),
Nology Hotwires,
Denso Irridium plugs,
Unifilter, 2004 SCCA Solo II GS #85 Mini Cooper S

 

That's my point, your suspension is no lower than stock. The car may be riding lower overall, but the suspension is no lower. As long as the suspension does not change, camber won't either.

Brian

 

Brian

That makes perfect sense, I see your point now.

thanks again