Glad you found the problem. I think you have the right plan.

As for the spacers, you say that if you put them on the rear, you will have rubbing issues. What offset do your wheels have? I am running 215s on 7" wide rims with a 38mm ET and have no rubbing issue. And I am running 225s on rims with a 45mm offset and no rubbing issues. If you have less than 38mm offset up front, I would remove those.

 

Wheels are 17x7.5 ET45. Putting my finger between the tire and inner wall of the wheel well, there's maybe a few mm of space. On the outside, there's essentially no space (I've actually worn down the inside of the plastic arch slightly due to minor rubbing on large dips/etc.).

Part of the reason for the tight fit is being lowered to ~0.25" wheel gap. The other issue might be due to the tires. The 215/45R17 BFG Rivals on these rims stick out past the rim (such that I'll rub the tire rather than the rim on a curb). I have 215/35R18 Riken Raptor tires on my other rims (JCW R105 18x7), and those tires are stretched slightly over the rim such that the rim would rub first... so each tire appears to be different in the section width, with the Rivals running on the large side.

 

My 225-45x17 on 7" wide rims with a ET45 also rub the inside of the wheel arch on the rear. But there is plenty of clearance on the inside side of the tire, especially up front. I don't need any spacers there. So it seem that your tires and rims are about the same as mine for tire fitment. I understand your issues.

 

If I'm reading this correctly, you've done 3 track days and yet you've basically reengineered the entire suspension--this is really a pet peeve of mine.

They pay the engineers at BMW, MINI, etc. a lot of money because they know what they're doing.....sure, they build understeer into these cars but that's a lot better on track than what you're experiencing now. I'm no suspension genius, but rule of thumb says that the stiffer end of the car has the least grip, so if you're looping it either the rear is too stiff or the front is too soft or both. Plus, I didn't notice if your track day was wet or dry but if the car spins in the dry as it is, it'll be impossible in the wet and you'll be missing out on lots of fun as well as invaluable learning experience.


I've been doing track days (nearly 600 to date) for the last 20 years, 10 of which have been in MINIs and I've done nothing to the car's suspension whatsoever. And always on street tires (currently RE11As)....it's really amazing what the car is capable of if you at least try it as it comes from the factory.


Forgive me if this all sounds harsh, but, though it's a bit late for this, I'd put the car back to stock and drive it--with only 3 track days you've got much to learn. You might be pleasantly surprised at how the car performs in stock form. Keep your aftermarket parts, and if you see fit later after you know what you like and what the car is doing you can apply some or all of them to fit your needs.


Best of luck--
Gary







I've done

 

Then you've been missing out ;-) a mini that someone has put the time in and developed properly is so much more entertaining than the stock suspension. They key in that sentence though is "developed properly". For someone who doesn't fully understand suspension setup the factory suspension really isn't bad. You can certainly make it worse.

Sent from my phone using NAMotoring

 

+1

And that is not "harsh". "Harsh" is stuffing one's car into a guardrail at 80 mph because one's experience was not up to the level that the car's dynamics demands.

 

Just to follow up on this... finally did a track day yesterday after my new alignment. Things started out slow, but by the last two sessions I was definitely able to get it to rotate predictably with light throttle lift when necessary. So, much much easier to drive than when my alignment was out of whack and I had significant toe-out in the rear... No spin outs this time, although one time I came close to losing it taking a turn a little too hot, but managed to catch it in a controlled fashion. I tried to remember folks' suggestions of driving more smoothly and avoiding sudden corrections...

I'd say the experience was pretty close to the F56 I drove earlier, although the stickier tires / increased neg camber make me think I was carrying higher speeds into turns before I'd need to start sliding the rear out to rotate at times. The rear did seem to step out a little more quickly on throttle lift than the F56, but maybe my memory is foggy. Because of this, I tried to avoid trail-braking (which was pretty necessary in the F56). I'm also glad I stayed with the lower-stiffness setting on the rear swaybar for the time being.

In the end, I ran a 1:37 as my best time in the CW config for Streets of Willow. With a few more sessions, I might have been able to drop that a bit more as well (as I was dropping a few seconds each session due to getting more comfortable and less traffic). This is much better than the 1:42 I had on CCW last time when my alignment was out. I was still slower than the other MINI out at the track yesterday - he ran a 1:35, but was also on race rubber and 15x8 wheels. I may have been far from the fastest, but was having fun starting to pass some slower cars in my beginner/intermediate run group.

Anyway, it was a blast (especially towards the end when I started to get comfortable with later braking and pushing past the limits of traction on turns). Definitely looking forward to going out again sometime soon.

 

It is incredible how with a rear sway bar mod and some throttle steer you can make a tiny mini cooper handle like a rear wheel drive car

gotta love this sport

 

What spring rates did you end up with? 450 front and 200 rear was a suggestion on another coil over thread when modifying a pair of Ohlins. I recall that being paired with 2.5 neg camber front and 1.5 neg camber rear. Sounds like fun! If you did make rate changes, please update the thread. Many people are in your boat with off the shelf coil overs.