After doing some research, II think my first real performance mod is going to be the intake and tower brace. I am set on the Madness Intake but don't know which bar will fit over the intake without cutting into the heat shield. Anyone using madness intake and a tower brace, please give me some advice! I was looking at ones made byHelix13 or MINI Mania.

 

There are no strut braces that will fit unless you will cut the intake shield. That is an upcoming adition to my line of intakes is a gap for strut bars.

 

I think you will find that NO strut brace will work with the Madness intake without serious modding. The BMP intake is known for its friendliness with stru braces. Try that.

 

the MINI's chassis is SO strong, a strut brace is just about a moot-point, other than looking beefy. Get the intake, and use the money you were gonna spend on the brace to get a rear sway bar or a set of springs (much better value)

$0.02,
Ryan

 

>>the MINI's chassis is SO strong, a strut brace is just about a moot-point, other than looking beefy. Get the intake, and use the money you were gonna spend on the brace to get a rear sway bar or a set of springs (much better value)
>>
>>$0.02,
>>Ryan

Agreed.

 

I just did the BMP strut bar and the Madness intake and it took an hour or so to modify the shield for the bar. It's not difficult to do but do plan on taking it in and out a few times to get it just right. I cut some of the shield with a jig saw and then used a die grinder to finish it off. The intalk shield is stainless so it is pretty hard, so take your time and dont burn up the tool you use. Good luck

 

The MINI Mania intake has a cut out fo rthe strut bar (their's) but I agree that your money is better spent on an rear sway bar. Much more bang for the buck IMHO.

Cheers

Geoff

 

Last weekend, when I got the chance to meet and help out with the guys at Nuzzo Motorsports who are racing 2 MCS's in the Grand Am Cup series, one thing that I noticed was that their race-modified MINI's did not have any sort of additional strut tower brace. When questioned about this point of interest, I was told that the MINI's chassis is so stiff that such strengthening is not necessary.

I'd probably invest my mod money elsewhere unless you are pushing your MINI beyond the sort of abuse Nuzzo's MINI's endure during 250 mile road races.

Anyway, here are a couple pics of the cars and engine bay for eye candy!

 

Those pics of the Nuzzo minis are awesome.
You will see the oversized red intake filter is absolutely blocking any tower strut brace from being added. So they went with a jumbo intake. If using a strut brace you need to plan on an intake that is compatible or at least modifiable for the brace design.
Maybe we can ask RandyBMC for his opinion on the front tower strut brace. I read that if you lower the car with a spring upgrade it puts more stress on the car when cornering hard and that adding the strut brace to beef up the front would be something that would help. Not because the mini frame is that flexible- on the contrary it is stiff- no question about that- but with the added stress from the suspension change you can drive the corner that much faster and harder and the added brace helps to reinforce the ridgid frame to reduce the metal fatigue on the front end. Plus the tower brace is something that you can replace easily if it gets worn out whereas the chasis of the mini isn't replacable.
In my opinion if you have only $200 then adding the rear anti roll bar makes the most sense. I like H-sport springs next and the tower brace next in that order. I added the rear camber arms -lower pair to adjust camber.

Some owners like a bigger front anti roll bar or 4 camber/control arms for the rear and coil overs rather than springs. Depends on your budget, how low you want the car, what you want to do with the car- street vs racing/track, and how harsh and bumpy you can tolerate for daily driving.

 

Did I overlook something on the Nuzzo Mini? I don't think I saw a supercharger.



Peter

 

Here's Nuzzo's site. Lots of great pics on there.

http://www.nuzzomotorsports.com/

 

New Mini Sport had a picture on their site that shows a strut bad that is higher on one side o help it clear the intake it looks like. This is the best picture i could find.

 

Here is another shot of it.

 

There simply is no need for a strut tower brace in a MINI. Go for a rear sway bar instead.

R

 

Answering the original question, yes, the BMP brace will indeed work with the Madness intake with a small bit of cutting. The brace clears the filter element, and all you need to do is notch the sheet metal for the bar to nest in. I did it on my car in an hour.

 

>>Did I overlook something on the Nuzzo Mini? I don't think I saw a supercharger.
>>
>>
>>
>>Peter


This is true... You can barely see the supercharger on any MCS! I think you meant that it is missing the top mount intercooler that you are accustomed to looking at. He moved it to the front for better cooling. :smile:

 

From the picture:
The "intercooler" appears to be moved to in front of the radiator. This would block airflow to the radiator? I think so unless you could force better airflow to that area. Then the bonnet air scoope is out of a job other than passively allowing air to enter the engine compartment (to cool the engine? Air cooling?Not efficient).

From
http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/upgrade/suspensions.htm
Quote:

Sway bars (anti-roll bar)
Sway bars tie the lower suspension components together accross the front and the back, they affect the car oversteer and understeer. Bigger sway bars improve stability while cornering, the best setting is fully soft for the front and hard for the back.

Strut bar (strut tower bar - strut brace)
They link the two opposite strut towers together. A good strut brace is design to reduce the flex in the strut towers when the car is in a corner. The flex is greater if the car is lowered.

A well designed strut bar is a must have if you track your E34, it will improve the chassis stiffness making the the steering quicker and more responsive... Perfect for the autocross.

Ok, why do I talk about a well designed bar?
The best bar would have no link to it and shouldn't be adjustable, because you want NO flex in the bar (it kind of defies the purpose).
Unquote.

Recently I also added a BMP strut bar to my MCS with a madness intake. Just cut the metal intake box about 5/8 by 3.25 by 1 and 1/8th inch. The strut bar will touch the filter top but it looks OK. Be sure to preload the strut bar using the red aluminum bolt before tightening down the bolts. I used a hand hacksaw to cut the intake box. I took the box out of the engine compartment to do the cutting for better grip I bent down at about 90 degrees the cut area inward towards the filter and replaced all of the rubber moldings with a notch cut out for the strut bar. Looks fine.
Otherwise you have to consider either the BMP filter or a K&W filter on a long curved cylinder but you get some hot air from the engine compartment mixed with the fresh air from the front cowl intake.

 

I agree the chassis is very stiff out of the box.....but the upper strut bar will keep it that way for years to come......it will keep things tight and prevent dash squeaks and other irritating noises from occuring......plus they just look cool......just my opinion

 

I heard that any intake can be used with this strut bar:

 

yeah but can you close the bonnet?

 

Just cut out a HUGE notch in the bonnet for the thick Tower strut bar shown. Maybe the hole will let in more cold fresh air for the intake.

 

>>I heard that any intake can be used with this strut bar:
>>

Okay, I give. What the h*ll is that?

--J

 

>>>>I heard that any intake can be used with this strut bar:
>>>>
>>
>>Okay, I give. What the h*ll is that?
>>
>>--J
>>
Yeah, I want to know too.

X2

 

2nd double post today ops: I think I should go back to bed, my brain is still on west coast time and I'm back east now.

X2