Hi all.

I've had a set of the m7 progressive sport springs for a while now, but haven't put them on yet. I was told I absolutely needed control arms to go with them, which makes perfect sense because of camber change and whatnot. Recently, someone told me that I did not need arms for the m7 springs, only on the H-sports or other more hardcore setups.
Is there a definite answer to the m7 springs? Thanks.

Matt

 

the drop on the m7's is more extreme then the hsports generally. Hsports seem to have a personality of their own as I have not seen any two drop teh same amount.

I added some hsports that were drop happy and slammed my car to less then 1 finger of rear wheel gap... I loved the look but it totally messed up the handling on my car. I was almost forced to add front camber plates and rear control arms as it was pushing really really hard.

See my trials and tribulations at this thread.
http://www.motoringunderground.com/f...ead.php?t=6833

In summary. you don't NEED the lower control arms. Day to day driving the springs will be just fine. However, if you are going to be auto crossing, tracking or canyon style driving... you really should take a gander and lcr's and camber plates.

 

Just about to purchase a set of lower control arms so I can install my H-Sports as well. What brand do you have and have they worked well for you?

 

M7s drop more than the H-Sports. I would have been able to get the camber I wanted with the H-Sports, but went with adjustable control arms because I wasn't sure at the time.

Do you have an 05-06 with some amount of adjustment in the rear, or an -04? Considering the drop of the M7s, I'd say you only need adjustable control arms if you want a decent handling car.

 

Control arms aren't required, but they are recommended. They are easier to install than the springs, too. I can't believe you haven't installed them yet! Brad and I sold you those during MTTS last August. You're as bad as I am when it comes to installing the mods.

Steve

 

Thanks for the responses guys.

Redskunk- I have a late '06 Cooper S. Are you saying that the '06 models have some adjustment built in and I can go ahead without arms, or that I still will have issues if I don't get the arms?

Steve- LOL! I remember that run to DC. That was the day the hurricane came through the northeast. Perfect day to drive a couple hundred miles. Yea, they still sit in the bubble wrap, though. I was gonna put them in last fall, but decided to wait until after winter. Then this spring, I was gonna put them on, but I bought another race car, thus tying up more money than I had budgeted for toys.

Ok, so, from what I understand through this thread, I don't really need the arms for an '06, but they are preferred? I'm a little dense at times.

Matt

 

With any lowering of any MINI you can find that front and rear camber can be different than stock. Usually front isn't changed much but in the rear usually there is more negative camber.

For my '03 MCS I added H-sport springs and dropped about 1" front and rear. Rear camber went to -2.4 degrees and ride quality was very very rough. Jarring was a better word especially over any roads that were not really smooth.

I had to add rear control arms and adjusted camber in the rears and did an alignment to factory specs and it was much much better.

If you lower your MINI and find that ride quality is good then you don't need to do more upgrades. If your ride quality suffers then add the adjustable rear control arms and do an alignment. Likely that toe settings are affected by dropping your MINI as well.

If you don't add rear control arms and find that the camber is different on right vs left then you have no way of adjusting to make them equal if you do an alignment.

 

I was in your spot just a few months ago. I wanted about -1.6 in the rear, to go along with a lot of negative camber up front (courtesy of camber plates). With the 1" drop of the H-Sports I was at -1.6 already.

Yes, '06s have some adjustability stock. Whether it's enough is another issue. Especially since you're doing the M7s, and lowering more than I was. The rear suspension gains camber as you lower much more quickly than the front (trailing arm vs. Macpherson strut). General wisdom for a good handling MINI is more camber up front than in the rear. If you have wads of camber in the back, your back-end is going to be sticking much better and you'll be understeering.

So it depends. How much camber you end up with, how much you can adjust, and if it'll be a prob. If it's just a daily driver for spirited driving, then you'll probably be able to live with it and it'll feel just fine.

One thing to take into consideration is that aftermarket control arms can be noisy and have short lifespans. I didn't research enough before buying mine, and they're probably the only thing I've regretted buying. Mine have heim joints which apparently fail pretty quickly (20-30k miles quickly) and they're noisier than a ***** on rough pavement.

 

Ok.

I think I will try the springs as soon as I can, watch for any issues, and be ready to get control arms. I have new Yokohoma's to be installed, so the last thing I want to do is burn them up.

I guess it's time to research lower control arms just in case. At least they don't seem to cost too much. Any suggestions as to which ones to avoid or look at?


Thanks again,
Matt

 

I'm running the Helix and my partner is running Alta's. We've both got 50k-60k on them with no problems. I use silicone spray lube on them to keep the heim joints from wearing out too quickly. They do transfer a lot of road noise on rough roads, but not too badly if you aren't ultra sensitive.

Steve