Well just like it says. Which one is better? And as far as pricing, what brand would you go for?

 

What coilovers do you have?
If you don't have any, do you plan on them? Which ones/spring rates?
What lowering springs do you have?
If none, do you plan on it? Rates?
Street only?
AutoXXX?
Track?
Other combos?

I have an Alta 22mm on Med. with KW Variant1 coils. I'm pretty satisfied with the combo. Rumor has it if you have a super duper deluxe Cross setup, you don't really need the upgraded bar. Good luck!

 

19mm form alta. Unless you are seriously over-building the suspension (coilovers that are balanced, control arms, bushings, etc...) the 19mm is more than enough to make the mini feel very neutral.

 

19mm from Hotchkis. Not knocking Alta or anybody else but I didn't want a big red bar slung off the *** end of my car.

 

19mm if you plan on doing camber plates.........22mm if not. Suspension doesn't have a lot to do with sway bar size.

 

The IE 22mm HOLLOW bar is the same stiffness at the solid 19mm bars and it comes with beefer end links and still costs less then many of the rest. http://www.autoxcooper.com/ie_suspension.html and you can tune it more then the others.

 

19mm if you plan on doing camber plates......22mm if not. The suspension doesn't have a lot to do with sway bar performance.

 

A lot depends on what you want to do with your car. Like Bigshot said if you are going to do camber plates a 22mm bar may be too large. I have a 19mm H-Sport (Hotchkis) bar & it is great. Nice & quiet with its greasable bushings. It works well with the camber plates I have.

The IE bar that AX Cooper is recommending looks more of a racing part. While it does have a lot of adjust ability it seems like serious overkill for a street driven car. I'm also betting it's going to be kind of noisey with those end links. I have zero experience with this bar, but what experience I have tells me you may not like it for your needs if that includes daily driving.

Just my .02 here.

 

How is a hollow 22mm bar too large vs a 19mm solid bar? They offer the same basic stiffness. There have been very few noise issues with the IE bar or links, the current one on NAM is being addressed with a new set of links, which should resolve that members issues. The IE bar is the best bang for your buck.

 

Yes you are correct the IE hollow may have the same basic stiffness of the 19mm H-Sport. It depends on the wall thickness of the IE bar. The way the end links hook up is straight out of race cars 101 as are the links themselves. Not necessarily a bad thing, but that design while being optimum for the track may not be so for the road. Just my opinion but I believe it will clank bang rattle just like that style of bar that I used on my race cars. They worked great for me, but I'd hate that on my street car.

Your opinion, best bang for the buck. Maybe for you but it wouldn't be for me & possibly not the OP either. He has to make that call. I'm only trying to help & have nothing to gain or lose either way he decides to go.

The OP's question was 19 or 22. I said 19 & I believe he'd be happy with the H-Sport as I am.

 

I am another H-Sport 19mm owner. I loved it on day 1 and even month 1....over time I grew used to it, and at times wonder if I should have gone larger with a 22mm bar. But then I remember many times when I have been able to get the back end to swing out quite a bit. So the car is very neutral with the 19mm bar and like others have mentioned if you are getting camber plates at anytime in the future the 19 will likely be enough.

It also depends greatly on the type of driving you are going to be doing. The times which I was "bored" with my 19mm bar I was doing mostly only street driving and was limited to hard cornering at speeds 50mph and lower. Or in other words, basic AutoX conditions. If you never plan on tracking the car, a 22mm bar is probably going to be more fun. As I do track the car a 22mm bar could be a little too big and have the potential of making the back swing out too much especially with camber plates as well. I am able to have EXCELLENT control of the car with simple throttle modulation at faster speeds, and slower speeds rotation is still much better then stock, but IMO if you are competent driver you'd have more fun with a 22mm bar at slower speeds.

 

promini by h&r 19mm here, changes the car totaly love it never one of the best mods yet.

 

Recomending a smaller bar just because you use camber plates might not be the best IMO.. I have IE camber plates and running some springs you still cannot run huge -camber because of the spring size. I haven't had a chance to align my car yey but others I know have only gotten about 1.5 -camber from the setup. I have the IE rear bar also. The only issue I have had was the other day getting on the highway the rear slid out but I think that had alot to do with my camber issues. The rear is 0.0 camber after the install of my parts. So I think once I get it back to -1.5 or -2.0 camber that wouldn't be an issue. I dont have the bar set up that stiff. Both venders I got all my parts from have been awesome. I have called AutoXCooper many times for questions about everything and the guys at IE have also been great.

 

Hey Bang110, you may find this link helpful to get more camber, http://www.txwerks.com/images/Instal...%20Springs.pdf the 1st line is the key to more camber.

 

Ya I saw that. They included that PDF printed out with the springs. I did pount out the drivers side bt the pass side didn't have anything to inference with the springs. I plan to align it sometime this week and I will see what the numbers come out to being. Then if needed I will pound some more. But I think I will be able to get at least 1.25 or 1.5 -camber.

 

Bang if you haven't aligned your car you are fighting a toe in condition at the front. Our cars go toe in with the addition of camber plates. Easily fixed with an alignment, but that may have contributed to your loose rear end.

I have IE fixed camber plates with stock springs. My front camber is -1.8 & -1.9. No issues with springs hitting strut towers & no BFH work needed, for which I'm grateful.

 

naughty,naughty...all that power and just now sway barin'-it?
....pick a color
-seriously though,AERO's comments are sound.

 

a timely post as i was recently wondering wether to go from 19mm adjustable to 22. i'll add one more variable to the equation first.... if you have a front brace, i.e. omp, m7, others, this will create understeer. i was about to pull the trigger on a 22 mm bar until i changed my alignment settings. now i'm glad i didn't and suspect i won't regret in on tuesday at the newly opened new jersey motorsports complex

btw, this $ saved went to an rmw cam!!!

 

+1 to what AeroCooper said.

With the right alignment in the rear, toe-in and enough camber, you can counter the oversteer tendencies and get the benefits of the bar in balance and steering response. Though, you can still oversteer if you touch the brakes in a turn or snap the throttle off.

I have a lot of fun with this set up. (I have camber plates and poly bushings too) Since there are no twisties or sweepers here, 90 deg corners are everything.

 

I would go with a 19mm bar.
From the respective web pages, it appears that the Hotchkis 19mm bar is softer than the Alta 19mm bar. So you need to compare specific numbers when looking at bars. I have been looking at bars for my GP and I liked the Hotchkis 25 (hollow) that I had on my previous Mini but I do not need that large of a bar because I will be using adjustable camber plates on the front. So I am looking for a 19mm bar. However, I am now not sure that the Hotchkis 19 will be stiff enough and I am thinking of going with the Alta. Anyone have experience with these two differently rated 19mm bars?

 

I would say the IE is a good choice. First you can fine tune it to your driving style. Thats good for the people who might just want to do a weekend parking Auto X event. Make it softer or stiffer for the weekend and then go back to your street setting. Other bars only allow 2 to 3 settings and thats it. Its very easy to adjust.

 

I have two concerns with the IE bar that maybe people who have used the bar for a while can confirm or negate my concerns.
1. I recently saw an IE bar installed on a lowered MCS (I think about an 1")and the end links where touching the trailing arm which of course could jam up with disastrous consequences.
2. I seem to remember some old posts about a few people having problems on similar designed bar with the end links slipping on the bar thus changing the bar force without their knowledge. Seems like a three hole adjustment per side would be adequate for street and some track days without the worry on the force being changed unexpectantly.

 

The adjust ability of the IE swaybar is a great feature & a possible drawback. If you track a lot or auto x it may be the hot setup. I'd guess if you were careful about tightening the adjustment it wouldn't lose it's setting. If it did it could possibly be dangerous.

I find the 3 hole adjustments on my H-Sport to be a fine solution for me. To tell the truth I have mine set at full stiff all time with the exception of in winter when I back it off to full soft. I also track my MINI & like the 19mm H-Sport. I don't play with the adjustments at the track.

 

When?

I agree with Chuck, it is the IE 19mm for me. When at the track, I run more camber than he does (up front) so I have mine set on full soft. The car is well balanced and I can induce oversteer/understeer with the throttle.

 

i have a mutant 20mm rear sway...not sure of the maker as i got it from a club member but its a pretty nice piece of equipment