from what i have been seeing on "NAM", i think that my r56 with sports susp. lsd, would benefit from no mod's . after my shocks have finally worn out that i should buy some "KONI fsd's". i am very happy with my mini's handling. it seems to start to show understeer, but there is a "set" in the suspension that allows the car to finish the turn.

 

FSD will not lower, unless you pair them with shorter springs. They do handle great, without compromising your ride, although that was on an A3 not an MC/MCS.

 

A 19mm rear antisway bar will mostly fix the understeer tendency that is built into the car. Cost is about $300 installed. Unfortunately the sport suspension's sway bars don't fix it because they're rear AND front so they cancel each other out, and the rear bar isn't thick enough either.

 

What understeer? A bigger bar will probably just make the car more unstable during weight transfer.

Konis are always good bets for dampers. I don't see much gains over the stock setup without compromising ride, but I'm sure in the cost scheme of things those are cheaper than OEM. How many miles are they going bad at, and are you sure that is it? Tires wearing out, or just bad tires in general will make it seem like it understeers more.

 

go to my friend at autoxcooper.com!

 

Um...go to an empty parking lot. Turn the car in a moderate-diameter circle. (100 feet or so.) Drive faster until the tires start to squeal. What's happening? I'll wager the front tires are giving up and the car is plowing wide. At least that's what every stock suspension MINI (including JCW suspension) that I've driven has done.

No, it won't. It'll give the car a more neutral handling attitude. At the limit on the parking-lot exercise I mentioned above, you'll hear the front and rear tires start to complain at about the same time, and the car will gradually drift wider without totally punishing the front tires.

--Dan
Mach V

 

Well most cars, even rwd, will understeer in the skid pad situation. Its easy to cause understeer by trying to accelerate too much or not hitting the optimum slip angle. For the dynamics maneuvers such as slalom and a chicago box, I find the car very neutral. Pushing the car in these situations I almost always have the back end come out before it pushes. I still don't even find the understeer too bad in the slow corners, and when it hits due to BMWs nice ABS system trail braking is actually quite effective in rotating the car. I think the car is good how it comes and has a great road/race compromise.

Every car is a little different and the tires can also have a big impact, but unless you are competing with the car and having tons of issues with understeer I would stay away for daily driving. Plus on wet surfaces I find that it tend to want to oversteer even more.

 

The easiest way to remember understeer and oversteer is a rule from my old oval track days. In a corner, understeer makes the car hit the wall with the front end and oversteer makes the car hit the wall with the rear end. Neither scenario was inexpensive BTW!