After reading about the pluses of lowering springs and swaybars, what would be a worthwhile addition to my MCS? A coworker has H&R lowering springs on his MCS, and I am tempted to purchase a swaybar before I get lowering springs. Are there any advantages over lower springs that a swaybar has, and vice versa? From other people's descriptions, both items enhance drivability, and the car feels more planted to the ground. What would be better from a handling perspective?

I will eventually be getting both installed on my car, but am wondering what you guys would suggest as the next step.

 

When trying to decide whether to install springs or antiswaybars, you need to decide which quality you're looking for first. Springs are used to resist deviations from the static state. They force the wheel back down from bumps and provide greater restorative force when corning. They will increase the responsiveness in the handling of the car at the cost of comfort. Antisway bars are used to transfer the forces of the outside compression to the inside (reduced loading) wheel thus maintaining a flatter attitude in the turn.

The trouble is that going too much with either can cause problems. Too much spring rate will result in a street car with street tire to rely on the tires to be a major part of the resistive force. And too much antisway bar (in the rear) could make the car unstable (snap steer).

As far as removing flaws in a Mini, a larger rear antisway bar will remove some of the abundant understeer and enhances the tossability of the car. The springs on the S are uprated from the regular MC and provide a decent ride as is. I'd say go with an adjustable rear bar and start with the softest setting.

When it come time for springs, take a good look at the H-Sport springs. They're a progressive design that maintain a comforatable ride under normal conditions but progressively get stiffer as they're pushed harder. They also were designed for the stock struts/shocks.

 

Thanks for informative reply! It really helped my understanding of the differences between the two, and exactly what I needed to decide where to throw my hard earned dollars. :smile:

 

You are right about wanting to purchase the sway bar first. Not to **** off any lowering lovers, but from what I've seen the sway bar is a better mod resulting in both better handling and better roadability than the springs alone. I've got the Progress adjustable unitl sold by Moss and install wasn't too bad. It's easiest if you have 2 people (and are sober ). I already scraped my lower fron air dam a few times, the one that's under the car and not visible, so no biggie, but because of that I won't be doing springs.

 

I was very pleased with the flat ride and responsiveness that the Alta 22mm rear bar (on soft setting) provided. Most of the plow is gone. A little understeer is good, since it scrubs off speed if you go into a turn too fast. It can be controlled by technique (trail braking) which I'm gonna learn. I did not want to lower car with the speed bumps and angle of driveways which I must navigate, so the Alta bar was a good first step. Try it, there's no downside.

 

The big plus to do then together is you lower your labour costs.

 

I did what GordonD suggested, I did the H Sports and Madness swaybar at the same time (about $350 in labor). Wow! What a difference.

 

I just put the Madness bar in the back of my MCS, then took it on track for a couple of days (2-day BMW Club drivers school). A big difference over stock, even on the "soft" setting. Car is much more balanced and much of the plow is gone. No change to ride quality.

Did the install myself on Saturday afternoon. Took 2.5 hours, no major issues (or bodily injuries)...

 

I thing swaybars are great. I have had them installed in other cars I've owned and I plan to install a rear swaybar in my MCS. A swaybar will give you a significant increase in handling and not degrade ride quality.

If you are going to Auto X your car then lower it. It will make a difference. If you just plan on driving your Mini on the street, I would not lower it. When you lower your car (I've done it to other cars I've owned) you'll bottom out everywhere, speed bumps, your driveway, etc. In my opionion lowering a car isn't worth it unless you take it to the track.

RaceCarDriver

 

I got the Eibach lowering springs, rear sway bar, front sway bar, monstermini upper strut brace and a shorter atenna for $700 which was a good buy. After instsalling it the car handles sooo much better. I take corners like crazy and yet the car still sticks on the ground, which is good.

ttyl

Kalvin

 

>>I got the Eibach lowering springs, rear sway bar, front sway bar, monstermini upper strut brace and a shorter atenna for $700 which was a good buy. After instsalling it the car handles sooo much better. I take corners like crazy and yet the car still sticks on the ground, which is good.
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>>ttyl
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>>Kalvin

Good choice i must say. How much are just the eibachs? and how much to install?

thanks

 

I got my eibachs for $175 on ebay!

 

>>If you are going to Auto X your car then lower it. It will make a difference. If you just plan on driving your Mini on the street, I would not lower it. When you lower your car (I've done it to other cars I've owned) you'll bottom out everywhere, speed bumps, your driveway, etc. In my opionion lowering a car isn't worth it unless you take it to the track.
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>>RaceCarDriver
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If you're going to autox and you're willing to move to a class that allows replacing the springs, you'll actually find that camber plate will offer the greater improvement. That is, if it's an either-or question. A stock alignment is a compromise between performance and tire wear. The stock alignment is just barely negative. This offers better steering feel than purely vertical. But if you're looking for performance, increased camber (~-2.5 degrees) will improve the balance and speed of the car more than a set of springs because the full width of the front tire gets utilized, instead of just the outer third. This will allow you to carry more speed into and thru the corner, which translates into faster entering the straights. Besides, autoxing is all about being smooth thru the many corners.

 

If you are autocrossing to win, the best move is to run in stock and not modify your springs or rear bar. In stock class you can change the front bar, which we have done for a number of G stock MCS cars. By putting an MC front bar on, you soften the front and aid turn-in. If you are going to lower the car, you will be in STX or Street Prepared, which, as Dances states will require you to do more suspension work (camber plates) to be competetive.

Orbhot is correct, the single best suspension mod is the rear sway bar. It has a much greater impact on handling than lowering springs. We handle the RDR triple adjustable, but I have also had cars with H-Sport and ALTA bars come through the shop. I didn't hammer those cars around corners--at least not withing sight or sound of their owners , so I can't vouch for their effectiveness, but they both look to be top quality stuff.

Both the H-Sport and H&R springs slightly increase spring rates as well as lower the car. They are not so stiff that they outspring the stock dampeners, and handling is generally crisper with the stockers. At the limit, the handling is similar to the stock springs, so there are no real surprises when changing to lowering springs. Shameless plug: we've got the H&Rs on sale for $199 until Nov. 15th. Please don't hesitate to call if you have any other questions: I love to hear myself talk. 215 739 8800. -Eric