For H&R sport springs. It's only a 1.3" drop. It's on an 07, so there is some adjustability. I would rather spend the money on something else. Any help is appreciated. I am new to the Mini, so all of this is confusing to me. Thanks!

 

There is adjustability on your 07 but probably not as much as you will want. The 1.3" drop will put a lot of negative camber on the rear tires (I would guess about -3 degrees). The stock control arms will adjust about 0.5 degrees out but you will still end up with a lot of negative camber. There is no problem driving with around -2.5 camber in the rear put it will wear the inside edge of the tires a little faster. Frequent rotation of the tire rear to front will help with the wear.

It becomes a trade-off of replacing tires more often or spending money on aftermarket adjustable lower control arms.

 

I believe consensus on maximum rear camber is -1.5 max. You can go more negative up front, though.

 

YOU DO NOT NEED. I was in your boat three years ago. I had h&rs put on and later purchased h-sport lower arms. There is alittle play on the stock arms and it is enough to keep the rear within Mini's factory camber tolerances. It may look like the rear has alot of negative camber but it is exaggerated due to the angles of your quarter panels and wheel arches. Also, any extra negative camber will aid in the turning ability at high speeds (an added bonus). True, maybe there will be a slight increase in tire wear, but it's nothing major. You are better off purchasing a rear sway bar. That is probably the single best investment you can make on your car. I have a hotchkis sway bar which is great, but your money is better spent on an eibach sway bar ($110) with hotchkis greasable bushings ($35). I might be selling my bar here on namm so keep your eyes open for a used one if you want to go that route.

 

I would get the adjustable control arms. In fact, I have, along with the H&R springs, just haven't had time yet to install them. You are going to have excessive tire wear on the insides in the rear. Not only that, but you will be decreasing your effective tire contact patch with that much weight riding on the inner part of the tread, instead of distributed across the width of the tire.When you need maximum grip in a straight line, like during hard braking in the wet, you'll have less. And not only would I recommend the adjustable control arms, I'd suggest dampers that can better control the stiffer H&R springs, like Koni Sports.

 

They are needed is you cannot adjust for the camber and toe you want.
Can't get any simpler than that.

 

We recommend installing the adjustable rear control arms. We see the camber and toe out of wack without them. If you look at a stock car you'll see they naturally eat the insides of the rear tires. But we've found with the adjustable arms and a proper alignment you'll save more than the price of the arms on with reducing the tire wear. Plus the car will handle better.

 

But if you can get zero toe and less than half a degree of negative camber, they are not needed. It seems many alignment shops are not smart enough to know the front of the control arm may be adjusted for toe.

If you are a drag racer or just boulevard cruiser, then the OEM settings for zero camber and zero toe is best. If yo like to go around corners, you can put a bit of negative camber to good use. Fortunately the rear geometry does not need much. Front needs more as it is a traditional strut geometry.

BTW, the TMS or H-sport bars WAY has are the only bars I have seen suitable for street use. Hard rubber or poly bushings. Do not use solid bearings on a street car. Use theirs.

 

Only lower control arms are needed to correct the rear camber after lowering. The upper non-adjustable control arms can remain stock. A good alignment shop can adjust toe by adjusting the trailing arm (slotted holes allow for adjustment) and no special tool is required.

Just to clarify the stock adjustable lower control arms will only remove about 0.5 degrees of the negative camber that is added by lowering. Thus after lowering 1.3" the rear will be at about -3 degrees and the stock adjustment will be able to get the suspension to about -2.5 deg. That is probably more camber than you want to live with because it will wear the tires faster. Purchasing one set of aftermarket adjustable lower control arms is probably cheaper than replacing tires more frequently if you plan to keep the car for many miles.

Most people adjust to about -1 to -1.5 deg camber in the rear.