I did my first real autocross this past weekend. I am hooked and joining the SCCA and local region. My Car is in C-stock. For now I think it would be good to keep it that way and I will need to forgo major suspension changes.

Is a bigger sway bar allowed in the stock class?

 

It looks like from the manual that I finally found that rear cannot be changed. The front can but the rear not. Is that correct?

What class would it put me in if I did put a larger rear sway bar? Would it be worth it, or when should I consider doing this? Next season?

 

Good news for FWD drivers. In stock classes SCCA now allows a sway bar switch at either end, but not both ends.

 

The latest stock rules let you run either a different bar up front or the rear, but not both. For us FWD its all about the rear sway bar. If you are running on all season tires, or even just low grade summer, your money will be better spent on stickier rubber than a rear sway bar.

Despite its name you can still do some considerable changes to your car. You can even upgrade springs and shocks and stay within the rules.

I'm confused why you are in C-Stock. As of 2012 JCWs are D-Stock with the MCSs.

 

Welcome to the club of crazy racers. It IS a lot of fun. There are a lot of class options in the SCCA rules. If your are not really expecting to win in your class, you might just want to mod away and have fun. There is a class for just about anything you want to do. The ST class allows more mods than stock, but you have to run street tires, which is not bad as you can drive from home and back on the tires you race with and you don't have to change to Rcomps at the course.

There are a whole bunch of posts on this subject. Try looking in Forums under Racing and Competition. Here is one that might help:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d-options.html

Where are you from? You might be able to hook up with other MINI drivers in your area.

 

You are right... The 2012 rule book I found puts my car in D-stock. At tech inspection they looked my car up and said it was listed as D-stock. Now that I am joining the SCCA should I be worried about getting that corrected, or is it no big deal? The good part is I am pretty sure my times were on par or better than a lot of the people in C-stock... So D-stock would just have a slower group right?

 

Scroll down to Mini section. This is from the latest SCCA.com pdf:

http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/...%20-%20May.pdf

 

Yes you can now put a rear sway bar on and stay in stock class. You'll want the Hsport Comp bar.

 

Way, ironically I was just about to order a swaybar from you. Thanks for getting the oil filters and torque bushing insert shipped so quickly!...

So you like the HSport comp bar for my needs over the TSW? I think the HSport comp is what you put on my 2003MCS.

 

The TSW bar is only 19mm

If your going to be autoxing you'll want more rotation than the 19mm will give you that is why the Hsport Comp bar will be a better fit, also it's lighter in weight.

If you AutoX in the Indy region you should hook up with Scott, BRG MINI or Joel with Dark silver MINI. Both have been autoXing for 10yrs plus and can really help you out.

 

I bought the H-sport comp bar from Way and have been having fun with it. The front end really feels more planted and body roll seems reduced. This weekend will be the true test with an autocross.

A few threads up someone stated that you can change springs and still stay in a stock class. From a performance standpoint will there be much of an advantage to go to a stiffer spring? So many people say its a mistake and coilovers are required for a performance increase? Those put me out of D-stock though...

I am finding that working on the car is a ton of fun and it looks like a big part of my motivation for the mods is to get out in the garage...

It looks like way really likes the TSW springs. Anybody have input on Swift springs for the R56 with stock shocks?

 

Any springs that could have been factory ordered for your car, such as a sport suspension, would be SCCA stock class legal. I don't know about any other springs that would be, although I remember reading the post arguing otherwise. Anyway, replacing the OEM shocks might help more, as the OEM shocks are not so hot.

 

The rule book said something to the effect that as long as the spring and shocks mount the same way then any brand could be used.

 

That sounds like what applies to shocks (Section 13.5, page 75), but not springs. Under Section 13.8 SUSPENSION (page 77) it says: "A. Standard, as defined herein, suspension springs must be used. They may not be cut, shortened, or collapsed."

I run in a SCCA stock class, but not in a Mini Cooper. Thus, it would be better to find out the best one can do (if anything) about springs from serious DS MCS drivers.

 

NO you can NOT change springs in stock class. You CAN use any shock that is a direct replacement for the stock. Such as Koni Yellow, Koni FSD.

You can replace them with the JCW suspension as it is a port installed option and still be legal too.

 

Way,

How would the JCW Red springs work with my current stock shocks? Would that be a mismatch? I have read a lot of people using Koni Yellow with JCW Red springs. Have you setup any cars with JCW springs?

To stay stock would it have to be the complete JCW suspension or just the OEM parts?

 

Yep.

The 2012 PAX factor for C-Stock is .833, and D-Stock is a much kinder .821. My STX class is at .822 this year, which suggests that one can either spend a fair bit of change on coil-overs and such, and run TW 140 rubber (street tires, but UHP) - OR - you can go get some really good shocks and a bar and some Hoosiers, and wind up at about the same pace!

That was illustrated at Devens where in the National Tour Jeff MacRae ran his DS Coupe within a few tenths of my Gen 1 STX car over the two days.

It is not always the case that the higher in the alphabet you go the slower the cars are expected to be however. For example E-Stock is faster than D-Stock, with a 2012 PAX factor of .828.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

The stock shocks are not great for AutoX. If you are replacing the springs, just get Konis and install at the same time.

What Way said is correct. The JCW Suspension Kit was a port or dealer installed option package. Therefore it is Solo2 stock class legal for a 07+ MC or MCS, but you must update your car with the ENTIRE JCW Suspension Kit to be stock legal. The exceptions are shocks, swaybar endlinks, and ONE of the sway bars, which each are free allowances in stock.

Assuming you will use an aftermarket rear swaybar, you need to buy from MINI:
JCW springs (these are specific to your VIN so must be ordered from MINI dealer)
JCW front bump stops (rears are the same as standard and Sport)
JCW front sway bar
JCW front sway bar bushings
JCW lower spring pads for both front and rear
JCW upper spring pads for both front and rear

I think that's it...

 

FYI the spring rubbers, and bump stops are the same stock or JCW so you don't have to repurchase them. And the JCW front bar is 24mm, so if he already has a 24mm front bar he doesn't need that either to be legal.

 

That is not correct, at least for my 2007 MCS, it was not. The dealer parts manager and I went through every single part in the JCW Suspension Kit and compared part numbers with the factory parts on my 2007 MCS with Sport+ suspension.

What we found is:

1) All of the rubber spring pads were a different part number for the JCW Suspension Kit. I saw this in the dealer's computer that the JCW Suspension kit included the rubber spring pads with a different part number. But if I look at this MINI install guide from 2007, they are not in the kit in that version... http://motoringfile.com/files/JCW_suspension_R56.PDF
So it's certainly possible that the kit at one time did not include the pads, but now it does. If that is true, you could be legal either way. I bought the pads to be safe. They were only like $30 total IIRC.

2) The rear bump stops are the same part #. But the fronts are a different part for JCW Suspension Kit. In stock class the bump stops are free, BUT they cannot be longer than stock. The stock bumpstops are 5mm longer than the JCW Suspension Kit ones, which makes them illegal in solo2 stock class. So you can either trim the stock ones 5mm or buy the JCW ones.

3) The JCW Suspension Kit front sway bar is 24.5mm, and the front swaybar bushings are a different part#. It's really a pain to go to all the trouble to replace a Mini front bar for a seemingly pointless 0.5mm, but that's what you need to do to be 100% stock legal.

You may be confusing factory JCW suspension parts with the parts that are included with the "JCW Suspension Kit." I am referring to converting an R56 to the "JCW Suspension Kit" option in the context of Solo2 stock class legality.

 

Just one comment to the above - as an upgrade the way to go is the full JCW suspension. However, of you are ordering a car, the sports suspension at $500 installed gets you a 24 mm front sway bar and heavier springs than the stock suspension. Cost wise it is a better deal and almost the same parts as the JCW. From there add the rear sway bar and the Koni yellows. Really the biggest thing you will miss is the slight lowering from the JCW springs. The question then becomes - are you close enough to winning that the difference is worth it.

 

Well, this is a little annoying, looks like if I want to run the Sport springs it's "all or nothing". Good thread though, I appreciate the info

Mine is an '09 factory JCW (why does it not ALREADY have all things "JCW??") I checked my rear bar and it is 18mm. The front is not so easy to check...with the wheel turned I can get to the portion of the bar nearest the end links but it has all the bends at this part. Depending on where I measured, I got 23.8mm all the way to 26.5mm. I would like to check it at the straight portion but I might need to get the car on jackstands to do that.

From a cost standpoint this doesn't look like it will be too bad to add the necassary parts. I have not done anything with the springs or shocks yet so I will be able to do everything at the same time, sounds like the biggest issue is the front bar. I have never removed one from a Mini but sounds like it is fairly involved?

I was talking with Way Motorworks a little bit about buying the Koni's and the red springs, it would be nice if I could buy everything thru them.

 

18 mm and 24 mm are the Sports suspension rear and front sway bar measurements. So it sound like you already have the Sports Suspension and a good base for starting with. If you want stay in the stock class you should get the Koni Yellows (no after market springs) and the big rear sway bar. That is all you can do.

Changing the front sway bar is a royal PIA. You have to drop the front subframe.

 

The main reason I am looking into this is I wanted to run those JCW sport springs. I figured I may as well since they are a factory option but now I see it is not so simple. I still think I want to get the sport springs and I am willing to add the correct parts to make it all 100% legal. I am planning on Koni Yellows no matter what.

That front bar sounds fun

Fully drop the subframe? Not just loosen/lower it?

Thanks!

 

I am not sure what "sports springs" that you are referring to. I believe, if your sway bar measurements are accurate, that you already have the sports springs as I think you have the sports suspension. I am not sure how to verify this, but you might want to check what you have and not buy the same springs twice. Or am I missing something here about the way your car is right now

As for the front sway bar, you will need fully unbolt it, including the lower suspension arm at the back bushing. There is also something about disconnecting the steering rack. Then, I believe from there you just lower it. There is much more to it than that but that is the basic stuff. You should do a search for a DIY instruction if you want to do this.