Hi All:

I just bought my first Mini and have some suspension questions. Since my car was purchased used, at a non-Mini dealer, They could not help me. How do I know if the car has the upgraded or "Sport" suspension? Is it designated in the VIN? My car is a non-S model, have the chrome package, 16" 5 star wheels, climate control, 5 spd, and is liquid yellow (not my first choice, but price/condition/mileage was very good).

I love the way the car handles, and is stiff. But I read that a lot of people have upgraded their rear sway bar. What size is best for agressive driving and autocross? I have some engine questions that I will post in the non-S section, so look their if you want to give me some pointers their too.

Thanks for you help in advance!!!

Denis

 

I'm happy with my H-Sport Comp. rear sway bar at middle setting.

 

Measure the rear swaybar diameter. If it is 16mm then it is a stock MC bar, if 17mm it is a stock sport suspension plus bar= MCS stock bar.

The MC can come with a sports suspension plus option that includes the stiffer rear sway bar from the factory.

See
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=47173

I'd say that more MCS drivers upgrade their rear swaybar than MC drivers.
How stiff to make the bar (diameter size) varies with how you drive and what you want to do. For the MC it's common to choose a rear bar up to 19mm.

If you autocross and change the rear sway bar to something stiffer you will put yourself out of stock class.

Many of the aftermarket rear sway bars come with three holes to adjust stiffness. The softest or middle settings are a good place to start for most owners (street use or autocross).

 

I've got a Cooper, and am using the RDR rear swaybar with is a whopping 22.5mm. I have yet to try it on anything but the softest setting. It's almost safe at that setting for someone who doesn't know what they're doing - which included me at the time I bought it. According to the manufacturer "The outboard mounting hole (closest to the bar end) is approximately 35% stiffer than the stock "S" rear bar."

Some day, I'll try it on the middle setting at an autocross just to see how bad the lift throttle oversteer gets.

I'd say "don't get anything bigger than 22.5mm", but I don't think there is such a thing.

 

If you're just getting in to autocross, it's probably best to leave the car in the stock class. The less ***** you have to turn on your car setup, the more you have to focus on driving better. Just for example, a lot of newbies that run in ST or SM classes end up setting their cars up way too loose (tail happy). They overdrive like mad into the corners and think the car has a horrible understeer problem, so they start doing all this setup to compensate for a problem that is actually caused by their driving, rather than something that's really in the car. So unless the mod bug has really gotten you, leaving it stock to begin with can pay off in a quicker learning curve.

However, if you do you have the SS and not the SS+, what you can do is upgrade to the SS+ rear swaybar and springs. Leave the front swaybar as-is, since it is free in stock and extremely hard to change. However, you technically cannot change to just the SS+ rear swaybar in stock and not also do the springs.

You can do this on a Mini Cooper since the two suspensions were offered as stand alone options, not necessarily bundled with anything else.

Having said all that in the beginning, the mini really does have an undesteer issue, but it's not really because the rear swaybar is too small, it's mostly because there is no camber in the front suspension.

 

I would completely agree.


Having said all that in the beginning, the mini really does have an undesteer issue, but it's not really because the rear swaybar is too small, it's mostly because there is no camber in the front suspension.

 

yeh, or they're using crappy tires at wrong psi.

 

True. I've done at least one autocross, and one track day on the OEM 175/65/15 Conti's!!! That isn't "the right" tire at ANY PSI

 

I found my stock Mini extremely entertaining at LRP. With a little effort, I had no problems rotating the car. More camber up front would have helped for sure; the driver's side Michelin is just a tad chewed up on the shoulder.

I would not consider the above a blanket statement praising the stock Mini as an AutoXer, however.

Onasled wrote once before that driving a car set up for the track becomes quite engaging on public roads, mimicking my experiences. The Stock Mini could use a little more Re-bound, and a degree more negative camber up front. These two modifications would, in my opinion, make the Mini just about perfect for the street and occasional road course day.

EDIT = Re-