When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
All well and good, but remember that engineers working for Mini's liability Insurance carrier are standing over the Mini suspension team, directing them as to what they can and cannot do......
Also, Mini Sales staff tell the suspension team that they must design to meet the expectations of the average consumer.....
To a some extent, true, especially with the base Cooper and S models. However, BMW has a long history of ignoring the wishes of the liability insurance carriers and the wishes of the Camery driving public with the many “M” models they have produced. The early M3 and the more recent M2 models are prime examples of this. For the Gen 2 MINIs there were 5 different suspensions (which can be applied equally to the Gen 1s), each being more track oriented from the Base Cooper up to the GP2 model, each being less prone to chronic understeer and each being less friendly to the liability insurers. I can also attest to the track worthiness of the base JCW suspension, with the exception of the lack of appropriate negative camber. But, the lack of camber does nothing to diminish the capability of the rest of the suspension design, which would make it an excellent starting point for a track day suspension. Here is where the BMW/MINI engineers and their $$$$ of effort have taken the guess work out of coming up with a good suspension design. My experience: the conventional wisdom for setting up a MINI suspension was far less good than the MINI JCW setup…
Update if you are following along.
I have purchased a 19mm rear sway bar from WMW. Going to pull out the 22mm rear and start with the 19mm when I install the coil overs.
I also stumbled upon the topic of roll center. Wow what a rabbit hole. I found the Roll Center spacers but there are mixed reviews on if the do more harm to the suspension geometry than good.
Based on the fact that plan is to lower the car 1-1.5 inches I don't think I need these. And based on this article I may not want them anyway. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t-spacers.html
1qwkmini has some interesting things to say about them.
Lastly
I did some more math and based on sway bars alone, my current ratio (22mm stock front bar to 22mm middle setting on the rear) is basically 1 to 1.
Eddie... if I did the math on your sway bars (27mm front to 25 hallow, similar to 22 solid? that ratio would be about 2.27 to 1.
JCW sport set up with red springs (23.5 front to 18mm rear) would be 2.9 to 1.
Am I any closer to a definitive solution?...No. But adding a stiffer front bar is another options added to the list. *I don't really want to drop the front sub frame again to change the front sway bar. hmmmmm
Some where I have a spreadsheet with the math I did concerning the setup I have in my R56. Not sure where. My recollection is that on the softest setting of the hollow 25mm rear bar with the 27mm front bar, I was about at the ratio of the base JCW suspension (maybe slightly less). The middle setting was about at the JCW sport suspension. The stiffest was about what you calculated. That spread sheet is on an old computer, that I haven’t started in years. So, I am not sure of my exact calculations.
What I did to get the wall thickness of the hollow bar was to take the manufacture’s % numbers for amount stiffer than stock and adjust the ID radius to come up with the same number. I had to guess what was “stock” for the rear sway bar as that wasn’t given by the manufacturer. I assumed they were comparing it to the “S” as that seemed to work out to the most reasonable numbers. This allowed me to simplify my calculations to just compare OD radii of the different bars that were an option.
What I do recall is that the numbers worked out to be in the ballpark of the base JCW and the JCW sports suspension for swaybar ratios with the different stiffness settings. This is something that I was looking for before I spent the money to make the changes. With all of this, my objective was to have a reasonable amount of stability along the lines of what the MINI gave the JCW. I didn’t want another incident of the car wanting to swap ends at 90 mph. Also, recognize that I am not racing. I am driving against myself and data will show improvements. So, absolute lap times while interesting, don’t get me any prizes.
One advantage that you have, over what I have is that you have adjustable shocks, I don’t. You can use those to stiffen or soften either end of the car. So with that, I wouldn’t over think the math of the of the problem. You will be in the ball park with the 19mm bar in the rear and the stiffer springs in the front vs rear. Then I would set the shocks full soft in the rear and near to full hard in the front for your first track visit. Then slowly make adjustments. I would start by softening the front by increments until you get to about the halfway point to full soft. Then stiffen the rear shocks by increments until you get to about about the halfway point to full hard. Stop at any point before the halfway point on either end if you feel reasonably comfortable with the car. Further adjustments can be made from there as you learn. You may find at this point that you will want to just stiffen both ends of the car. This method should keep you out of trouble. Remember, as you are starting out, you won’t have a good feel for what makes the car transition from understeer to oversteer. This will mostly come from learning to trail brake deep into corners. So at the beginning, I would not be too worried about trying to dial out the understeer.
Here is the issue you can get into with the rear being too stiff on a MINI Cooper driven really well on the track. Go to time stamp 12:33 in this video and listen to what the driver has to say:
As for roll centers and lowering a MINI, here is a link to 3 videos on the subject. They are short and worth the watch. The bottom line is that when lowering a MINI the roll center drops more than the CG. The result is that the lever arm between the CG and roll center actually increases the more the car is lowered. This can result in the car body roll actually increasing as the car is lowered, whereas intuition would say body roll should decrease.
I have read this and re-read this. Here is my plan and some more questions.
Get the car level in the garage and measure everything as the car sits now. Ride heights all around.
I have my current camber and toe measurements.
Remove the 22mm rear sway bar and install the 19mm.
Install Fortune coilovers at just a a slightly lower (1/2 to 1 inch) ride height based on this video from Eddie.
Questions:
Looks like the stock weight distribution of the r53 is roughly 62% Front 38% rear.
My mini has some rake as it sits now.
Would lowering the rear of the car a few mm more than the front shift some weight to the rear making the front to rear weight ratio better? This would also bring the front/rear axis center towards the rear making slightly less understeer? Very little I would think but I basically want to know if taking the rake out of the car is a bad thing for suspension geometry?
I have read this and re-read this. Here is my plan and some more questions.
…..
Questions:
Looks like the stock weight distribution of the r53 is roughly 62% Front 38% rear.
My mini has some rake as it sits now.
Would lowering the rear of the car a few mm more than the front shift some weight to the rear making the front to rear weight ratio better? This would also bring the front/rear axis center towards the rear making slightly less understeer? Very little I would think but I basically want to know if taking the rake out of the car is a bad thing for suspension geometry?
I think you will find that there is little measurable weight difference with respect to the rake of the car.
However, there is a handling difference. Simply put, with forward rake the car will tend to reduce understeer; a rake towards the rear will promote (increase) understeer. I can honestly say that I have never played with this and don’t know how subtle it is. A big guess - is that it is pretty subtle and that it is used more for fine tuning the car’s balance.
With your car, with the 19mm RSB, I would go with a slight forward rake and then use the shock adjustment to dial in what you want. Maybe 1/2”? That would put the front about an inch lower than stock and the rear about 1/2” lower.
Just stumbled into this thread. Wow! Thanks so much for documenting it so well. This reminds me of my extremely detailed Fiesta ST build that was 7 years long over on another forum. I did all the mods, and then some. I no longer have that car but I pretty much did everything you can do to it and got hundreds of thousands of YT views as a result. Long story short, along the Fiesta journey I acquired an abused R53, which I repaired and quickly sold, but wanted another as in many ways I preferred it to ST. Sold the ST about 2 years ago. Finally found a nice R53 a few months ago that's set up very similar to yours. The car was purchased/lived in Atlanta and Way did a good bit of the work for the previous owner. I've added a few things since my ownership and the car is now about done.
A few comments/questions for you:
1. Did you ever get the car dyno'd? If so, what are the #s and when is peak HP? I too have an Adrian tune, as of last week.
2. I read much of this thread but may have missed this - do you have a throttle pedal controller? I ask because I added the ROAR product and it helped the feel of the pedal immensely.
3. What post # details your headlight/taillight lens tint? I couldn't find it.
4. A comment - I read your thoughts on the 2-peice wheels over the years, how you painted then replaced then put them back on minus the plasti-dip. I say this because I have the same wheels and have thought of plasti-dipping them, but they are slowly growing on me.
1. Did you ever get the car dyno'd? If so, what are the #s and when is peak HP? I too have an Adrian tune, as of last week.
2. I read much of this thread but may have missed this - do you have a throttle pedal controller? I ask because I added the ROAR product and it helped the feel of the pedal immensely.
3. What post # details your headlight/taillight lens tint? I couldn't find it.
4. A comment - I read your thoughts on the 2-peice wheels over the years, how you painted then replaced then put them back on minus the plasti-dip. I say this because I have the same wheels and have thought of plasti-dipping them, but they are slowly growing on me.
Thanks again, I look forward to hearing from you.
Glad you enjoyed the journey. I have learned an amazing amount of knowledge from this forum and I just hope I can pass a little of it along... And keep track of what I've done over the years.
To answer your questions:
1> I have not had the mini dyno'd. The tune I received from Adrian was JCW level and so I would assume I'm in that range for torque and HP. I'm good with that. EDIT: I went back and looked at my notes with Adrian... he said the tune he gave me is about 220-225HP. For the next step up, I will need an AFR gauge.
2> I don't have a throttle controller. I think the tune Adrian gave me had some slight change to the throttle response. I will go back and look.
4> I really like the look of the OEM 98 wheels... but they are heavy! I went through a phase where I wanted everything black and plastic-dip was a non destructive way to get my look. I peeled them a while ago, so I'm back the original look and love it.
I do have two sets of wheels and tires.
My street setup are OEM 98 wheels with Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate tires.
My track set up are Konig Hurry wheels with Fallen Azenis RT615K (I will be replacing these tires this spring)
The Mini 98 wheels are 22+ lbs. The Konig wheels are 15 lbs each.... so a very big difference.
Both sets of tires are 215/45 r17.
Ordered these on Black Friday, yes November, and they just arrived. Evidently Fortune Auto gets a lot of orders on Black Friday!
You are probably saying why the blue springs??... turns out the 6K springs for the front are only available in blue. Rear I was able to get black.
So I'm thinking of starting a Fortune Auto Thread in the Suspension folder??
There doesn't seem to be much info out there for the r53 and for the price point and value... Fortune Auto seems like a viable option for the r53 that is slooooooowly becoming more of a track car.
Front 500 Coil overs with Adjustable Camber plates and 6K Swift springs.
Rear 500 Coil overs with 6K Swift Springs
Front adjustable end-links come with the package.
Rear Adjustment Extenders
Black Friday Discount... just a hair over $2K
At $2k these shocks have some pretty stiff competition from Bilstein and Ohlins, and for a little more AST. Hope they do well. Will be interested in your assessment.
After about 4 adjustments this is roughly the ride height I ended up at.
3/4 of inch down in the front and 1 inch down in the rear. *plywood is to level the floor of my garage.
That reminds me... I've been using my motocross / snowmobile helmet for the few HPDE days I do. I think it might be time to upgrade.
I want full face (I am so used to full-face helmets I feel vulnerable with the open face these days)
Needs to be SA2020
Don't want it too heavy but not paying ridiculous $$ for an ounce or two of weight savings.
Found this one on sale. Looks good to me.
Any thoughts out there from the track guys? Anything I need to think about for the future?
Can't do white...might be a little hotter but we are in the PNW and white is just not me.
I have the Schroth quick fit already... it was one of my first purchases after doing a couple track days and sliding around in the seat... Agree, plants your torso in the seat.
Right now I have a neck/helmet pad around my neck.... less bobble head action. Not quite ready for the HANS device just yet.
Thanks for the recommendations.
My helmet is black as that was all I could get at the time….
Just a suggestion on the white.
If you want a HANS device, there is at least one made that straps around the chest and doesn’t need a harness to hold it in place. That would be a good option if you just have the basic quick fit. You will need the helmet clips, though. They can be purchased separately and installed as DIY if they don’t come with the helmet.
Over the winter I noticed my left headlight was aimed way too high (not just a couple inches).... so I found this thread on how to adjust. But then I was looking at it and the whole bracket that holds both headlights moved when I tilted up the hood. Hmmmm.
Skip the boring details and here is the solution:
Turn on your headlights and both headlights should activate the leveling motors and point down first then come up to their driving position. If one or both don't you have a leveling motor or electric problem. My left headlight only moved a little bit when the motor activated.
If they both go through the full motion together then adjust as needed.
If one headlight only goes through part of the motion (down then up) you may have the same problem as I did.
There is a ball joint that connects the headlight leveling motor to the headlight bracket (holds both projector and high beams) The whole bracket moves freely on the axis point. The ball joint is way down in there ~ see picture and took me forever to find.
Headlight leveling motor attachment
The good new is, the ball can be "popped" back into the arm on the motor. I used a hook on the high beam end and pulled the bracket back until the ball pops back in.
And guess what? Both headlights were roughly the same. Both motors tilt the headlights down then come up to level. No adjustment on the screws needed.
Lastly. My hood is a little tricky to close and I have to give some pressure when closing on the right side to get it to latch. Well, this is how the ball joint pops out. After closing the hood, the left headlight was aimed up again and I had to do it all over again. The good news is I didn't have to take the whole headlight out... I just opened up the 2 caps and popped it back in again.
Hope this makes sense. Took me a while to figure this one out.
Made a handy contraption to set my camber up. I think the bar is from a garage door kit. 1/4 bolts with some wood insert nuts.... I can adjust them in and out, then lock them with the nut.
Klien digital angle finder has a magnet on the bottom so snaps right to the steel bar. Works great.
Awesome track day this last weekend at ORP. First the pictures of rad cars then I'll get into specifics on the new coilovers.
Early morning, rise and shine. We took a walk around the paddock and I realized just how far over my head I was. This was an open track day... no run groups. Great for testing, making changes and getting back out there but whoaaaaa.... I was going to have my arm out the window a lot today.
Super rad BWM 2002 from Munich Motorworks. At the end of the day when everyone was wrapping up... I saw him sneak out and rip a few laps in this. So cool.
In the afternoon sessions, I was letting 3-4 high HP cars by and getting back up to speed when I noticed the Lambo in my rear view mirror. Much respect to this guy for bringing it out to the track. He wasn't a track driver, just wanted to get his car out on the track to see what it could do. So I didn't point him by right away, just so I could say "I was faster than a Lambo" which I was in the turns.... He would catch me in the straights. The growl when he did pass me was pretty rowdy.
Lamborghini had a buddy. McLaren.
This guy was fast.... He was not there just to floor it a few times.... He was legitimately driving this Manthey Porsche.
There was actually quite a few Porsches that were flying.... I gave a lot of point bye bye.
Now on to my track day.
My plan was to start soft and make changes slowly and take notes.
Fortune 500 coilovers with 6K Swift F & R
19mm rear sway bar on softest setting
10 clicks F and R of rebound (Out of 24 max)
Everything else on the car was the same.
Over all the Mini felt good. But not great. ****My track tires are too old and the rubber is getting hard and stiff. In retrospect, I'm going to say that the tire variable is significant to the whole equation.There are two very tight turns that go up hill at this track. 2nd gear full throttle out. Both I was getting wheel spin especially the inside tire (I have LSD) This is the first time this has happened at this track and so at lunch I attempted to make changes to 1) see if I could get rid of this 2) see if I could feel the changes in the car better or worse.
I checked my research and found this...
Increase in the rear rebound:
Slows rear rotation, can make use of trail braking or lift throttle to rotate car easier to manage and catch
Adds rear stability in high-speed turns.
Can add traction at the corner exit, the car hunkers down on throttle.
Reduces braking dive and rear wheel lock-up.
Adds stability on transitions
The back of the car follows the front better
To me....this all sounded like what I was after.
Over the course of 2-3 sessions I ended up at 12 clicks or rebound in the front and 18 clicks of rebound in the rear with the 19mm sway bar full stiff. Unfortunately at lunch the switch the direction of the track to CW so I didn't get a chance to compare apples to apples on the same turns.
BUT I thought the car felt way better. The best it's felt and I improved my lap time for CW direction by 3 seconds ~ and I wasn't even pushing it.
As far as understeer and oversteer... I think the afternoon was closer to neutral. Only had one time where I felt the back end step out and I think it was more to do with cold aged tires.
Soooooo my question is:
Did I tune this correctly for a FWD car / Mini or did I just get lucky and feel more comfortable driving CW in the afternoon with a few laps under my belt? Or a little bit of both?
I need new tires for sure but what else should I be changing as far as F to R rebound adjustments and sway bar adj.
I still have my 22mm sway bar... I don't think I'm going to put it on for the next track day but it is an option.
I've also been reading this post. Mr Blah has some good info here on FWD
First - Congrats on a successful and fun track day! Glad the day worked out for you.
I like your walk-about and photos. Those are always fun and something I like to do.
Second - At this point, don’t over think what you have achieved. The idea is to get to a point in the car setup that makes you comfortable on the track. It sounds like you are really close to that point. Also note that as you improve, your setup will change. Just keep track of changes and what they do for the car’s handling. I would also suggest making only one change at a time so you know the exactly what the change was and how the car reacted. Otherwise you could make a change that improves the car’s handling and one that makes the handling worse with a net result of no change and you lost the change that could have made your car better.
Third - You are now at the point of needing to get an instructor in the car and more seat time to practice what you learn. Don’t make further changes to the car. Learn to drive it fast the way it is. Your times will improve with seat time and instruction. Take data, not just lap times. This will help you how changes to each corner either improved or hurt your times. Not too long ago I pulled 4 tenths out of one corner alone on a track I know really well by just getting instruction and help with that turn. This included input with data.
As for your references, I looked at the first one on setting up a FWD car. The statement that you can’t make a FWD oversteer with the brake and throttle is false. That is exactly how you create oversteer in a FWD car (we can discuss that more if you want). Depending on the car’s setup a lift of the throttle in a MINI can cause an abrupt oversteer reaction. I’ve been there, done that, with less than ideal results. So I would suggest that isn’t the best reference.
If you go back to fundamentals, which apply to any car:
Stiffen the rear suspension and/or soften the front suspension of a car to lessen understeer, and move towards oversteer.
Soften the rear suspension and/or stiffen the front suspension of a car to lessen oversteer and move towards understeer.
That said, I am confused by your post:
Increase in the rear rebound:
Slows rear rotation, can make use of trail braking or lift throttle to rotate car easier to manage and catch
Adds rear stability in high-speed turns.
Can add traction at the corner exit, the car hunkers down on throttle.
Reduces braking dive and rear wheel lock-up.
Adds stability on transitions
The back of the car follows the front better
The items 1 thru 6 are what I would associate with a touch of understeer, which would be associated with softening the rear.
So, what is “increase in the rear rebound”? It sounds like you made the rear stiffer by going to 18 clicks, and you did make it stiffer by going full stiff on the RSB. But that should induce the opposite result from items 1 - 6.
That aside for now, you have achieved a car that suits you. Leave it that way for now and, as I said, learn technique; get instruction.
As for the “words” above, we can discuss those separately, if you want. We can get into steering the car with your feet and how to induce understeer vs oversteer, etc.
If you go back to fundamentals, which apply to any car:
Stiffen the rear suspension and/or soften the front suspension of a car to lessen understeer, and move towards oversteer.
Soften the rear suspension and/or stiffen the front suspension of a car to lessen oversteer and move towards understeer.
That said, I am confused by your post:
Increase in the rear rebound:
Slows rear rotation, can make use of trail braking or lift throttle to rotate car easier to manage and catch
Adds rear stability in high-speed turns.
Can add traction at the corner exit, the car hunkers down on throttle.
Reduces braking dive and rear wheel lock-up.
Adds stability on transitions
The back of the car follows the front better
The items 1 thru 6 are what I would associate with a touch of understeer, which would be associated with softening the rear.
So, what is “increase in the rear rebound”? It sounds like you made the rear stiffer by going to 18 clicks, and you did make it stiffer by going full stiff on the RSB. But that should induce the opposite result from items 1 - 6.
That aside for now, you have achieved a car that suits you. Leave it that way for now and, as I said, learn technique; get instruction.
As for the “words” above, we can discuss those separately, if you want. We can get into steering the car with your feet and how to induce understeer vs oversteer, etc.
I thought you might get a kick out of this very long thread: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...n-project.html
I am not sure, but he may have been going to the same track you were at.
I think our disconnect is in the difference between compression damping and rebound damping. Maybe someone else with more knowledge can set us both straight.
The entry level coilovers from BC, KW, Fortune, ST etc...... the adj dial controls rebound with very very little affect on compression.
Excerpt from the second article above. Finally, we are getting on the subject of damping adjustment, many people don’t realize that adjusting the damping isn’t making the suspension itself softer or harder. This is not how damping works. Damping is something that delays weight transfer and or slows down the suspension’s movement, this can be perceived as stiffness or softness but it doesn’t actually change the spring rate of the suspension or the suspension’s steady state characteristics. Most decent single adjustable shocks have the adjustment affect the rebound damping.
This is the concept that I'm tackling now. Rebound damping. In addition this article says the adj **** on these coilovers primarily control the low speed rebound damping. Which in the picture above from Fortune shows that it affects all the way out to high speed. Still researching this.
This is where these 6 rear rebound adj come from in the article.
In thinking about the adj for low speed rebound, I feel like I need to look at places on the track that the F & R suspension is unloading (rebound) and controlling the rate at which it unloads, or pushes back. For example, more rear damping on hard braking would slow the rear of the car from lifting which the Mini does with the light rear end and thus reduce brake dive. But eventually the spring (I'm assuming this would include sway bar in L to R applications) pushes through damping and the rear of the car comes up.... but controlling that rate is where my mind is at.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this and the whole article from above......I'm sure it's going to take some time.
And Eddie... thanks for posting about the Falken Tires on your thread! I have finally worn out my RT615+ tires and I ended up buying some RT660s that are on their astway.
Yes... I know pnwR53S and his 106 pages of Desire very well... I meet him a few times when he was still active with his Mini. I have not seen or heard from him for a few years now as I know he has moved on to other track cars. Thanks for reminding me of his journal/thread.... it's amazing amount of information. In fact when you reminded me I went back in and found where he went from Koni's to BC coilovers.... and I'm reading through his thoughts and tests.
As for your references, I looked at the first one on setting up a FWD car. The statement that you can’t make a FWD oversteer with the brake and throttle is false. That is exactly how you create oversteer in a FWD car (we can discuss that more if you want). Depending on the car’s setup a lift of the throttle in a MINI can cause an abrupt oversteer reaction. I’ve been there, done that, with less than ideal results. So I would suggest that isn’t the best reference..
I've been thinking about this...
The reason the Mini would have an abrupt oversteer reaction on a lift throttle would be the rear springs/sway bar force ~ unloading the rear end causing it becoming light.
Now if you had more rear damping on those rear springs that control and slow the force, you can mitigate the abrupt unload? Thus making #1 on the list accurate?
Slows rear rotation, can make use of trail braking or lift throttle to rotate car easier to manage and catch
I've been thinking about this...
The reason the Mini would have an abrupt oversteer reaction on a lift throttle would be the rear springs/sway bar force ~ unloading the rear end causing it becoming light.
Now if you had more rear damping on those rear springs that control and slow the force, you can mitigate the abrupt unload? Thus making #1 on the list accurate?
Slows rear rotation, can make use of trail braking or lift throttle to rotate car easier to manage and catch
Am I on the right track?
Actually only half right; the first sentence.
In your quote from Fortune about shock: this can be perceived as stiffness or softness but it doesn’t actually change the spring rate of the suspension or the suspension’s steady state characteristics.
The “perceived” is what the car is reacting to in a dynamic situation. There is a physical stiffening of the suspension when the rebound is stiffened. That is, the spring has compressed and the shock is now preventing the spring from releasing at a particular instant. Therefore any further compression has to overcome any current compression. For example, if the spring has compressed an inch, it has a 600# load in it. If it is asked to compress another inch it would take another 600#. So, in effect at the first inch the spring rate is 1200#/in. That is what the car sees at that instant in time. This is why the “perceived” stiffness is stiffer or softer with changes to the rebound, and this is why, in a fashion, dampening can be used to control the roll stiffness of one or other end of the car.
This is also why “stiffening” the rear shocks will not help with preventing the inside rear wheel from being lifted.
In a dynamic situation, think of “changes” to the car in relation to what it would take statically to achieve the same result. In a right turn the front left of the car will dive. It happens as if weight has been added to that corner. However, there is a finite amount of total weight to be had and it can neither increase or decrease. So that weight has to come from somewhere. It comes from the rear, diagonally across the car. That is, the inside rear wheel and unsprung part of the suspension. As that wheel loses “weight”, the available traction from that tire also decreases.
The more quickly that happens, the more quickly the rear of the car looses traction. A stiffer rear sway bar, the quicker the roll of the car will lift that tire. Same with increased rear rebound dampening. The spring is prevented from pushing that wheel down and keeping it on the pavement. Hence a tendency towards oversteer.
That inside rear wheel can be prevent from lifting by increasing the roll stiffness of the front of the car, either by a larger/stiffer front sway bar and/or stiffer front springs. And/or softening the rear shocks. The net effect is to reduce traction in the front of the car and increase it in the rear. Hence a tendency towards understeer. Adjusting the front shock will have little affect on the rear of the car as it does little to reduce compression.
This is also why it is important to balance the roll stiffness of front to the rear of the car with the sway bars* first, and then fine tune the balance of the car with the shocks. That is, there is only so much “stiffness” that can be removed from the rear of the car using the shocks adjustment to balance an overly larger RSB to a “small” front sway bar. Which is also why I advocate use of the smaller bar in the rear to balance the front stock bar.
*I will add that some people like to control the roll stiffness of the front of the car with stiff springs in the front vs a large sway bar. A sway bar reduces the side to side independence of the suspension and the stiffer springs tend to better retain that independence and they prefer the indecency of the front.
Hope this makes sense.
And I think this contradicts item #1. But not sure. It all depends on how Fortune defines the terms they are using. Feel free to let me know what you think. But this is what I have learned from setting up my R56 MINI and helping others with theirs.
Popped into my head this last time I did my own alignment.
