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Thanks for the tip, I've found a pair at the local wreckers (straight) for $75. I reckon I will weld them in rather than use rivnuts...can't imagine they'd ever have to come back out. I'll be curious to see if it firms up my 17 year old chassis.
Im also thinking I can fabricate a simple rear strut tower bar to go behind the rear seats. You can buy them for a couple hundred dollars but they are really simple and I'm fully set up for metal work and welding. Just need to figure out how they attach to the chassis though the plastic.
Has ANYONE...actually "measured" the chassis flex in a Mini ? Street or road course... I'll bet most of this is wives tales and myths, and it's a LOT less flex than most think it is.
MAYBE...with heavy "race" springs and both front and rear "heavy" anti-sway bars with slicks and 250+ horse power...on the track.
But general aftermarket springs, slightly larger rear anti-sway bar and even the stickiest street tires...save your money for track day practice..! You'll get farther and have more fun doing it.
Here is your rare chance to grab that rarified JCW strut bar that you opined that is few that were properly designed without bent. It is long NLA and as beautiful as a samurai sword. And likely none of the craftsmen done any quantitive study how stiff or sharp they are. But these swords' metric of performance was measured how many heads it can cut in one swift swoop.
samurai swords are displayed with the cut side up
hosrseman's sword is displayed with the cut side down and it is a little longer than samurai's for the obvious reasons
Last edited by pnwR53S; May 28, 2019 at 10:18 AM.
Reason: lost some text editing while adding photos so retyped
To OP, most strut brace accommodate after market CAIs including the M7 or WMW's. For less than scientifically measured performance improvement here is my post on the "perceived improvements". No old wife here just someone who is quite in tune of his Mini's smallest change.
I have since driven countless track events and gained more experience. There is no longer front end shakes from hard braking from 110 MPH down to 45 in shortest time possible with these two installations. A M7 strut tower brace and the R52 convertible front braces. I have reason to believe most improvement is due to the strut tower brace and it should be easy to reason.
Do I cut channels in the sidewall to clear a strut bar? The CAI is compressed against the insulation.
Most strut bars has provision to accommodate CAI like yours. Yours is very typical. M7 has notches cut for the air box and the ECU. It hugs the hood very tightly. You might need to notch the sheet metal, or may be just the refrigerator gasket.
I've picked up the cabrio engine bay braces, I'll install them this weekend with some rivnuts. I've also ordered the following bits to really help me prepare the car for the track:
I've picked up the cabrio engine bay braces, I'll install them this weekend with some rivnuts. I've also ordered the following bits to really help me prepare the car for the track:
Kool! It would be nice if you can install them in stages and note any improvement with each, especially the large braces.
Good job! I lucked out as I have R53.2 which already have the inserts. Can you please do a test drive and report back if you sense any improvement? I suggest finding a bad piece of road like badly exposed aggregates. I would not expect you can feel the difference in corner handling with these.
I have a relative that worked for Ford in the engineering department. He was part of the Focus team. I asked him years ago when the R52 came out about those braces. After looking at my MINI and doing some independent research he determined that the MINI chassis is so strong that they were only designed to take care of some issue with NVH in the cab of the R52. With the short overhang front and rear the MINI has, he was convinced that there would be little to no advantage to adding front or rear strut braces. Much later he looked at the front subframe brace, like the TSW one, and gave his approval for it as it could actually add a bit of stiffness to an already suspension modified car.
This convinced me as he has a lot more experience than most in regards to vehicle design.
I took these photos last night after looking more closely at the two strut tower. While the Mini is pretty stiff you can see the strut towers are not well connected at the front to the lower box beam that continues forward to the bumper. Note the white painted structures formed by sheet metal. When you pay attention to the structures and the features, you can then see the added benefit of the cabrio brace forming a diagonal reinforcement for the front of the tower and connecting it to the lower box beam.
the white versus black of the photo makes it very easy to visualize the structural design of the strut towers; the black is just the plastic liner so essentially thin air
the gaping void in front of the strut tower can sue the diagonal support of the cabrio brace
this photo by Island Moose also show clearly the weakness at the front of the tower and how the brace can indeed help rather than just another "upgrade" placebo
The new cabrio braces are becoming harder and harder to find as the inventory dries up.
I'd like to suggest a possible explanation as to why theoretically the braces should NOT make a big difference, but in my case theyc ertainly have.
My car's chassis has been worked daily for 17 years. The inherent stiffness in these spot welded panels has decreased over that time has the metal has been flexed again and again. It has become more 'compliant'. The braces perhaps have returned my front chassis to the state of rigidity it had when it was first built?
Nevertheless, it cost me $100 which included the rivnut tool, and the braces were easily sourced from a wrecking yard. The handling improvement was substantial.
