Hey NAMers anyone installed an H-sport rear bar into their convertible yet? I had my folks' car torn down and there appears to be one extra subframe connection right in the middle on top of the exhaust shielding. I didn't have time to fiddle around w/ it at the time so I reinstalled everything back to stock. My ??? is, is that bracket bolted from the top (under the carpet) or the bottom (gotta move the exhaust.) Other than the extra bracket, the install is the same as on my car.
Ayuda me, por favor:smile:

Later

 

There is indeed one extra bolt towards the middle of the subframe. It is bolted from the bottom. You have to unbolt and move the heatshield (not the exhaust) out of the way to access it. You will need an extender for your socket wrench to reach it. Once this fifth bolt is loosened, the sub frame drops.

I contacted H Sport about updating their instructions (after they at first insisted that only 4 bolts are used - even on the convertible). They indicated they would (but not when).

You may also have to loosen the gas tank to give you more wiggle room around the large metal bracket that is secured by that fifth bolt. Without doing that it will be hard to remove the stock bar and insert the new one.

 

Thanks neilgj, I'll get 'er done this week

Later

 

Let me know if you hit any other snags. I did this myself a few months ago.

 

I just ordered a 22 MM for my wife's cabrio. Does anyone have pictures?

 

You have to grab ahold of that heat shield and not be afraid to yank it a bit. Then the bolt is around behind it- I had luck with a couple of extensions and a u-joint to get on that bolt straight.

You can see the bolt in one of these photos and notice the yanked heat shield in the other.

 

That's one of the big reasons I bought Randy's WMS Extreme Sway bar. I cut the stock bar at the bend pulled it out from the other side.

Then able to do the entire install without having to drop the subframe in my MCSC. I was too chicken to try all of that.

 

My bf put the H-sport in my car on Saturday. My driveway looked like a parts counter for MINI parts (hehe). He didn't losen the gas tank but did remove the heat sheild, drop the exhaust and then unbolted the suspension. Sway bar slide right out.

 

I installed my H-Sport bar today. I took a little different approach than some others have written about. Didn't require me to drop the exhaust, unbolt any of the reinforcing bars, or cut the heat shield. The key for me was unbolting and folding the heatshields to enable getting the rear one out of the way of the 5th bolt, removing both struts which was easy, and unbolting the rear end of the gas tank straps to give the bar more room to move. With those accomodations it was actually a pretty easy one-man job. My writeup is on my blog.

 

BlimeyCabrio, I see that you have the M7USS and 19mm H-sport rear sway. Are you having any issues with the M7 (rubbing)?

Now, I have the 19mm Hsport as well but I'm unsure/unconvinced how the M7 will add to the suspension. Did you notice a difference with the M7 alone? when you added the Hsport (or viceversa which ever was put on first)? Does the Hsport help your set up with the M7? Or is it just overkill? Since the cabrio already has a rear sway, was there a benefit by going with the heavier sway (19mm)? Or do you think the M7 and stock sway would be sufficient?

Sorry about all these questions, I'm just trying to gather as much info before I commit on the USS. An issue that I'm having is that my Hsport is creaking like crazy and I'm considering going back to stock and the USS. I've re-greased, re-tighten, re-inspected every thing half a dozen times and creaking comes back. And I know is the Hsport because I disconnected the end links and the creaking stopped.

So I'm looking for some solutions to my noise issues but at the same time keeping the suspension nice and tight.

Any help would be greatly appreciated....

 

So many questions.

The writeup with my thoughts / impressions on the USS is on my blog. I did the USS first, and was VERY impressed with the results. Makes the cabrio much more solid and sure-footed on twisty rough pavement, and really seemed to reduce understeer. The H-Sport sway definitely adds an additional dimension to this. In my opinion, the USS makes the front of the chassis as stiff as I would have liked it to have been stock - really doesn't do anything to the suspension, just stiffens up the chassis and lets the suspension work better. The H-Sport in contrast is actively improving upon the stock sway. I could immediately tell a difference in the curves with the H-Sport bar in the middle position. Way less understeer.

I've only driven a few miles with the H-Sport bar so it's a little early - no creaking so far, but it's new... I'm surprised you're having problems, given that the lubrication ability of the H-Sport is one of it's big selling features. I have several friends locally with this bar, with no problems.

The USS isn't rattling or hitting anything that I'm aware of. I'm running stock exhaust, which is definitely the "best case" situation with the USS - some with aftermarket exhausts have had issues, but most of these can be resolved with some adjustment.

 

I installed an H&R 19mm rear sway a year ago, then added the USS several months later. Both are worthwhile mods. For a cabrio, I feel that the USS is the more significant of the two.

My experience with the USS mirrors BlimeyCabrio's. The USS makes a significant improvement in the cabrio's handling. Before the USS, my car just seemed to respond to everything with a delayed reaction. With the USS, the handling became much more immediately responsive and precise. I have an MCC with the JCW Sound Kit, and no issue with the exhaust.

I chose H&R for the sway bar because their bushings use no grease and are supposed to be no squeak, maintenance-free for life. I wanted absolutely zero maintenance, not just easy lube access. My experience so far, and the reports from others is that the H&R lives up to their claim.

 

Well, after driving 50 miles of twisties today with my H-Sport bar, my vote is that both the USS and the bar make a big difference.

The USS might have been a LITTLE bigger difference, but the bar is huge also - when I first installed the USS I felt like it bought me 10mph in corners (no exaggeration). From today's experience I think the swaybar bought me another 10mph. It's THAT significant. I'm one happy camper with the two combined.

 

Question Blimey, I'm sure the handling is better, hard to believe 'much' better because they are so impressive already, but that being said, what did the mods do to the ride?

 

Hey Blimey, How much did the USS improve the ride of your cabrio? Less roof up rattle? Less cowl shake?

 

I didn't believe it could either. That's why I waited a while and posted several "Do I really need a ________" threads... The handling of my MCSC was SOOO much better than any of my previous cars, i was skeptical that there was THAT much left to gain from ANY mod... comments on ride are below.

With the USS, The whole car rattles less when on rough pavement. Definitely, noticeably less cowl shake in all cases. It's hard to explain. It just "feels" stiffer - like it should have from the factory. I had no complaints with the stock config. But I didn't know what I was missing until I drove with the USS installed - wow. It's THAT much better. Because the suspension isn't having to accomodate the gyrations/movement of the chassis, the suspension can do what it's designed to do - maintain ride comfort while keeping the rubber on the road. I can actually FEEL it working better. Again, hard to believe, but true. The sway bar has had no impact on ride comfort or quality, as far as I can tell. Just reduces understeer to pretty much nil - makes the car turn much easier in the corners. And makes it "throttle-hungry" in the corners. The more throttle I give it, the better it pulls through the corner - I've never driven a car with no or little understeer any significant distance, so this is new to me, but it's WONDERFUL.

Theoretically, a stiff swaybar can reduce comfort by making a bump on one side of the car impact both sides. But this didn't seem to be a problem for me yesterday on my long rough drive. And the 19mm H-Sport isn't THAT stiff, anyway - not a comp bar. With the USS, I don't currently feel a need to run it any stiffer than the middle setting - but I'll test it both ways before MOTD. I'll probably dial it back to the softest setting before long highway drives with family of four...

 

After reading and thinking about this a bit more, I'm wondering if it's the end links themselves that are the culprit here... I've read others say they've had issues with the stock endlinks after adding a stiffer bar - better / stronger endlinks with better joints are available and have resolved this issue for others. As I was putting my car back together I was thinking to myself that the stock endlinks look pretty wimpy given what they go through... I REALLY have a hard time believing a recently lubed H-Sport would creak...

 

Thanks, I've thought about the end link being the culprit. I also took a good look at the bushing that is provided with the Hsport and I think that has something to do with it as well. I might just have to put my Hsport up for sale and go with the H&R. But I'll try replacing the end links first.
I need to do some research on prices of end links vs. new H&R... Thoughts?

Has anybody else had this problem?

 

Have you asked H-Sport for some replacement bushings? If yours have any visible issues, I would think they'd trade you for some new ones...