Which one do you have and where did you get it done. Of course what are your thoughts on it. What would you do differently if you had to do it again.

I'm still on the fence and need to find somewhere that is comfortable doing them if I decide to pull the trigger.

 

Just ordered mine last week. Won't be put in until the weekend of the 16th but if you can wait that long I can tell you how I like it.
I ordered the H-Sport Competition.

 

I have the H Sport Comp. I installed it myself. The instructions neglect to mention the presence of an extra frame bolt on the Cabrio about mid-way between the wheels, up behind the heat shield. They also neglect to mention that removing the old (and inserting the new) sway bar requires loosening the gas tanks to give you enough play to cheat the bar around that same frame bolt's mounting bracket. If you are aware of those two issues, a self install should take 2 or maybe 3 hours. Less, if you are not as much of an idiot incompetent than I

The improved handling is noticeable and the mod well worth the money.

 

H-Sport competition. What would I have done differently? I would have gotten it sooner!

 

I have the Alta three position sway bar and I had it installed by a mini tech who does mods. I was going to try to tackle it myself, but there is a bit more that has to be done to fit it to the cabrios. I have it set to the most agressive setting, which makes a HUGE difference in quelling body roll. It also makes the car extremely neutral and makes it possible to toss the car around a corner and steer with the throttle.

I just had the opportunity to run the car on the full track at Sebring (see other thread = https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=65310 ) where I was able to take the cabrio almost to its limit. I got it up to almost 120 on the back straight, and went very quickly around the corners. I took the car to sebring for the 12 hour race and got it on the track for a few touring laps (prior to the sway bar being installed) and then ran it last weekend pretty hard. I had a few moments on the track where the rear end actually started to break loose, but applying the throttle in these situations pulled it back in line.

I have a link to a video from my in car camera in the above thread, but here it is again -

http://homepage.mac.com/skropp/iMovieTheater154.html

I also have a blog entry on the track event as well as a description of the sway bar in the entry just before it in the blog link in my sig.

You can see a lack of body roll in the video - I would highly recommend the sway bar. It truly made the car very stable, and I haven't lowered it yet. I plan to get it lowered eventually, but I can certainly live with it the way it is.

 

I'll be installing the Webb Extreme Rear Swaybar
as soon as they are available (1 week)

I heard great things about it
the only drawback being price
my second choice was the H Sport.


Has anyone installed a Webb Bar in a Cabrio?

regards,
Charles

 

I have the R-speed 22 mm on my cabrio. I love it except for the squeak I am getting from my driver's side. Like others said, I wish I had put it on sooner. The bar sat in my basement for about 10 months before I got around to having it installed. (It was done at the same time I had Koni FSD's installed.) The car feels so much better now with these two mods.

 

I actually felt more of a difference with the M7 Under Strut System and the Strut Tower Brace than the H-sport Comp. rear sway bar. I had the rear sway bar installed, drove it for 1500 miles, then put in the larger front sway bar. It seemed a little better through corners (ie. more aggressive in cornering). But with the USS and STB, it feels flatter and more neutral through twisties with less body roll - the car also feels tighter while changing lanes or going over bumpy roads. I didn't think the convertible needed any extra bracings after Mini added 150 pounds to it to firm it up, but the M7 USS and STB proved me wrong. It also added a large dent to my bank account.

 

I watched one get installed last weekend on a cabrio after doing one on an MCS (not mine) the day before. My advise would be if you're going to do it yourself, remove both shocks, on the Cabrio remember the center bolt and give your self about 2 hours for the first one you do 1 hour there after, make sure you have a good selection of extensions. Also because of the way everything is setup on the cabrio, make sure you can unbolt the back end of your exauhst because you will need to lower it slighlty to get everything to fit if it is welded in place it ends up being a real pain based on what I observed. Best of luck, hope this helps .

 

Anybody have any experience with these? They are written up in Motoring.

 

I went with the dinan 19mm. My dealer installed it. It makes a huge difference in the driving/handling area. I too am experiencing some significant squeaking on the passenger side. Happily, I'll get the dealer to work on this "warranty" issue since dinan is covered by the dealer.

 

I was getting the squeak as well on the pass side from my Alta sway bar - my tech guru looked at it and determined that the bushing was the culprit, and roughed out the hole a bit and re-greased it. It's now completely silent, and hopefully it will stay that way.

 

I chose an H&R sway bar specifically because they are permanently maintenance and squeak free with no grease.

 

squeaks can usually be fixed with lube or some teflon tape from what i've heard . . . I went with a 22mm RSpeed and love the thing. It's VERY beefy and install wasn't so bad.

Do the install with a friend or two and have a u-joint and extension for your socket wrench when you're taking that infamous 5th subframe bolt off- I can't see how anyone could get it off w/out the u-joint.

cheers, and get on it- you'll love the feel!

 

what was the cost to have it installed, those thay didn't DIY

 

I think mine was about $300 for the H&R, installed. I could be off +/- a few since I had other stuff done at the same time.

 

I was having some other work done to the car and got the the dealership to agree to do it for free!!

 

Since you have to remove the struts, many people who have the sway installed also choose to install lowering springs at the same time at a discount b/c of the labor overlap.

If it's just the sway bar I'd take the couple hundred that you would have spent on the install and by the tools that it takes to do it if you don't have 'em. It's a fun install and very low risk of messing anything up- just take time and care jacking and lowering the car back down.

Plenty of material on the install on webbmotorsports and here on NAM. Good luck and hope we can help in your decision.

 

Excuse my ingnorant! Whats a sway bar, can somone post a photo of how it looks. As do you really feel the difference, I mean really notice it??

Please advice

 

I don't have pic readly available, but its a l________l shaped bar that goes between the rear wheels and it adjusts how much the rear wheels move in relation to each other (think thats the simplest way to put it) as far as the driver is concerned it makes a car like the MINI more neautral, eliminating the understeer that many companies desgin a car to have to prevent spins, but this slows the car down in the corners, this eliminates a portion of that, letting the power and steering input get to the road sooner. I'm sure others could jump in with a better explination, also take a look at the FAQ section on Webb Motorsports web page, Randy gives a through explination of this and many other compents for the MINI.

 

Thanks motor on, however, why is this considered one of the most important mods for mini. What so special about it, do one feel the difference immediately, does it really worth the bucks. Please put in mind I am no race driver!

 

I want to get a rear sway bar for my convertible but I'm concerned that the installation for most sway bars isn't designed for the cabrio. The website @ H-Sport for their rear sway bar says 'Please note: 2005 Mini Convertible Unconfirmed. Bar Coming Soon.' Anyone have suggestions on which one can be installed without difficulties? Thanks.

 

I recently added the 19mm H&R rear sway bar to my wifes MCC, along with the stock suspension from an '05 MCS. Car is much more neutral in the corners and overall we like the changes. Getting the stock rear sway removed and the new one installed was a bit of a PITA because of the additional cross-braces under the cabrio for stiffening, but I think it was worth it.

 

All current sway bars are compatible with any of the current MINIs so far(Cooper, Cooper S, automatics, convertibles...).

Your MINI can definitely use the H-Sport rear sway bar (there's a number of convertibles that have the H-Sport, including myself). There's a few threads that discuss the one difference between the hardtop and the convertible when doing the install - there's a 5th subframe bolt that you need to remove before the rear subframe can be dropped and allow acess to the rear sway bar. If after reading through those threads and you're not comfortable with doing it, take it to a local tuner who knows their MINIs - you should probably expect between an hour to two of labour for the job.

On the other hand, there's a reasonable expectation that the Webb Motorsports Extreme sway bar (NOT to be confused with their Preferred sway bar) can be installed without even dropping the subframe - however, you would need to cut off the OEM sway bar. You might want to contact WMS to see if that's the case.

HTH!

 

I already had JCW's strut brace - always an inexpensive mod of noticeable benefit. I got DINAN's 19mm (stiffer setting) when they were having their 20% off deal (saved $60 - still waiting for the rebate) intalled by a dealer (2 hrs labor). I notice some lessening of understeer, but not enough - my past experience has been with light neutral well balanced BMWs. However, I want to maintain the warrantee where possible (also have the creaking sound). So I'm considering DINAN's off-set camber plates - planning on increased tire wear. I'm also considering KONI's FSDs. I'll do no other suspension mods unless DINAN or JCW comes up with more stuff for the convertible, which I doubt as the new 07 is coming on line.