My car is now 1 month old with over 2500+ miles with a large mount of a daily driving sprinkled in with the occasional canyon run with my fellow SCMMers and (hopefully) a planned autox event to attend in June.

I have come to the conclusion that I want to tighten up the suspension and handling on it. I was initally thinking of going with the M7 USS and their front strut tower brace to improve upon the handling of my ride. After reading a bit on the forums, I came across the thread regarding rear sway bars and started to contemplate getting the H-Sport rear sway bar. Question I have is should I just get the rear sway bar and forego the USS and STB or would the USS and STB benefit me more? Any insight into this would be greatly appreciated!

 

I would say go with the USS and Swaybar then the strut bar

hope this helps
regards,
Charles

 

just go for the sway bar and some shocks, works for my 05 MCS Cabrio

Victor

 

I have M7's USS that was just put on at the Dragon by Way Motor Works. Props and thanks to Peter & Way. One great product and one great installer. Way has installed all my mods and it was great to finally meet Peter. Also thanks to Will.

Let's just say the difference this makes for the car is unbelievable! It takes a huge amount to make it understeer now. I thought the problem was my stupid runflats (I'm still going to get rid of them) but now I know that the biggest problem was the chasis of the cabrio. The body roll has been drastically reduced and it tracks beautifully through the curves. Evidently the rear sway bar induces oversteer and helps eliminate body roll. One of the guys in AtlantaMINI's says the combination of both the USS & a rear sway makes his cabrio perfectly balanced. He said he can't imagine being without either one.

After four days at the Dragon and the USS, the next mods will be new wheels/tires & brakes! Before the Dragon I thought the next ones would be the rear sway bar and shocks (Koni FSD's). Those will now wait until the others first but hopefully not too long after.

The front sway bar evidently dials oversteering back into the mix. I don't have any plans to add one of those. They do look cool though!

 

You mentioned autocrossing. Before you get all wild and crazy and start modding your car find out what mods are legal for the class you are going to run. If you are planning on running in stock class the rear bar is not allowed. Check out the racing and competition forums.

 

I added all 3 at the Dragon. H Sport 1st day. BIG improvement. If I stopped there, I'd have been satisfied. 2nd day added M7 USS. Marginal but significant improvement. No doubt these mods added by Way were the most bang for my buck. Even the wife noticed that with these two mods we were MUCH more controlled on trhe twisties at the Dragon. 3rd day I added a Dinan Strut Bar (it was already in route from another NAM member). Marginal additional stiffness, but it does look cool. Put your money into handleing mod, BIG improvements... Michael

 

Mistro - Could you define what you mean by "marginal but significant"? Those kind of seem to be opposites. Thanks!

 

we've got half of the USS on, with an M7 front strut bar and Koni FSD sitting in the garage awaiting install. Should do the trick. We'll pick up a second MCS and do the same treatment, but will probably add a swaybar too as it will be a hardtop and the more 'agressively' driven of the pair.

 

the Under Strut System won't be permitted either.

 

The USS will not be allowed in any stock autocross classes as it provides too big of an advantage Sorry about that!

Randy
m7 Tuning

 

I am presently awaiting arrival of an '06 Cool Blue MCSC with JCW kit and added the JCW front strut brace to be installed by dealer on arrival (along with iPOD). I seem to recall from a prior thread that the front strut brace was somewhat necessary for the Cabrio to improve cornering. Is adding this alone a mistake and should I consider skipping it or adding something to it, i.e M7 USS?

 

the JCW bar is more than double the M7 bar (my dealer has it stickered for $495/installed on their cars). In my opinion, a front strut bar doesn't make enough difference period to justify $400++, not to mention you can get the same performance for alot less than the factory option. Get the M7 bar for $200 and take the difference and put it towards getting the USS.

 

SkyZero, not knowing your level of driving skills, let's just assume your not a pro for arguments sake. The best mod you will ever make on you cabrio is a few novice autox schools and maybe a track school like Phil Wicks. It would give you a chance to get a real good feel for what you have in your Mini and what you have between your eyes...a starting point. Then go slow with one or two mods, see what they do, adjust, and go from there. You'll end up with a better car, you'll be a better driver and you'll have more fun than any dream you've ever had...well, almost.

On the other hand, if you are just going to spend some money regardless, the rear sway bar first, for sure.

Call

 

Can anyone verify what I have been told by my dealer that the JCW springs are NOT available on convertibles. Is there a good reason for this?

 

I'd suspect that stiffer springs would induce more cowl shake, showing the lack of ridgity of the open top. Ford neuters the Mustang convertible for the same reasons.

 

The best way to make most any convertible handle better is to weld a roof on it

 

Is that why you have FSD's and not the JCW springs...what's your take on them....pros and cons?

 

Thanks Tommybwell....is yours available? A lot of hardtop folk would consider donating theirs once they got 'wind' of the convertible.

But seriously, what would be the 'dream set up' for street (extensive canyon) driving, some level of comfort but emphasis on cornering with minimal body roll, balanced over/understeer, and lowering the car not more than 1 to 1 1/2 inches.

Share your dreams!

 

I think I’ll hold on to my top but you’re right there are plenty of folks that would donate them if they could. Not sure how to build the dream car, you either sacrifice structure for wind or wind for structure.

 

My plan is to stick with the wind as ordered but then tune the chassis as best I can to optimize for its lack of rigidity (now this is starting to sound downright dirty)

 

Getting back to the original question... I've had a rear sway for the past 6 months and just had the M7 USS installed a couple of weeks ago. They are both valuable mods. As the first step for a convertible, I would recommend starting with the USS. The USS by itself reduces some understeer, and I think it provides a good foundation for all other stock and mod suspension components to work better. To improve handling in a cabrio, you can pretty much follow the same recommendations as for the hardtop (rear sway, lighter wheels, grippier tires, etc.) but specifically for the cabrio the USS makes a noticable improvement in all conditions, whether driving hard or not.

BTW, I also have the Koni FSDs, already a great mod by themselves and even more awesome in combination with the M7 USS.

 

I feel I have my MCSC "dailed in" as for the suspension and regidity that's needed to overcome what was lacking from the factory; but, it was expensive to get there:
1) M7 front tower plates
2) M7 USS
3) Koni Sport Adj Shocks
4) H-Sport Lowering Springs
5) H-Sport Lower Rear Camber Links

I'm very satisfied with the handling in traffic or on twisties. I haven't tracked or autox'ed Paris, yet, but trust me the twisties I have taken her through is like autoxing and tracking rolled in one. She handles great.

KK

 

I just put on an Alta rear sway and M7 USS and highly recommend the Swaybar/USS combo. it really tightens up the flex and keeps the car flat and neutral. Best money spent so far.

 

Which mod would you recommend first specifically to reduce cowl shake in the MCSC?

 

FSD's