Hey Clubman owners. I've come to terms with keeping my current MINI mostly stock, compared to my previous R53 with the usual mods which included a beefier sway bar.

So, the R53 had the standard suspension setup and a tiny sway bar, I think 16mm. Upgrading to a 19mm adjustable bar on the stiffest setting made a big difference; I say that it was the best mod on the car. The car was a daily driver and the 19mm was the perfect size.

My current R55 S has the optional sport suspension setup which has an 18mm sway bar.

My question is, would upgrading to an adjustable 19mm sway bar in a Clubman fitted with the sports suspension make a noticeable difference? Is it still a worthy upgrade?

 

I have the factory Sport setup on my Clubman.

After talking to Way I went with the Hotchkis Comp rear sway. It's been set on the middle setting, really transformed the handling of the car. I can throttle steer on corners, no more understeer, not enough oversteer to scare me.

Installing it was pretty easy, took two hours. Had to fully disconnect the rear subframe to clear the fat new bar.

Personally a 19mm bar is a waste of time and money.

 

I thought of going 22mm (or 25mm hollow). While not against it, I have some concerns. I've been in a good number of situations where I had to swerve in another lane or brake from freeway speeds to a stop on a sweeping on ramp to avoid sudden accidents immediately in front of me. I lost control once driving my previous ML320 when I swerved to avoid a dolly that fell out of a pickup on the freeway; the backend broke traction, hence why I switched to the MINI. LA freeways...

But with DSC/DTC on this probably isn't an issue. Maybe if my girlfriend was driving and DSC kicked in she'd freak out.

And yes, I remember installing my sway bar on the R53 and while not difficult, it took a lot of time to do it by myself.

 

Go big, lose understeer!

 

I found a listing showing the clubman has a 17mm on both sport and non sport , I want to know if changing mine out for a JCW R56 18.5 will improve my handling ? Since they all appear to be the same bar just different thickness.

And if I can get one cheap would it be worth it ?

 

From what I've gathered, the difference is small and not worth the money to install or time if doing yourself. The JCW sway bar is not adjustable. The after market ones usually have 3 adjustment points (low, medium, and full stiff). The lowest setting would likely be about the equivalent of the JCW. Adjusting is simple, unbolt the endlinks on the current setting then rebolt at the desired setting.

The cheapest new rear sway is from Eibach (current google search: $110 plus $15 shipping). Add $20 or so for upgraded bushings/brackets purchased through Way Motor Works, and you have yourself a cheap mod.

Lots of R53 folks had this setup in 19mm, including myself. The R56 is 20mm (adjustable) and is what I will likely go with when I get around to it.

 

Ok I scored a 18.5 jcw bar for $20 and spent $40 to powder coat yellow to match my calipers, spent 2.5 hours by myself and very happy with the results, tight turns don't seem nearly as tight. I think it was worth the effort.

 

Had I known you could source a JCW rear sway for $20, I would have said do it ASAP! Crazy price.

And that paint job ain't too bad either!

 

I just have the standard suspension, but adding the JCW 18.5mm rear bar is the route I plan on going also. I plan on adding some Koni FSD at the same time. Where did you find the rear bar for $20? You can buy a new on from ECS for around $110.

 

Local MINI club sale section. Was a great price so I couldn't pass on it.

 

I've been thinking about a thicker rear sway bar on my Clubman as well. I don't remember my R53 having this much understeer, and I'd like to dial as much of that out as possible.

So I am debating between the 22mm NM Engineering or ALTA rear sway bars, or the Hotchkis Competition 25.5 hollow rear sway bar. All three should achieve similar results and performance, the Hotchkis gets points for lightness though.

Anyway, my question is...did you swap out the sway bar links as well? Or are you still running with the stock sway bar links?

 

I still run the stock links. No issues yet.

 

The nice thing about the longer wheelbase of the clubman is it's not as twitchy in the rear unlike the standard wheel base. I have the sport suspension but with Koni FDS. The Hotchkiss comp rear sway in the middle setting gets it done if you're looking for better handling on the street. I'm running it with stock links but I might upgrade them later. With 18" wheels on runflats it's rides better than the factory sport suspension could ever achieve! As a daily driver the ride is still go-kart fun but overall smoother in ride quality! Gonna upgrade to a 24mm poly front swaybar bushing and see if handling gets even better.