Ok, so this past sunday, I was trying to get more negative camber out of my 08 MCS...

I read that 07's had a metal holding screw besides the strut bolts, and that you can remove this easily. Well, the 08's (at least on mine) has this white plastic thing instead of holding screw, which I couldn't remove. I tried using a wrench and pull it out, but I couldn't.

Regardless, I was able to get little bit of negative camber. Has anyone with 08 MCS been able to remove this plastic holding screw ? I must be doing something wrong here..

 

Ah crap, I hope the 09 isn't the same way as the 08.

 

I just picked up my new 2008 yesterday and I was checking out this screw. Mine is white plastic also. I have not looked at it close enough to figure out how to remove. Therefore I would also be interested if someone has a solution. If I get into it before a reply is given I will report the results.

 

Axela...

I got a few minutes today to remove the white nylon (plastic) screw. What I did was to run a sheetmetal screw into the hole on top of the plastic screw, grab it with a pair of pliers and use a screwdriver as a fulcrum and just pry it up. It came right out.

 

Thank you... I will try that later.

Can we permanently remove that plastic pin/screw for running G-stock? Or do we have to put it back in after we get maximum negative camber?

 

You can permanently remove it. (while set for max camber, you could not reinstall the pin) it is merely an aid to assembly of the car. it allows the suspension to be assembled without requiring an alignment.

 

I removed the plastic pins, and got more negative camber out... so I was happy about that.

Then... got alignment today.. and to my disappointment, I only got -0.6 deg in the front. I was expecting -1.0 deg. I pushed strut all the way to the inner end of the strut bolt slot.

Rear camber was at -0.7 left rear / -1.1 right rear initially. These were adjustable, and they are now at -0.5 left rear and -0.7 in right rear (as low negative camber it can go).

Toe from factory was crazy amount of toe-in, like 1/8" both front and rear. Now, I got slight toe out in front, 1/16". Rear toe out at about 1/32".

 

are y'all sure that those plastic pins are optional?

13.8.B "no suspension part may be modified for the purpose of adjustment unless such modification is specifically authorized by the factory shop manual for non-competition purposes"

 

Yes, they are definitely optional. Pretty much every Mini I have seen at an autocross has had them removed. In fact, one of the Demo's at my dealership already had them removed for whatever reason.

 

Can a regular alignment shop perform a 1/16" out on the front and rear zero toe -1.0 camber?

 

^^^^ I don't see why not.

 

Depends. Ask the shop if they can do it.

Some basic places like Midas told me they can only do stock settings.

I go to a specialty alignment shop and they will follow my instructions.

For alignment for autocross-

Front camber needs to be as much negative as you can get even if it isn't perfect right to left- max it out. -1.0 degrees is the goal. Stock is about -0.5.
Rear camber is about -1.0 to -2.0 stock so aim for about -1.0 to -1.2. I don't think you have to make it less negative then -1.0.

Front and rear toe is toe in for stock settings as mentioned.
Front can be changed to Zero toe or slightly out like 1/16" out or even as much as 1/8" toe out (slightly more risk for tire wear if used for daily street driving) for better turn in response. Rear toe can be slightly toe in like 1/16" or zero toe but not toe out for better straight line stability.