Hello everybody,

My first question is : Can we play with alignment when we compet in DS class?

If I can, what is your recommandation for my 2006 JCW?

I will purchase a rear sway bar from Hotchkis (25mm) in order to fight against the understeer.
I know that I have close to -1.0° at the front and -2° at the back, but what about toe in/toe out and caster?
What does it change on the car reactions?

-Other bad feeling when I braking the steering seems to become very stiff and it's a disadvantage in a quick turn at low speed (like Chicago box)
What do you think about that?

Thank you for your advice

 

I'm new to DS, and minis for that matter, so don't quote me but I can give some input here... You should be able to align to any measurements capable with the stock system and tolerances (i.e. no aftermarket camber bolts allowed).

My last experience was with a wrx and stock suspension and would just aim for max available front camber and zero toe - I think with the DS mini you wouldn't go too wrong with that route. You can mess with toe to improve turn in but it starts to sacrifice tire wear on the street and therefore was never something I got into. On the wrx you would also minimize rear camber if at all possible to help the understeer situation, but getting front camber and toe right was more important.

I'll be keeping an eye out here myself, just picked up an '06 JCW in the last month and doing similar homework

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe you can't run a rear bar in stock classes larger than the OEM - front sway bars are game though

 

That's how it used to be, but for 2012 the SCCA Solo rules changed for stock classes: you can now change ONE bar, front or rear. Changing the rear bar is a much better option for fighting understeer.

 

gotcha, thanks

 

wow just rediscovered this thread.

so the 06 jcw is also in DS? For some reason I thought it was in CS, but that doesn't make much sense. I know the 06 JCW is the only factory R53 jcw, and other years are sent elsewhere due to things being "dealer" installed rather than factory or port installed

 

The JCW used to be in CS I think, they're now in DS with the rest of the Cooper-Ss. All of the Cooper-S variants and JCW 2006- are listed.

The earlier JCW are specifically mentioned as "Not Elligible for the Stock Category", because of the dealer installed stuff.

 

gotcha - thankfully, any 06 s can be converted to JCW and remain in stock class I believe, since it is a factory legal modification for that year. Makes it pretty tempting...

 

Given it specifically lists Cooper-S JCW (2006-2013), you can get an R56 (07/08) with an LSD and add the JCW kit, that sounds about the best option to me.

Don't you already have your Cooper specifically for Autocross?

 

yea.. just looking lol