I have an 04 MCS. I lowered it with M7 coilovers, and then to adjust the rear camber I went with ALTA's adjustable bars (upper and lower). I sort of thought we'd run DSP. I thought they were legal in STX and mistakenly assumed it would be okay for DSP. Are they legal in SM? Someone thought that you could only change the lower bar to adjust the camber.

Does anyone run rear strut bars?

My wife and I aren't going to be competitive regardless of class so I thought we might as well go up to SM if the changes are legal. Then I could at least put on a pulley. We have 15x7.5 wheels which I think puts us out of STX. Maybe we'll just run "prepared".

Thanks for your thoughts.
MA

 

The ALTA bars are legal in SM. The 15x7.5 wheels are legal in any class the MCS can run in except Stock. Your car is perfectly legal in SM, unless there is some other mod you've done besides the above.

The only reason it run a rear strut bar on a MINI is if you really like the looks or need somewhere to store your cloths hangers.

If you aren't really worried about being Nationally competitive, SM is a fine place for a MCS.

Scott
90SM

 

Thanks for the info.

The mods I've done are:
Coilovers
Camber Plates
Adjustable Bars
Strut Tower Brace
OMP Lower Brace
CAI
Engine Damper
15x7.5 wheels
Hoosier A6 225/45/15

 

Welcome to SM.

Scott
90SM

 

What wheels are you running? whats the offset? I need to look a bit deeper but I didnt think the lower braces were SM legal, just a brace that would run front to rear not crossing side to side(other than strut tower bars)

From 08 Rules:
Subframe connectors are allowed as per Street Prepared (15.2.E)
fore-aft are permitted
15.2.E.5 no cross car, etc.

Not to throw the specs at you, but I thought I read that before and wanted to make sure(I was wanting to install some cross bracing myself )

Either way, welcome and enjoy

 

What are the attachment points for the OMP lower brace? I think SM disallows any kind of underbody brace that joins the left and right sides of the car together.

 

I went with 949racing 15x7.5 +34 offset

Thanks for the heads up on the lower brace. I can remove it if I have to.

 

Thanks for the rim info, wish you didn't have to remove it!

 

For OMP brace-
See post #7
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=113998
It's legal for non stock classes.

Street touring classes will not allow R compound tires-
Replace Hoosiers with Bridgestone Potenza RE01R in 195/50-15.

SM class-
Having the pulley upgrade would be favorable, running in that class without it would be much more challenging. Best would be decide on how much pulley you want, add the appropriate injectors and get an Revolution MINI works ECU tune.

Options-
15% pulley, stock injectors and RMW tune, colder plugs
17-19% pulley with 380 cc injectors (JCW) and RMW tune, colder plugs
19% pulley with 440 cc injectors and Jesus cylinder head with RMW tune + RMW cam, header and exhaust system. Colder plugs

If you don't add the pulley then for your upgrades you don't have to run in SM class.

DSP is fine, keep the Hoosiers

STX is fine with wheels up to 8" wide and tires up to 245mm wide and treadwear of 140 or greater.

Upper and lower adjustable control arms are fine. Most of us in SM class don't bother much with strut tower bars whether front or rear. You're adding some weight with small difference in stiffness and maybe no difference in time. One could argue that handling is better with the braces.

If you choose SM class you can remove the back seat completely to save some weight.

Some things missing-
Exhaust system upgrade?
Any brake upgrades?
Aggressive autocross alignment?

Are your camber plates fixed or adjustable? What are your exact alignment settings and when were they last set?

For wheels-
15x7.5 +34 offset is fine. You can also run small 205/50-15 tires to save some weight but they will be stretched onto the 7.5" wide rims- it's ok though.
15x8 +36 offset will also work in the front and rub a little in the rears on the lower trailing arm unless you add a 3mm spacer for the rears. 15x8 rim is well suited for 225/45-15 tire.

Note 949racing 6UL rims don't fit 14mm bolts on recent MINIs and R56.

 

Some things missing-
Exhaust system upgrade?
Any brake upgrades?
Aggressive autocross alignment?

Are your camber plates fixed or adjustable? What are your exact alignment settings and when were they last set?

I've been discussing options for the exhaust with my neighbor. I don't want to spend the hundreds of dollars for an aftermarket bolt in system. We'll probably make a custom exhaust using a glasspack type muffler in the tunnel. We just have to check ground clearance.

I went with ebc greenstuff pads since it's my daily driver ($$$ was a consideration too) and a bushing kit.

My alignment isn't too aggressive yet. Our season hasn't started officially. Right now it's -1 degree front and rear with 1/16 toe out for the front and 1/16 toe in for the rear. I have KMAC camber/caster plates. On that note, nobody talks about caster setting much. I think mine our around 5 degrees right now. I would like to be able to have a street setup and a track setup, but I'm not sure how much of a pain it would be to reset the toe each time. So I may end up with some compromise for the alignment.

I also haven't gone with a sway bar. I am considering making some adjustable endlinks to correct any preload issues from lowering the car. I may get a small rear bar at some point. A friend who's been autocrossong for years told me sway bars aren't as critical in autocross.

As for the power upgrades I need to save up some $$$. Like I said in the original post my wife and I just are out to have fun and we won't win anything. Even in DSP we couldn't compete with the 2 JCWs in our region. I will be comparing our times with those regardless of what class my wife and I run, just for fun. I just want to be legal so someone can't say anything.

 

For low cost exhaust mod try one ball. $60-70 for labor and loose weight. Not much performance boost by itself. Making your own exhaust is more tricky, you don't want to loose HP or torque in the mid to lower ranges.

Rear swaybar makes sense, even 19mm adjustable is good use the middle setting or 22mm bar on softest, find a used bar if you want more value. H sport Comp 25mm bar is lighter save 5 lbs for about the same cost. For any turning and to reduce understeer you want a stiffer rear swaybar or softer front swaybar. In a front wheel drive car you want that advantage in any performance driving situation whether on the track or at autocross and it is legal in your class (anything but stock classes) so why pass it up, it's one of the very first mods you can do easily that helps with general handling in a positive and significant way. No need to go too extreme like the stiffest bar on the stiffest setting. Strut bars front or back by comparison for the MINI are not needed but on other less stiff chassis cars make a big difference in handling.

Adjustable endlinks are not necessary unless you want to corner balance your car. Any coilover system that allows you to adjust ride height will allow you to corner balance and remove preload on your front and rear swaybars.
If your coilovers do not allow ride height adjustment then endlink upgrades are going to be of minimal benefit.

Those JCW MINIs in DSP were running which wheels and tires? That's where they might have had the advantage, not really in Power.

Caster is not usually adjustable for MINIs but with KMAC plates if you can adjust caster go for maximum positive caster.

Normally for camber you can go -2.0 or more degrees in the front and about -1.0 to -1.3 degrees in the rear or about 1 degree more negative for the front. Crucial is front camber, you want as much negative as you can up to about -2.5 degrees. Rear you want less negative to about -1.0 not too much negative. -1 degree front and rear is only of moderate help, better than stock but not aggressive.

Front toe is fine at 1/16" toe out, even 1/8" toe out is ok for street use.
Rear toe slightly toe in is fine.

 

IIRC, the adjustable control arms are fine provided that you dont change the material of the bushings, IE..no heim joints for the lower control arms like the Altas. That's what is putting me out of FSP right now.