Unbelievable how these threads get so off topic.
My post here was just to ask why someone would feel that "this looks to be the most promising under brace system yet". That's all. Then someone felt that it might be the same thing as the M7, so I commented. If some of you here feel that I am out pushing M7 stuff over others, then just do some searching in my post and show that. I Rarely post about M7, or any other products here.
I'm happy to comment on my "observations" of these bars but if you all think that it's just a biased sales pitch then there is no reason to do so I guess.

I like the stuff that TSW does. I respect them as one of the better vendors here and even approached them about possible race shocks and endlinks, to which I most likely will get the latter.

 

it's a forum... threads go off topic. is this news to you?

Your opinion is welcomed and I directed my post right at something I have read you post before. However, you're a sponsored "driver" or w/e. You have to see where by the ideals of unbiased information... yours has to be taken with a grain of salt.

I'm sorry you got your panties in a bunch but it's just the journalism major in me to remove those closest and farthest from the equation to come up with a solid answer some where in the middle.

 

I have never written such a comment. Know nothing of OMP

 

edit... confused u with obehave. nm

should have known.

 

..... so much for the journalism major.

 

Why the X design? Way, way more torsional rigidity than any other design, especially those with a ladder arrangement. Our design picks up the lollipop mounting points and ties those into the front rear subframe mount - we personally feel this will provide more benefit than anything else out there. From what we gathered while spending many nights laying under the car, there's really no point in going much farther up the front subframe. There's a lot of gussets and welds up there, and it's a pretty solid piece. The weak points, in our estimation, are the rear tie points and the lollipop mounts. I am one to fully endorse what I noticed after installing the OMP unit - Dr. Mike installed one shortly after, too, and noted the same impressions that I did. Then came the discussions of "wouldn't it be cool if..." and "I wonder..."

Dr. Mike gets complete credit for the ingenious design (done in true grassroots motorsports form in his garage). All hail the mighty plumb bob! I'll ask him to login and discuss the merits of this little piece of artwork...

Again, this version was just for fitment, but is 7/8" 4130 Chromoly... Production versions will be 7/8" 4130 with a .083 wall thickness. Production versions will also have additional gussets where the X is...

Finish will be an hammered aluminum powdercoat... These will be made down the street in Garland, TX by hand and artfully welded. The "crappily" welded prototype (according to the fabricator) is HARDLY crappy! Hah! Pricing will be announced shortly, once we get the proto back, get the jig made, etc. Gussets and whatnot will be laser cut, while everything else will be handmade (save the bends, which will be done on a CNC bender).

It's designed to tuck up as far as possible - It will hang down a bit, but no more than the little rubber bits or miscellaneous other bits. You WILL have to take it easy over speed bumps...

 

If it matters to anyone I was asked to make an appt. so this part can be test fitted on my Mini. My car is lowered pretty far and has a monster header with the cat in different location. Spoke to Jeff this eve and have it set up for Thursday evening at this point. Of course this is subject to everyone involved confirming.

 

my question is sure it has the front bracing but what about the middle sections like the m7 one do you plan on making something similar. i would be more than happy to loan you my uss from m7. i am actually thinking about buying this and comparing the 2.

 

Since this seems like an item people who go to the track will be interested in, does it make it impossible to also install a skid plate?

mb

 

Looking forward to the final piece!

 

The setup on my car would not allow the middle bar of the M7 USS to be fitted., only the front parallelogram and the rear square sections were installed. The cat was in the way of the middle straight section. We'll see if this fits better for applications such as mine.

 

Hi folks, this is "Dr. Mike".

I spent quite a lot of time ruminating over the design of this brace. There were a lot of factors to consider, and I think most of them have been covered by the various comments in this thread - ground clearance, clearance to parts of the MINI, and of course, will this thing actually work?

I arrived at this design after considering the relative strengths and weaknesses of the MINI unibody. In truth, the MINI has enormous rigidity for a car with such large door apetures. Its longitudinal bending resistance (resistance to "hammocking" lengthwise) is truly remarkable. The torsional rigidity is also quite good, but I thought perhaps it could be improved without actually welding bars into the car (as is done so effectively in a good safety cage for a racecar conversion).

The X-style brace is designed to resist the twisting motion that goes along with the torsional loading of the chassis. In other words, the suspension should react more precisely to uneven surfaces, particularly in situations where one wheel experiences a bump or dip, or (in an extreme example) when one front wheel is driven up onto the kerbing at the inside apex of a turn.

I can't wait to get some of these braces on MINIs for testing and evaluation - including my own MINI. The MINI is a fantastic car already, and this part should complement what we already have.

 

It looks good Real solid. What about people that allready have the m7 uss, can they continue to use that system and yours for more bracing? Just wondering

 

Now, that would just be complete over-kill with a lot more weight than needed.

 

Just a question.

 

TXWERKS
One question. Are you going to try this on a GP. ( Goodfinders car) I'm just wondering if it will fit without having to cut or whatever to the cars aero kit under the car.
Thanks in advance.

 

gnaster, can't wait to hear your thought on this product. I am considering this product on my MINI and my wife's cabrio.

 

Yes, we do plan to test fit to a GP. If there is interference with the plastic bits, we'll know exactly what one would have to do to make this part fit.

 

Still offering my test vehicle.

Just recently lowered my car using the TX AST setup but htat's another post.

the one thing I have found in the ~2 years I've had the OMP on an unlowered(is that a word ??) car is that it will rub and I've posted a cut shot of where. Not my car. Mine's red and bent
How you ask? Pulling off the edge of a road. First noted on The Dragon in 2005. this mount point sets inside the the wheel so as you drop off the lip it will catch the road surface making a noticeable and scary sound. So for me just the right front is dinged up. The bar itself is fine. from what I'm looking at on the prototype the rear mount points could be a little shallower too if that's feasible.

About 2 days ago I tested the bar over some mild speed bumps on my now lowered car. I normally go over these at an angle to minimize the trounce you get as you drop off the back side. This time I went straight over several bumps at a sensible rate. No rubbing.
The culprit:

 

The big problem with the GP is that underbody skirt... If you were willing to trim some of that out so that you could actually access the rear mounting point, you should be able to install it...

If you roll under your car, you'll note that you cannot access the rear mounting point...

 

It's not easily feasible, given that the tubing must mate up to the ferrule - this means that it has to be long enough for the "fish mouth" on the end of the tubing to mate up. The ferrule also has to have a larger O.D. to allow the OEM bolt to be re-used. We discussed making the rear mount "flatter", but that would necessitate flattening the tubing - this would compromise the strength of the setup.

 

I'm not familiar with most skid plate designs out there... This mounts rearward of most front subframe mounting points, though.

 

No, we do not plan on doing a middle section. To us, there's no reason to add that additional piece to the x-brace design.

 

Nice looking product as usual guys It's good to see that we aren't the only ones that think the Mini can use a little help in making the most of it's potential. Keep up the good work.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

Thanks, Randy... Let's agree to keep pushing the envelope!