So today i Decided to see how fast my car would go
I own a 2006 MCS, its about 200 hp at the wheels
So this took place On a runway of all things.
I live near the abandoned El Toro marine base.
I got some good friends that have a mutual appriciation of speed
So after a couple of runs to about 110 things were looking good
I had it in 6th and pulled it up to about 133 acording to the digital speed-o-meter. and then decided that i was out of runway
rolled on to the brakes and noticed a bit of squirm
and when i say a bit i mean a whole lot
Like moved me off the center line
so is this normal for stock brakes or was this just me being a noob?
i know it wasent the surface. its still pretty flawless
and that it wasent the tires. cause they are new.
could i have bad suspension?
or could there be something i dont know.
Ive had a mustang cobra to 135 there and never had that problem......

what do you think?

 

I see it this way. It probably comes down to the brakes. If it was faulty suspension parts, you would feel it all the time. There's no part that works under braking and doesn't work under acceleration. A Cobra isn't exactly a great comparison to a MINI as far as brakes go. Your Cobra. What year? If it was like, 94 or newer, it probably had the big 13" brakes, right? And the rest of the system to go along with it, I'm sure. It could also have been ABS kicking in a little bit. I'd be willing to bet if you swapped pads and rotors for some good high quality stuff and they were properly broken in, you would see a drastic difference.

 

It was my cobra at the time its a 99
320 Horse with the giant brakes. they could stop you from 80 like you hit a wall.
I dident notice the abs pulse but I dont rule it out.
I dont understand why that would pull you to the right.
course i made and earlyer post about how the car torque steered to the right last night pulling hard out of a light.
dont know if their is a connection. Its under plain cooper talk titled torque steer.
I think you replyed even.
I wasent sure if i needed bigger brakes. I dont want this to happen if i go to the track.
A runway is pretty freaken wide especialy that one.
A track is not.

 

New brakes and 4 adjustable control arms. Then set for slight toe-in and bed the brakes. This will solve everything.

 

im looking for the R56 brakes because funds are slim and pretty soon you will be able to get all kinds of trick rotors and pads
and toe in on the front or back or where?

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...uct/270/cat/79

 

many threads have addressed this topic.....some good conversation, speculation, etc. but no solution that works for everyone.

 

Toe-in in the rear would help stability.

 

I'll second that. Make sure the rear tailing arm bushing is in good condition too. If you can add four control links with Aurora rod ends, you'll be in heaven!

 

There were a few sets of R56 brakes for sale on the marketplace forums if you didn't catch them. One set for $200 I believe, the other for $300. You'll need new brake lines to run them on an R56 though, and you may require an M12 -> M14 stud conversion kit to run them. TSW has one on the market.

 

Bump Bump

 

more caster can also help

 

Anyone other than me ever had this problem?

 

Yes i had a similar problem the car squirmed and snaked under hard braking from high speed,dealer said he couldn't fault it.car felt great the rest of the time. It turned out to be a shot front offside trackrod end bush.
Just jack up the car and check every wheel for play

 

Front control arm bushings, rear trailing arm bushings...check for wear?

...caster might help, but it doesn't address the back end. The gyrations back there will still occur. Added caster also adds its own set of problems to any set up. Repsectfully, I would concentrate on rear toe all else equal; rear toe can have a dramatic affect on stabilizing an entire setup; a little toe in will help the rear ties build slip angles in since with the front tires as the car turns in. This can be critical if you like to trail brake - I don't. But, rear toe in is a very usefull tool...it can even stabilize a back end while the front end have some toe out, giving you the potential to help both initial turn-in grip and back end stability.

A Powerflec front control arm bushing might help a little - it did for me. The next step was four rear links with rod ends - absolutely great! (but not long term durable on the street in NY for example) And, the big reality is, bound damping will help huge here...I'm not fond of the stockers in this respect.

Tire grip and camber also influence braking stability.

 

Based on my experiences with my car and riding in two other MCS w/significant suspension mods on track at high speeds, when you apply brakes at 100+ mph, the car will do what I call 'The MINI butt-wiggle'. Suspension mods attenuate this, but it is still there. ABS, tires, suspension, road surface all play a role. My car is stock except for Azenis and it does it very noticably. The modded cars have it, but only noticeable if you are aware. At Mid-Ohio last year, I had an instructor who had never been in a MINI and he thought I was losing a tire in the braking zone approaching China Beach. I calmly explained the butt-wiggle phenomenon. When I talk to other MINI owners at track events, they all say their cars do this too...

 

The mini, in general, moves around a lot on the track. But it doesn't usually bite the driver.

In reality its short wheel base may be the biggest gremlin here and that's not changing. So hang on!

 

I tracked my stock, no mods of any kind, 2003 MCS and had some "Butt Wiggle" when I was braking hard at high speeds. Yes that was also over 100 mph and sometimes on very good surfaces.

This did happen all the time and I just kinda got used to it doing that "Butt Wiggle" crap. Not to say I liked it, I didn't, I just got used to it.

I'm now tracking my current car and it does not give me any "Butt Wiggle" that I can notice. The big difference is the new car, 2006 JCW MCS, has the JCW brakes and suspension and I believe that helps with the stability.

I have not had the car anywhere near top speed so I can't comment on its braking action and or "Butt Wiggle" in that situation.

Meb says it best "it usually doesn't bite the driver".

Hope this helps...

 

So i got the car up and running again and I noticed every time i tryed it last night it did Engage the abs?
Is that cause im hitting it to hard. i dont have enough tire?
crap surface?
im pretty sure the surface is great.
Im just trying to figure this out.
track day is approaching......
thanks for all your help allready is been great.

 

If your ABS is engaging under hard application then back off the pressure slightly. That trick is called "threshold braking" and is defined as maximum pressure on the brakes just short of lockup or ABS engagement.

Also if your tires do not grip well, because they are a hard or high mileage compound verses a soft or performance compound, the ABS will kick in. Don't forget tire pressure, too much and you'll lose optimum traction.

If you feel that you have the proper tires get some better brake pads. If you feel that you have the proper pads and your still not satisfied do some test stops with other Mini owners, for comparisons, to see if it's high expiations or typical for a Mini.

Then again it could be comparisons and I'll quote: "My 1999 320 horse Cobra with the giant brakes that could stop you from 80 like you hit a wall".

Hope this helps...

 

I think its the tires and wheels arent big enough.
im at a 205 right now.
and the cobra rand a 275 section
so that is my problem.
Im just dissapointed thats alll.. i dont know how wide a wheel i can run though.
im sitting at 42 pounds of pressure in the tires though
probably why i have problems
and if the stock brakes can lock the wheels up then why change them the prove to be working quite well.
and yes that cobra was quite the car.
now its my exgirlfriends who i no longer talk to

 

As a point of reference with tires, get the pressure down to the proper amount and vary it to conditions from that point. The pressure for the stock tires, most likely 35 lbs., will be listed on the drivers door jam. The pressure should be the same, according to people that know this stuff, for non-stock and different size tires as well.

I had factory run flats, Dunlop Sport 9000, 205/45/17, on my car before and right now I have Dunlop Sport Maxx, 205/50/16, and there is a noticeable difference in stopping distance with the new tires. They are a softer compound, won't last as long, and stick very well under threshold braking.

I'm not advocating any tire size or brand, I'm just saying each tire handles differently and some may or may not be the best for you and your Mini.

In my opinion and I'm not the expert on this, tread patterns like the run flats use: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....port+9000+DSST are less likely to follow road imperfections and less likely to distort or become squirmy under hard braking.

As a point of reference I also use the OEM wheels. I use the 17 inch R-98 Web Spokes and the 16 inch R-94 Bridge Spokes.

Again this is only my opinion but another thing you can do when testing your stopping distances is keep your hands at 3 and 9, to minimize input into the steering wheel. For the heck of it try steering your car with both hands on the top of the wheel and you'll find your all over the road in comparison to a lower hand position.

The other thing is to look far ahead, look where you want to go not where you are, as the further ahead you look the smoother you will be.

Hope this helps...

 

Im running kumho spt tires
and stock 17'' wheels.

 

I had the problem with a pretty good set up on RA1s -very sticky as a street tire and fairely long lasting as a track tire...not the stickiest for the track

My hot psi was about 40-42 psi