I wanted to start a thread for new people like me who are coming into the the Mini and are looking for a quick easy way to see what set ups those that track their car are using for their suspension.

For example ... post up the following:

Coilovers:
Spring (including spring rates):
Shocks:
Sway Bar (includign size):
Adjustable Arms:
Endlinks:
Camber Plates:
Bushings:
Toe Settings:
Camber Settings:

Brake Pads:
Brake Lines:

Tire Size:
Wheel Size:

Not all will be answered but the more you can fill out the better of a reference it will make. We had a thread like this on the Evo forum I use to be on and it helps a lot with questions.

 

You should add "camber plates" to the form, as they are key to making the MINI handle. Possibly bushings also (especially front control arm) as they can affect the alignment (caster).

Springs / dampers: JCW suspension - rates unknown
Sway Bar (includigngsize): rear - Helix / RDR 22.5mm (no longer made). front - stock Cooper (small one, not Sports Suspension Plus)
Endlinks: Powergrid front, stock rear
Camber plates: Helix
Caster: Bavarian Autosport offset bushings
Toe Settings: 0 front, ? rear
Camber Settings: -1.8° front (max possible), ? rear (not adjustable)

Brake Pads: Carbotech XP10 front, Carbotech XP8 rear
Brake Lines: stock

Tire Size: 205/50R15 Toyo RA-1
Wheel Size: 15x7.5

I think I have an alignment sheet at home I can fill in the blanks with.

 

Done ... also added in adjustable arms

 

Only one person in here tracks?

 

Coilovers: JIC Cross Competition
Spring (including spring rates): Swift Front 10kg Rear 8kg
Sway Bars: Rear- Alta 22mm Front- 26mm Eibach
Adjustable Arms: Alta Rear Control arms
Endlinks: OEM (TSW someday)
Camber Plates: Cross (came on the coilovers)
Bushings: all powerflex
Toe Settings: 1/32 toe out front 0 rear
Camber Settings: -2 front -1.5 rear
Damper settings 9 front 3 rear
Brake Pads: Hawk High Performance
Brake Lines: Stainless Steel
Tire Size: Hoosier R6 205/45ZR16
Wheel Size: 16 X 6.5
Black Craven Strut Tower Defenders
R56 Under-body Panels
R56 Front Brake Calipers
R56 Front Rotors
ATE Blue Fluid
dba Rear Drilled/Slotted Rotors
Rear Tyrol Sport Solid Brass Brake Caliper Bushings
OMP Front Lower Stress Bar

 

17x7 Konig Feathers
215x45 Dirreza Star Spec Tires
Rear sway bar on stiffest setting
New Willwood brake fluid
Yellow Stuff Pads
Rear chassis brace (DDMworks)

Thats it. Its a great track car. I was having fun running circles around everything from a modded supra to M coupes. The car drives around the track on its nose. If your used to RWD then its an odd change. Remember the best mods you can do are driver mods.

 

Autocross, not technically track setup

Coilovers: Bilstein PSS9
Spring (including spring rates): H&R 2.5ID x 6"long linear 350lbs/in front, rear standard PSS9 linear rate
Sway Bars: Rear- H-Sport 25mm hollow, Front- H-Sport 27mm hollow
Adjustable Arms: H-Sport upper and lower Rear Control arms
Endlinks: Way Motorworks
Camber Plates: H-Sport for 2.5" springs
Bushings: Powerflex front control arm and Ireland for all engine/tranny mounts
Toe Settings: 0 toe out front 0 rear
Camber Settings: -2.8 front -1.8 rear
Damper settings varies depending on tires and course
Brake Pads: Porterfield R4-S front and rear
Brake Rotors TSW front and rear
Brake Lines: Goodridge braided Stainless Steel
Brake Fluid - Motul
Tire Size: 225/45-15
Wheel Size: primary 15 X 8 ET 36 with 5mm spacers front and rear (also have 15x7 ET38 and 16x7.5 ET 43)
Turner 75mm studs
TSW Front Lower brace
Quaife ATB differential
Way Motorworks dead pedal (love it!)

That's the handling stuff.

Scott
90SM

 

Nice guys keep them coming!

 

Coilovers: Vorshlag
Spring (including spring rates):400 front / 600 rear
Shocks: AST
Sway Bar (includign size): Alta 22 rear, H-sport 27 front
Adjustable Arms: NO
Endlinks: Stock
Camber Plates: Vorshlag
Bushings: Power Flex
Toe Settings: 0 front , 1/16 out rear
Camber Settings: - 2.5 front , .5 rear
Differential: OS Giken Clutch type.

Brake Pads: Hawk DTC 60's
Brake Lines: Stock

Note: coil overs are in the mail

Tire Size: 205/50 Hoosier R6
Wheel Size: 15x8 front , 15x 7 rear

 

okay, for the sake of more info, here goes...

Coilovers: bc
Spring (including spring rates): swift 8kg fronts, 7 kg rears
Shocks:
Sway Bar (includign size): h sport 19mm andjustable
OMP lower strut bar
Adjustable Arms: helix
Endlinks: tsw ajustable
Camber Plates: see coilovers
Bushings: oem
Toe Settings:1/32' out front, 0 rear
Camber Settings:-2.1 front, -1.5 rear

Brake Pads:carbotech xp 8
Brake Rotors: powerslot
Brake Lines:grassroots ss

Tire Size: 215/45-17 dunlop direzza z1 star specs
Wheel Size:17 x 7 ultraleggera

 

Engine:
15% pulley
DDM CAI
Miltek exhaust
NGK plugs
Plug wires
Alta air diverter with sprayer
Custom tune by Way Motor Works

Suspension:
H&R Adjustable camber plates
19mm rear sway bar
TSW X Brace

Brakes:
Wilwood 11.75 kit
Poly B Pads for the track
Mini Mania Brake cooling ducts

Wheels:
Team Dynamics Pro Race 1, 15x7 ET+35
Toyo RA1 tires 225/45/15

Interior:
Rear seat delete
Schroth 4 point harnesses

 

Nice guys keep them coming ... A lot of good info so far!

 

would be usefull to add if this is a 365 day of the year set up, or where/how adjusted for the track

 

Today? A wooden bench, a beer, a hotdog with mustard and relish and some fries That's my track set up for now.

As she sits now...JCW suspension, Steel brake lines, Webb rear bar and Powergrid endlinks, SPC lower rear control arms, Powerflex LCA bushings and engine mounts, H-sport front strut bar - which actually works with 153,000 hard miles on the body.

 

Engine:
15% pulley

Suspension:
H&R Springs
Koni Yellow single adj
H-sport race rear bar
Ireland non-adj camber plates
1/16 toe out front / 16th toe in rear


Brakes:
Carbotech XP10 front XP8 rear
Stainless braided brake lines
Tyrol-sport brake bushings


Wheels:
Kosei 15x7
Kumho V710

Interior:
Schroth 4 point harnesses

This is my daily driver (minus tires and pads). Works great on track and comfy enough for the street too!

 

I keep it simple and cheap. I have approximately 40 track days on my 2006 MCS. I have the Mini-do-more trailer hitch, and I trailer 2 sets of tires with me to the track. The car has been completely reliable - and I hammer it.

Drivetrain:

• 15% pulley
• Factory LSD
• All else is stock - including the paper air filter and the spark plugs.

Suspension:

• R-Speed 22mm rear bar. On tight circuits, I use the firmest position. On faster circuits, sometimes I drop it back to the middle. On the street, soft. In my opinion, the big 22mm bar is a must if you're an advanced track driver. I really don't see a purpose in the 19mm bar. I've never had one, but it seems like a waste of money to me. Go big or stay stock with regards to the rear bar, IMHO.
• Everything else stock. I'll probably drop in some Bilsteins soon. The stock dampers feel a little floaty now.

Brakes:

• Wilwood 11.75" kit. I have used the Wilwood "B" compound and the Hawk DTC-60. Both are good. The "B"s have better bite, I think, but the DTC-60s seem to last a little longer. I don't have a real preference.
• I have used the expensive rotors that came with the kit and the cheap straight vaned ones. The cheap ones don't last long before they crack, but they're really inexpensive. The performance seems about the same to me.
• I used to run the stock brakes, but the pads are too expensive. The Wilwood kit pays for itself quickly if you do many track days. Pads for the Wilwoods are ~$80. For the stock caliper, ~$225 for the same compound from Hawk.
• On the stock brakes, I liked the Hawk DTC-60 best. The HT-10s were fine but delaminated from the back plates and fell apart. The Hawk blues faded. The Mintex 1166 was the worst I used.
• On the rear, I am currently using the OEM pads. Remarkable, I know. I have run the Hawk blue, the Hawk HP Plus, and the Hawk HPS in that order before returning to OEM. The rears simply don't get hot. With the blue and HP Plus, they ate the rotors with almost no pad wear which indicates that they aren't getting hot enough to break down the pad. My current rear rotors have many days on them and don't have any crack.
• I have used the ATE blue/gold fluid, Pentosin Racing, and Motul 600. All are good. I haven't boiled any of them. The Motul is twice the price per volume - not worth it to me. The Pentosin has a slightly higher boiling point than the ATE and the price is about the same. All are good.

Tires:

• My feeling is, if you're not racing, why run anything bigger than a 15". They don't look cool, but the less I spend on tires, the more track time I can buy. Also, smaller overall diameter and less weight are great things.
• I have 2 sets of Kosei K1s and 1 set of Konig Rewinds - all are 15x7. Both are fine wheels. The Konigs have less clearance to the brake calipers.
• I have run Victoracers and Toyo RA1s in 225/50 and RA1s in 205/50. Both are good tires. The Toyos last much longer. The Kumhos are faster when new. The RA1s have to wear in unless you shave them. The 225/50s feel kind of sloppy on the wheels. The 205s feel much more controlled. I can't tell much difference in grip - there are so many variables at the track (air pressure in tires, air temp, track temp, lifecycle of the tire, fuel weight, passenger weight) that it's hard to know if the extra 20mm of rubber is worth the slop. Again, I'm indifferent between the sizes. The 205s are really abundant, and you can often find deals.

That's my setup.

 

Here is my setup, and search youtube for Silver9k if you want to see my track videos (don't mind the car washing one...I was bored )

Spring (including spring rates): TSW V2's (200lb front and rear) Though I do have V3 fronts now but haven't put them on they are 220lb front
Shocks: Stock
Sway Bar (includign size): H-Sport 25.5mm hollow soft setting for track (for now)
Adjustable Arms: TSW
Endlinks: Stock
Camber Plates: TSW
Bushings: Powerflex: front control arm and engine bushings, have the rear trailing arm ones but have not yet installed them
Toe Settings: 0 front and rear
Camber Settings: -2.00 front -1.25 rear

Brakes: TCE/Wilwood 13"x.95" kit front, stock rear
Brake Pads: Wilwood Poly B's for track Poly D's for Autox and BP-10s for street, on rears I either use stock or Carbotech XP8's that I have from when I was trying to make the stock brakes work. Either way the rears really don't need anything special
Brake Lines: Stainless front, stock rear

Tire Size: 215/45/17
Wheel Size: 17x7 OEM R99's (want RPF1's)

This setup isn't all that expensive, and quite potent, and could easily commute a grandma. Though, I feel that with R compounds I might start finding the limits of this suspension and end up needing more spring and damper.

 

Spring (including spring rates): Stock
Shocks:Stock
Sway Bar (including size): H&R 19mm on stiff
Adjustable Arms: Alta
Endlinks: TSW (which are another brand but I forget which)
Camber Plates: IE
Bushings: Stock
Toe Settings: Can't remember
Camber Settings: -3 f and -1.5 r (yes my springs hit the inner fender on tight turns)

Brakes: Wilwood 11.75, poly B front (trying E next time out) and porterfield R4s on Frozen rotors rear.
Brake Lines: Wilwood stainless
Ducts: Way Motor Works getting installed as we speak (with some minor body work to get them to fit nicely with the aero bumper).

Tire Size: 205/50/15 Azenis
Wheel Size: 15x7 Rota Slipstream

Engine: Dinan pulley, fuel system upgrade, and ecu flash. JCW intake with an ITG filter.

That's where I am, and I like it very much for my level. Had some rotor warping issues, but I think I have those tackled with the ducts and with my rotors being INSTALLED THE RIGHT WAY (yes, it happened, and yes, I'm the idiot who didn't catch it).

I'll go for a coilover suspension in the future with minimal adjustable settings - just more stuff for me to screw up.

Once these Azenis go (they're close), I'll move to an entry-level R-Comp possibly on some wider, lighter 15 in. rims.

I think I definitely need front control arm bushings - when I do those, I'll probably do all of them.

Can't envision any more engine mods besides possible tuning.

Stuff I'm not sure about: no idea what's a good roll bar or where I can get one welded in. Don't want a full cage yet, but I definitely want some protection as my speeds raise and I enter the higher groups. Also, when my clutch goes I will do an LSD, but I'm not sure which is best - cusco, quaife, etc...? And clutches are beyond me, too, since I hear so many disparate impressions.

But I know this: I love the track!

mb

 

You go boy!!! Nice to read about a car with very few mods running successfully around the track, nice!