Wondering if someone could advise me on what might be a good setting to start with. I've got an '04 S that has the sport package. Last year I had H-sport adjustable camber plates installed (running -1.8). I now am about to install a H-sport 19mm rear sway bar. The car gets driven on weekends in spring and fall and every day in the summer. I track it only once or twice a year but mostly hit the back twisties on the weekends (somewhat spirited drives). I was considering using the lightest setting first to see how the car acts. Any thoughts?

 

Lightest setting would be my recommendation. You can always go more aggressive from there. You will feel a big difference after the rear sway bar is installed.

 

In summer I have it cranked to the tightest setting, but I am running the JCW Suspension. Winter time it is put back to the lightest setting so I don't perform donuts on the off ramps.

 

Good to know,. The reason I asked was because of so many different opinions. Even in MC magazine: In the July- August 2008 edition, they had quoted one vendor of NAM saying "that adding a bigger sway bar is somewhat like the larger hammer approach - if small doesn't work, go larger. The larger approach doesn't always work when going for cornering improvement as Matt says in his article on page 58" (same issue).
Then in the MC magazine December - January 2010, in Jim Harmon's article talking about the addition of a H-Sport Competition rear sway bar he says "All we can say is WOW! Even on the softest setting, the Hotchkis sway bar greatly aided in taking corners a bit faster and maintaining that bit more control of the car." As a result, I'm wondering what MINI drivers have experienced when adding a stiffer rear sway bar with the front camber plates having a similar set up as myself.

 

Many people say that once you add camber plates, the need for a bigger swaybar is lessened. Keeping this in mind, I'd start soft, and see how it works on you setup.

 

Agree, start soft.

In my case I'm running the stiffer setting, with -2.5 camber and coil-overs. With the tire pressures identical front to back I'm neutral, but by going high on the rear another 8-10 pounds I can get as twitchy as I need.

Mind you that's not a street setting.

But on the street the car isn't scary with normal pressures.

One point to consider though, is that I do not use the car on track. My setup might be twitch at higher speeds and lateral loads.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

Starting soft probably is the way to go. Hate to loose it on a back road twisty where the roads are a little narrow. On occasion we get going on these roads and really do not need a surprise. Great advice on the tire pressure, I should have thought of that. Thanks for the input!!!

 

Unless you are pounding your car on a back road, the middle setting will suffice. Seriously, I have yet to see a normal or weekend mini cooper driver who rides their car hard enough where the 19mm bar set in the middle will snap their back end around on them. Enjoy the mod! It is the best mod you can do to a cooper's suspension.

 

Your going to Love your Hsport swaybar, they are the best swaybars. I suggest you put it on the middle setting. That way if it's too loose you can go back, or if it's not loose enough you can go stiffer.

 

The middle setting sounds interesting... especially with the combo of the camber plates. i'll probably go with Way's advice (he does know his stuff).
rjtrout2000, I don't pound it too hard, but do have a lot of fun. Last year a buddy was following me in his S2000 and he spun the car out into a ditch trying to keep up in the twisties. The car had no damage, just a bunch of leaves in the cab . I really like the camber plates that WayMotorWorks put on last spring, can not wait to install the sway bar... as soon as the weather warms up a little bit.

 

I'm running -2.0 up front and the H-Sport 19 on the middle setting,car is just fine as a daily driver and really fun to drive when out of town,but i will say i live in a warm climate with dry roads and just put on new Hankooks V12(really good for the money).If you are in the deep middle of winter it could be all very different

 

I run my 19mm H-Sport rear bar full tight in the nice weather months. My alignment is 1.9F & 1.5R camber with IE fixed plates. When winter comes I back the rear bar off to full soft. It is too tail happy for snowy road use.

For me the combination of the camber plates & 19mm bar is perfect.

 

im running -2.5 camber up front and the 25mm competition bar in the rear.. Ive run it on the stiffest setting and have never had the car swap ends on the road.. only if you throw the car it will get sideways. on the track ive had it step out very far, but only on cold r-comps (almost freezing temps) on my warm up lap. I think the stiffest setting is safe as long as you use your head.. best test to lear how it feels and how far you need to push is to hit a nice, big, open parking lot next time it's cold and rainy (natural skidpad ) and throw the car around.. good practice for every car you own.

 

Very cool, thanks to everyone with their suggestions. I have been somewhat apprehensive in deciding on which setting to put the sway bar on. But it makes the decision somewhat easier when I hear from drivers who have been willing to share their experiences with similar set ups.

 

hmmmm. I have the 22mm sway bar on the soft setting which should be like the 19 on the stiff setting... and I think you would still have to work at it to get the rear end to kick out. It is not like you are on ice or anything. I try to kick the back end out from time to time, and you could always drive like a crazy person but even at autocross I have to push it to get the rear out there.

 

I have an Alta 19mm set on full stiff. The car is very well balanced, rotating nicely around turns, neither the front pushing, or the back swinging.

 

I have a 19mm set to the middle setting... I think I'm gonna go after it this weekend and change it to full stiff, because even with my coilovers set stiff, there is still perceptible understeer unless you flick it into the corner.

 

Hey thanks for the advice everyone. The weather finally got nice so I installed the sway bar at the middle setting. Took the MINI out for a short drive on some near by twisty road, and I have to admit to some excessive speed on corners, LOTS, of fun!! The car handles great. Currently the sports suspension I'm running only has the adjustable camber plates and strut brace for mods, so the sway bar addition was a nice addition. This should be a nice improvement for the Dragon this April. Hope some of you make it to the drive!

 

Be a little careful with the comments on 19mm bar settings because the 19mm H-Sport and 19mm Alta have different stiffness rates. From what I can tell, based on each companies specs, is that the Alta middle setting would be similar to the H-Sport stiffest setting.

I run -2.0 degrees front and -1.5 rear camber. I have the Alta 19mm bar. I started on the softest setting and now have it on the middle setting. It is my daily driver and I live in California. I do drive the car hard.

Do be careful with the settings. I had camber plates (-2.2 front) with a H-Sport 25mm bar on the softest setting and it would oversteer easily. Start soft and work your way to the stiffer settings.

 

I have the 25.5mm H-Sport bar on the middle setting, no problems with 'looping out / excessive oversteer' even in Canadian winters / track days. I really believe if you have issues with excessive oversteer on a 19mm setup then you need to re-evaluate your driving / check your alignment.

 

The size of the bar and the hole settings depend greatly on the amount of negative front camber and the stiffness of the springs.

A 25mm bar is OK with stock front camber but once you start increasing the amount of negative camber in the front, you have to be careful with the amount of rear bar you use. A large rear bar and a lot of front camber can make the car tend to oversteer which can be great for Auto-X but maybe not so good for street. I found out the hard way.

 

Yep... camber plates and h-sport on middle setting in the rear is how I roll year round. Love it.