So far I only have a few engine mods and some stereo modifications. I could use some help choosing suspension modifications. I know I need a rear sway bar and I'm considering rear control arms and chassis brace.

What are your thoughts and where should I begin?

The car is my daily driver and we'll see a lot of spirited runs on the weekends. It may see the track during test and tune weekends.

 

definately a sway bar. You will find that people love the hollow 25mm H sport bar around here. I have the Alta 22 it is great as well. Rear bar would be the first thing. If your car is 05 or 06 you dont need rear camber bars unless you will lover the car. In 05-06 the the factory rear camber arms are adjustable. I installed TWS springs on my 05 with factory rear camber arms and I was still able to bring it in to -2.2 (which is not too far off factory settings). Rear chassis brace that installs inside the car does nothing to increase rigidity. It does not install on any body part to do so. So having your seats up would actually accomplish the same thing. The front xbrace that install under the car is a different story.

 

In addition to what Chilimac wrote , I would also add that when I upgraded my suspension, the Powerflex purple colored front control arm bushings made a huge difference in the way my 03' MCS handled. They are manufactured in three colors, black - very hard, purple - medium, and yellow - softest.

In using these products I would add that an increase in NVH is comensurate with the hardness (color) of the bushing/inserts used. Yellow would be more like OEM bushings IMO, so purple was a good upgrade w/o any poor side effects.

I also replaced the front sway bar bushings with PF Purple as well, keeping the OEM bar. It was an excellent choice.

 

I assume you are talking about this bar?

http://www.waymotorworks.com/h-sport...-sway-bar.html

I've had my eye on it for a while.

I'm glad to know that there is no use for the rear chassis brace. I really didn't want to have that inside the car.

Front x brace
http://www.waymotorworks.com/tsw-xbrace.html

Do you see any problem making this brace? It looks like it would be very easy to build one.

What are the opinions on strut tower braces? It seems like this is a weak point for many cars.

 

I found the bushings here
http://www.waymotorworks.com/powerfl...shing-kit.html

It seems there are several different people making bushings for this location. I'll look into getting these and while I'm in this area what are your feelings on the stock front sway bar? Is it stiff enough to keep or should it be replaced?

 

The suspension brace that I have been using now for three seasons is the OMP lower stress brace. Not as many contact points as the TSW, but still a noticeable difference and gets you a stiffer chassis for relatively low cost. I also have the 19mm Alta rear sway with their adjustable end links and I love the feel of it. Coupled with TSW springs and a few other braces here and there (cabrio braces, camber plates, etc...) it feels great. My car has the aero kit, so I deemed going any lower than I already am a bad idea.

What are your goals with the suspension? I think a 22mm sway would be a bit overkill imho. I would start with a rear sway, springs, and if you haven't ditched the run-flat tires yet, ditch them and get some performance oriented ones.

 

Basically I sold a Z06 corvette to buy my mini and while the mini handles well it's nothing like my vette. I had the vette drastically lowered, poly bushings, and stiff bars.

I'm on runflats for now, but I plan to change that come spring. No use in making nice new tires suffer a cold winter here. In winter the roads get nasty, and hunting season starts so I'm mainly in the truck.

I reading this thread: and people seem to have a very high opinion of the rear control arms with heim joints.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...trol-arms.html

 

Ireland Engineering Fixed front camber plates are the number 1 mod IMO...over the rear bar. No more mushrooming strut towers, and you end up with a good amount of camber for the steet or track. Stock front camber is not adjustable and not very much at all.

Get rid of the runflats obviously.

I don't plan on doing springs myself....the car doesn't have enough travel to lower the car on the stock struts IMO. I might do Konis or Bilsteins on stock springs, or coilovers if i had the money.

TSW's are the ONLY springs I would bother with.

I might do rear control arms even though I'm not lowering the car just to get the alignment right and get poly bushings in there. Heim joints would be nice for the track, but possibly miserable the rest of the time.

I plan on an underbrace of some sort, partially for handling, partially to quiet the car's squeaks and rattles down. Maybe the X brace or the Ireland Engineering one.

I'm thinking about a 19mm rear bar, but I'm gonna wait and see after I put my plates on (soon). The balance will be a lot better then.

- Andrew

 

good call on IE fixed plates. It provides strut tower protection and great handling improvement. I have them on my OEM struts with TSW springs. Ride quality for daily driving is actually improved and handling on the track is definately enhanced with less roll.

I dont see the benefit of a STB besides some underhood bling. Most have clearence issues as well since eveyrhing is so tight under the bonnet, especially if you have an aftermarket CAI box.

 

^ agreed. id take a front strut bar for free or super cheap, thats about it. i wouldn't even take a rear one for free since it would just get in the way all the time.

- drew

 

IE fixed plates are pretty cheap for what they are. Sometime in the future I'd like to go coilovers with adjustable plates. So many options.....so limited money.