Hey guys,

I have been eyeing these bars for awhile. Are they worth it? Need some opinions.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

Thanks!

 

the rear one, definitely not. the front one can make a difference. i haven't seen that particular one yet though.

- drew

 

First time I have seen that brand...interesting design....
Before buying one, ask yourself "What am I trying to accomplish?".
There is a great discussion, of the various under-car bars on the site, the OMP, Mini Madness/Mason Eng. under car brace, and TSW.
The one pictured bolts to some iffy locations...mostly just to be different I think.

The end results was the
1)TSW bar made the car super stiff, but might have given the car a bit more NVH than many would like on a daily driver, but was great for the track, cost is the highest, but best performance. Also would scrape on some locations ...improved in later versions, and MIGHT not fit with some exhausts.. (newer versions improved on this also, check BEFORE you buy it, but is is a no-compromise solution to getting the car stiff...$$$

2) Mason Eng bar (maker for Mini Madness+Ireland Eng) was pretty good, a tiny bit NVH, but good added stiffness..Middle cost, middle $$
3)OMP, was minimal to nearly 0 NVH, with a little bit of NVH. lowest cost, lowest change...$
The M7 undercar brace/style of brace is another one to consider, but...
I'm not a fan off...the flat bar stock, rather than tubular or angled, with bolts are not the best for stiffness...the others are welded at the corners, and bolted to sub-frames.
The one above is bolted to at least one mounting location that I can see, that does not do anything...but on e-bay, with cheap imports, no US support, and copycat products, you get what you pay-for!! Heck, they even say if it is broken, you must spend $$ to ship it to them in Malaysia....they will not pay for it is is damaged in shipping....they could ship the same broken bar 10 times, till someone keeps it...after all. you are paying for shipping both ways!!
All meets a need, you have to decide how much $$$ to spend, how many speed bumps you want scraping the bottom of your car, and how comfy you want it....
Also look at how you drive...some folks that drive with finesse will notice small changes, some more ham-handed drivers will not...IMO they are subtle, kinda like the cabrio braces on a regular MINI.
IMO first invest in the driver...and when you can routinely drive the car at it limits, them spend the $$ to push the edges of the cars limits...but if you want to spend some $$, please do, keep the MINI aftermarket parts suppliers alive....but buy it from a US vendor, not some place knocking off cheap junk of unknown quality....

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...wer-brace.html
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-thoughts.html

 

I'll be installing my IE bar (similar to Mason and Mini Mania) in the next week or two and will make a thread with results. I've read that many people report a little bit less NVH actually. Oldrick has a good write-up.

- drew

 

I would save your money. That rear brace is more of a hinder than anything else, I've sold some used ones for $45 before.

As for the front brace that is similar to the TSW X brace we sell, but since is just a ladder design it won't benefit the car nearly as well at the X design. Plus that one goes all the way to the front ball joints so your going to loose more ground clearence.

 

All of these replies were great. Thank you. I am going to hold off on braces for the time being, and invest my money into some go-fast and maintenance pieces first.

 

OMP-cheap, easy, effective, that's the one I got and I love it.

 

I have the Ultra Racing Brace on my R52 07 MCS Vert...I paid $179 Shipped from a Vendor in New York.

It works fine with the IE Fixed Camber Plates...It took less than 15 minutes to install...my Vert doesn't vibrate or shake everytime I hit a bump...

 

Personally, I'm on a tight budget...I just can't spend $400 plus for bracing when I have other needs (Pulley, Rear Sway Bar, Exhaust, Koni FSD, R60 Countryman MCS ALL4, etc).

I checked and researched all the braces before I purchased the Ultra Racing Brace...I got under my friends' cars...rode in their cars...I checked all the vendors, including GTT...shipping killed me there...

Ultra Racing is known for specializing in chassis especially with the drifters.
The brace covers the front of the car to the same area where the GTT Mid Brace is.

I don't bad mouth vendors...whatever you choose...it will work for your MINI..

 

Thanks for the input inmini

 

It could really use some triangulation... That design is going to off very, very little resistance in terms of the two sides of the car moving longitudinally in opposite direction. Also the way the longitudinal tubes mount up to the tube at the bottom of the picture puts that bottom tube in bending. If it is 1in OD like it appears to be then you need a really high wall thickness to balance that out. All that aside, the construction of street cars does a very good job of resisting this motion, especially on the underside.

That out of the way anything you put under the car is mostly going to be in tension, which goes well with the rectangular tube layed the way it is. It has a very high area moment of inertia in the latitudinal direction of that picture, so good choice there. Again though, the lack of triangulation hurts it, but not quite as much as it does longitudinally.

SO, if their target (or your goal) is to increase strength in the latitudinal direction then this is a good piece. In this case the price matches the engineering.

 

Hi, sorry may I borrow your thread for awhile...

I went to my friend shop and he purpose some bars for my car. Some info abt my MINI, its a 2004 MINI ONE without sport suspension so it dont have any bracket for rear sway bar. My friend did a prototype for me he said will help a bit since my car dont have any rear sway bar but I'm not sure whether those bar will do anything good. Here is the photo, please comment?

Thank you