I just bought a 2008 Cooper S (R56) and am contemplating adding either a front sway bar or the front strut tower brace. I was told by the service guy at my local Mini dealership that the front Strut Tower brace would be the best choice of the two. Can anyone enlighten me on the pros and cons of the two and which you would recommend? If you added either of the two would you also beef up the rear sway bar? FYI, I am completely new to the motoring experience/modifications world so please don't get too technical in your responses. Thanks.

 

First, welcome to NAM and MINI ownership!

The important thing is deciding what you want out of the modifications, since the two modifications you're talking about do two very different things.

The strut brace is meant to increase the stiffness of the body by tying the two strut towers together. I have a strut brace on my '06, and I can't say that it makes a huge difference, even with the inherent added flexibility of the convertible body.

As for the front swaybar, your car should already have one. If people change the front sway bar at all (which is not a very common mod), they usually go with a smaller one in order to reduce understeer and make the handling more neutral. Far more common is to install a *larger* sway bar on the rear to do the same thing.

For a single modification, I would go with a larger sway bar in the rear. Next would be the strut brace, not so much for stiffness but rather to beef up the upper strut mount area (the first-gen cars were prone to bending there, but I don't know if it's still a problem with the R56.) A smaller front sway bar would be way down on my list, after lighter wheels, coilover shocks, and adjustable control arms in the rear in order to be able to adjust the rear camber.

 

Yea, What he said! Good Infor Scott

 

A brace has a different function than a sway-bar. The R56 has a rigid chassis body negating the need for a bolt-on tower brace; get one if it pleases you aesthetically. For the brace to be effective it would need to be triangulated with other supports.

The sway-bar is a suspension component that augments strut springs. OE sports suspension has stiffer/larger diameter sway-bars front and rear for example. I recommend high performance driving instruction if you don't understand suspension dynamics. You will be able to make informed decisions when you possess the tools of personal insight and experience.

 

I wouldn't bother with changing the front swaybar. Alot of people like the front strut brace, but the gain is very minimal. Save your money and go with a rear swaybar, it's the best bang for the buck out of ALL suspension mods.

Also since your Knoxville, come on down to Atlanta and we'll fix you up with any mods or service you need.

 

As delivered , you need a stiffer REAR bar to reduce the excessive under-steer. Several folks have good 19mm bars. My bias, get a bar with forged ends, not welded. H&R is good. I am sure there are others. If you increase the front bar, you will severely reduce your cornering ability, but never loose the tail! The stiffer front bars for sale are for race where the rear bars and spring rates have all been changed.

A STB is useless. Bling. Read the threads. Modern cars are stiff enough already.

 

Thanks for all of your comments. They were all very helpful and make perfect sense. The only thing I'm left struggling with is why the service guy from my local Mini dealership would tell me that an FSB would yield noticeable improvements in cornering. Does Mini (corporate) train there service people on the physics of cornering or the design of the suspension before they are put into this role? I'm guessing not. This dealership has only been open for two months so I'm guessing they just hired locally from another dealer or auto shop.