Harsh ride might be better fixed with coilovers that have adjustable damping.

 

Torque steer on my 2010 Mayfair S is gone. Harsh ride is better. Handling on the "Sport Suspension" is better. What you ask did I do? Ditched the 205/45/17 Dunlop 01 Runflats at 38psi. Installed "Sentury" 215/45/17 NON RUNFLATS! Discount/American Tire (USA) set of 4 should run you about $320. Out the door. Includes lifetime balance/rotate every 3,000 miles. Running at 38psi... "W" speed rating. (168 MPH)...one step up from "V" rated oem's.

 

Ditching the runflats is of course the first thing to do.

 

In February Sentury agreed to stop making tires that were copies of TOYOs. Cheap knockoffs in violation of international law: The Chinese way.

 

No doubt that the runflats are totally awful. Bringing them down to 36 psi helps. Unfortunately I bought the car with 4 new runflats mounted. Lord knows I aint throwing them away.

 

I sold the runflats that were on the car when I bought it... I must admit that I was a little surprised that someone was willing to give me cash for them. :D

 

The LCA rear bushes need to be installed correctly aligned. They are stiff in one plane, soft in another. Put them in wrong, they will be stiff where they should be soft (NVH), soft where they should be stiff (bad handling, tire wear) Check they were put in correctly. There are small marks on the bushes. Random alignment is going to do interesting things to the handling. Someone who works on Minis will have a feel for how squishy they should be in each plane. Or, it could be something else.

These cars are not known for bump steer. Something is wrong, and it isn't the design judging by all the happy drivers. Go through everything, again, carefully. If you can't find the issue, take it to an expert. Bend over and pay the main dealer if you can't find a good Mini guy.

 

Holy thread resurrection! I hope Lex got his car fixed and hasn't just been waiting for a solution all these years.

 

:-)


Cheers,

Charlie