Do you think with the addition of the X-Brace, is it necessary to have the M7 RCB or does that help to stiffen the rear chassis area?

 

I'm going to try my best to be polite here, and bite my tongue, and try not to mention anything about placebo effects, like earlier. Oops, I did it again...

Without going into too much detail, the answer is no. The brace you have is all you need. M7 makes some good, functional parts. The RCB just doesn't happen to be one of them.

See all those triangles in the TSW piece? Engineers love triangles. They have dreams about triangles that are so intense, they're afraid to speak about them. One engineer even married a particularly attractive triangle. Triangles are good. Rectangles are not so good Engineers do not dream about rectangles. Even the word "rectangle" is a bit suspect; it's disturbingly similar to the word "rectum".

I'd like to conclude this dissertation by pointing out that things that attach to the chasis are good. Things that don't are not so good.

 

Good to know. Thanks! I will go ahead and uninstall it then. It gets in the way too much for me.

 

Best post EVER ! ! !

 

I swear the RCB made it so the rear end didn't creek or make noises similar to that when leaving parking lots. Prior to installing the RCB, when I pulled out of parking lots or something like that at an angle the rear end would creek. Once I installed the RCB it no longer does that. I will test it again tomorrow when I take it off.

 

It's possible that the M7 brace may, by the way it attaches, be taking out some of the interior creaks and rattles--but don't confuse this with making the car noticeably stiffer from a performance standpoint. In fact, if that brace does make the interior quieter, someone has finally found a use for it, and should be congratulated!

Seriously though, I have a 4 point rollbar in my car, which does much more for rigidity than the M7 RCB. Do I notice it driving around town? No. It doesn't come into play there. Do I notice it on the track? Yes. I the MINI is stiff, but I didn't realize how much the chassis flexed (on the track) until I got the rollbar in. I'll add the TSW x-brace once I have my new exhaust on to finish it off. Interestingly, the tighter my car gets, the noisier it gets...Maybe I need the M7 rear chassis silencer?

 

Lol!

 

To make the car faster on a track you need to be able to rotate the car faster through the corner. Stiffer rear sway allows you to that but you have to become a better drive and be able to catch the car as it rotates. As said earlier you can not lift off the throttle in the corner you need to keep the right foot time at times when you brain is screeming lift. Thats the fun part.
You end up modualting the throttle to more or less drift the rear end of the car through the corner. I spent 2 days with Phil Wicks in his race car and you learn a lot fast. Slicks in the wet makes you learn fast. If you are two stiff for your driving ability you will find out really fast as you will be losing it often and need to soften it back up as you can not catch the car in the corners and will lose the back end. Your times willbe slower as you will be fighting the car to try and keep it straight. Teh stiffer you are the faster the car will rotate and is way different than driving on the street. The part I found interesting is the car will rotate so fast you can be looking out of the windshield at the next corner. If you do you will miss the next corner completely and never catch up tot he rotation. You actually have to look out of the side windows to see the next corner and to get lined up propoerly.
Something you never see unless you are on a track in a prepared race car.
It the hands of someone not experienced it can be very dangerous. Ie. You set the car up stiff and have no problems because you know the set up. I friend takes it for a spin and has no clue about the set up is going to be in trouble. He is going to come into a corner hot and lift off the throttle and rear end will be looking to pass him. If othesr ever drive your car make sure you warn them. My current JCW is stock and can use a stiffer rear bar but I have to factor in how close to the edge do I want to run this car. I feel a lot safer running on the edge in a full prepped face car as you have a full roll cage, fire supression ect. It depends how much of a safty factor you desire.
Good post!

 

I do plan to take a professional driving course at some point. I don't track my car however that is something I would like to do at some point as well, more than likely once I finish school in 4 years. My current and planned mods are to make my car sportier, increasing power and handling for the most part. I am a spirited driver, but not 100% of the time. My MINI is my daily driver although I don't drive my car daily, as I take public and university provided transportation to/from campus. Therefore I drive my car about 25 miles a week on average only to and from the coffee shop for studying and miscellaneous errands around town.

The great advice I have received within this thread means I will take it easy over the next few weeks until I slowly learn the new driving dynamics of my car. Additionally I want to look into signing up for a professional driving course sometime over the summer so I can better understand the dynamics of the car and possible solutions to situations that I may find myself which currently I don't fully understand how or why they may occur.

 

Phil Wicks driving school is where I went. I spent 2 days with Phil in his race car. If he has an event out west this year you can bring yor own car and it is fairly chheap. Like 300 or 400 for the day. High performance handling and driving school. Mine was more racig focused as I rented his race car and Phil for that matter. 2 days and car was around $1600. We burned up $1200 worth of just racing slicks!

 

I definitely can't afford to rent a race car and its professional driver.

 

Not many of us can good sir...

WIth that being said, I usually tag a long with my buddies who part of the more "performance oriented" car clubs such as BMW CCA or Porsche CCS, both of which usually do HPDE (High Performance Driving Events) which put you and your car in the hot seat for time attack laps and whatnot. These are usually timed events against one another, no real danger of hitting someone else, just wrecking yourself.

Every time I show up to one, there are always semi-professional and professional race drivers who are there to support the others, give tips, and even offer to ride along not for extra cash, but to make sure that we are having fun, being safe, and learning something new about our rides.

I have yet to meet the BMW or Porsche guy who won't ride along in a Mini to show me how I can improve. Oh, and these events are BYOT (Bring Your Own Tires) but if you can have a decent time without murdering your tires (haha) these usually cost about $100 to join in for the day. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday at the track

 

The BMWCCA is a fantastic way to start, to get your feet wet. Then, when time and money allows, Phil Wicks is an even better program.

But there is something even more affordable, that can teach you a ton in a short period of time...Autocross! Great place to get your feet wet, you'll learn a TON at relatively slower speeds, where the only thing you'll hit is a plastic cone. I've seen autocross functions for as cheap as 25 bucks a day, many times with free instructors available.

It'll make you that much more comfortable when you do hit the track. In many ways, autocross is actually more difficult than the track. And this comes from someone who really hates autocross (I'm too inpatient for it). But from an affordability standpoint, and how much you can learn, especially when you're just starting out, it's pretty tough to knock it.

 

+1

 

Cool. Thanks for the advise everyone. BMWCCA San Diego Chapter has monthly auto-x at Qualcomm Stadium. Here is some information. I am going to sign up for the Auto-X coming up in April.

I installed the X-Brace and the rear sway bar. The rear end feels more stiff for sure. I haven't had a chance to drive it really hard but it feels stable at cruising speed on the freeway.

 

Hey Checkmate, what was the outcome with the 22mm?