Alright, after getting the Magnaflow exhaust, Alta Intake (althought I'm still waiting for my backordered poly hose, Randy!), and the H-Sport springs this summer, I'm ready for my next round of mods in preparation for some NASA racing this spring.

I've just about convinced myself to go for the H-Sport adjustable control arms, really necessary with my lowering springs, but I'm wondering if an upgraded sway bar, such as the H-Sport, would be a worthwhile and necessary improvement at this point. I'm very satisfied with the amount of understeer dialed out with the springs, although I have heard great things about the sway bars on the market. Does anybody have a combination of lowering springs and a sway bar? I have other things I could spend my 200 bucks on if the swaybar wouldn't make a huge improvement.

Also, at this point, I'm stil using my MCS as a daily driver....how does the swaybar affect the ride?

Thanks for ALL of your help!

Brian

 

I have a madness rear sway bar on my MCS for over a year now.
My car is also a daily driver.
The car has a neutral feel to it ..now (no under or over steer).
It's a pleassure to drive
I do not auto-x or race so....I only feel the benefits of this sway bar when I drive a bit aggressively during hard cornering.
I do not have my car lowered.... as I use 215/45-17 tires on a 17 x 7 rim and lowering would result in .... fender rubbing.

Peace,
D

 

I spoke to randy about the adjustable arms last sunday. I am not planning on racing my mini, so my situation may be differant than yours. Anyway, had the h-sports installed on sunday as well as the pulley. Yes they do help some but what I wanted to know was wether I could exchange the arms adjust the camber and net the same result (neutral handling) as I would with the bar. The answer was no it would not be nearly as effective as a bar would due to the dynamics in the corner. The bar keeps both wheels planted in the corner yada, yada. Since I will not be racing I will buy the h-sport tubular adjustable bar and probably leave it on the softest setting. I got a ride with a guy who had the bar and it does make a differance. I believe you end up with about 1.4neg camber in back with the h-sports. Within acceptable limits for aggressive driving.
HTH, Fletch

 

Sway bars are the one suspension mod with almost no down side. They don't harshen the ride like springs, don't cause you to feel every bump in the road like high $$$ shocks. That being said if I was racing I would want control arms to get some camber in the rear, but not as much as I would want negative camber in the front. If you are happy with your lack of oversteer, go with front camber plates. They are $420 from Randy, but you can make up the extra by not cording just one Hoosier.
Chris

 

I beg to differ on Sway bars stiffing the ride. From my VW experiance when I added larger front and rear bars the ride was always stiffer.

 

Good call.^^^ A sway bar will create a little more bumpiness in the car by tying the two front wheels together via a torsion bar (the swaybar). Most bars are close to the original diameter to notice.

 

Go for the sway bar first. It's amazing what it'll do for your handling. As you're talking about racing the car, the camber produced by the lowering springs turns out to be a good thing.

 

I agree, I have both a 22mm swaybar (Progress) and adjustable rear lower control arms (RDR). You don't need the uppers as much since all they change is toe. The lower control arms let you tweak the camber which can help with agressive cornering, but the swaybar gives you anti-roll which in most peoples opinion is more important.

 

I have the H Sports and the Madness swaybar now for about 5k miles. The combination is great, a very neutral feel. I was also considering the rear control arms primarily for tire wear. After 5k miles, I have not noticed any increased tire wear. I may later decide to to this for AutoX or track reasons, but not worth the expense at this point for my purposes.

 

BrtshRceGr,

I have the H-sport springs and rear adjustable control arms with madness rear swaybar set to firm-Centerline RPM wheels 17x7 with Yokohama AVS ES100 215/45-17 tires. You have to consider your entire set up and how everything will work together and what you want to use the MCS for.

>>I've just about convinced myself to go for the H-Sport adjustable control arms, really necessary with my lowering springs, but I'm wondering if an upgraded sway bar, such as the H-Sport, would be a worthwhile and necessary improvement at this point. I'm very satisfied with the amount of understeer dialed out with the springs, although I have heard great things about the sway bars on the market. Does anybody have a combination of lowering springs and a sway bar? I have other things I could spend my 200 bucks on if the swaybar wouldn't make a huge improvement.

Given your current set of mods and situation I would suggest:

First consider an adjustable rear swaybar 22mm with three adjustment holes- select the middle setting and drive your MCS to get a feel for it. If you feel that with your current wheels and springs your handling is close to neutral-not much understeer in the corners at speed then that is what you are looking for. RDR, Madness, H-sport all make good rear swaybars- prices and colors do vary. H-sport also makes a competition tubular rear swaybar which is lighter in weight. Any of these bars should work for you. No need to change the front swaybar. Don't go with a setting on the rear swaybar that is too stiff. Less stiff is a better place to start.

See how this all works in your car before you add the rear adjustable control arms- while they are helpful for adjusting your rear negative camber, you probably don't really need that upgrade depending on how much negative camber you want to keep and which wheels you have. An alignment shop can still do some adjustment on your negative camber after you have done your H-sport spring upgrade but they can do adjustments more easily with the help of the rear adjustable control arm. Stick to stock negative rear camber settings for now- roughly negative one to negative 1.5 degrees in the rear will probably work for you.

Good luck.