Week 2 of ownership... pulley is on, intake too, exhaust arrives tomorrow, the car seems even more fun than when I got it.

Had the Alta swaybar arrive on Friday, delayed installing due to complex instructions, got a wild hair tonight to put it in, at 9pm, wife in her bathrobe sticks her head out into the garage and queries what the heck I am doing...

Anyways, an hour later its on, set to stiffest setting. The stock bar had the passenger side bushing crimped when removed, apparently at the factory when assembled. I thought the car was handling weird, and not up to snuff before, maybe a Friday before beer final assembly.

Anyways, new bar on, wheels on and torqued, test drive time. First sweeping curve in the neighborhood (hope everyone is safe in bed, bad Mini!) and oh... my... gawd... The car feels at least as tight as my Evo did, I am sliding over to the door panel, no understeer noticeable, more handling than I have butt-grip on the seat. Major improvement.

I have to say that now the pulley swap is a toss-up with the swaybar in sheer grin factor. Both together are more fun than I should be allowed to have. I highly recommend it if you haven't yet done it.

 

Just keep the DSC on until the tires warm up

X2

 

Finally! Someone who agrees with me. I've said it a billion times, if I had to pick just one mod the sway bar would get my vote every single time.

Paul

 

Randy is doing both, pully and rear sway bar, as well as intake, ECU, throtle body, plugs, wires, etc. in Vegas.

My question is do I have to drive it back OR can I DRIVE it back -- any breakin period needed?

Earl

 

there is no break in period for the pulley or intake if that is what u are asking

 

>>Randy is doing both, pully and rear sway bar, as well as intake, ECU, throtle body, plugs, wires, etc. in Vegas.
>>
>>My question is do I have to drive it back OR can I DRIVE it back -- any breakin period needed?

Break in period? Are you kidding Earl? Like any of us would slow down for another break in period.
Nope- no break in period- you did your time the first 1250 miles.

Go out and knock yourself out. Just fill the gas with premium and go for it. Be sure to have your friends hold your camera and take your picture with smiley face when you return with Randy from the post pulley test drive. No joke- major excitement and much better than the Tower of Terror at Universal Studios.

OK folks- reality check here.
You can do all the performance power mods you like but to really get the full benefit you must balance out the rest of the MINI with some good wheels/tires, better suspension, and comfort mods-like shift ****, short shifter and harnesses.

The Rear swaybar done right-try the medium or middle setting first-helps to reduce the natural MINI's understeer. The closer to neutral you can get it to handle the easier it will be for you to enjoy driving your MINI at the limit.
Heck, you don't really need to add much power to appreciate this quality-that's why some people say that it should be the first mod on one's list. The only problem I see there is that in normal driving you really don't push the MINI around corners hard enough to appreciate the rear swaybar.

Next step is go out and spend some time at a High performance driving school learning about how to gain more skill when driving your MINI at speed. Be fast and safe.

 

>>
>>Finally! Someone who agrees with me. I've said it a billion times, if I had to pick just one mod the sway bar would get my vote every single time.
>>
>>Paul

Oh don't worry Paul, the message has always been loud and clear, the sway bar is THE ultimate mod that is just SWEEET. The pulley is all right, I mean, when you first get it, it's not like your car becomes a ROCKET, the powerband is just more stronger earlier on, which is great too, but the sway bar... can't wait for that.

 

Maybe I'm abnormal, but I expect to need the swaybar for daily driving. I always take the back way to work that includes a twisty road that I take at the fastest safe(?) speed possible. My H-Sport package is being installed while we speak...can't wait.

As for break-in, I think it's imperative that you take your MINI to the local Home Depot on a Sunday night when there'e no one in the parking lot and see what she'll do.

 

People always go for the power mods first.

Make the car handle better.

New rims (lighter - less unsprung weight) and tires can make a world of difference.
Suspension mods are always nice (sway for the MCS is a must).
Brakes.

Then - learn to drive better.

After that go for the power. It's not always how fast you go, but how much speed you can carry through the turns!

 

Couldn't agree more with y'all!

My 03 MCS powertrain is still without mods.
Did two mods to the drivetrain, and love both of them:
got the Alta 22mm rear anti-swat bar (stiffest setting),
and got Eagle F1 rubber in 205 size on my 16" v-spokes
(to replace the SP5000 runflats)

I can't say which of those two mods I'd recommend more.
I had my car on the track with old sway bar and new sway bar,
but not with new rubber yet. I'd say for track driving the sway bar is an absolute must. I also really like it in everyday driving! The rubber swap for me is an absolute must for everyday driving!

Glad I did both! Eventually I'll get around to power mods, in teh meantime I'm enjoying the handling mods.

 

Forgot to mention that my first mod was a set of Rota Slipstreams and 215/45-16 Azenis from R-speed... saved 13#s per corner over the S-lites and Dunlop runflats. Adding these tires to the swaybar makes for grip that I haven't managed to exceed... yet. We'll see what happens at next month's autocross.

 

So is there a negative effect on ride quality at all?
If this cures understeer, why wouldn't MINI put this kind of sway bar on in the first place? I can't see it costing any more then the one they do put on.

Sorry, i don't know much about suspension.

 

>>So is there a negative effect on ride quality at all?
>>If this cures understeer, why wouldn't MINI put this kind of sway bar on in the first place? I can't see it costing any more then the one they do put on.
>>
>>Sorry, i don't know much about suspension.

In principle, it reduces the independence of movement of the two rear wheels so I would think it would make the ride harsher over bumpy roads.

Those, with moded sway bars: any really noticeable harsher ride on 'normal' city roads???

(By the way, one of the best explanations I've seen for how a (anti)sway bar works is this one:

http://www.houseofthud.com/cartech/swaybars.htm

 

>>If this cures understeer, why wouldn't MINI put this kind of sway bar on in the first place? I can't see it costing any more then the one they do put on.
>>

Here's what I've read - I'm no expert, just relaying something I read a while back - please tell me if this is not true.

The stock understeer is lawyer-induced. The courts consider an understeering car to be inherently safer. If Joe Average loses traction in an understeering car he's more likely to end up pointing forward (more or less) and might have a better chance of steering the car clear of hazards (and innocent bystanders) and/or regaining control. If the car is a$$-happy and the rear end swings round first poor untrained Joe won't know what to do and his odds of coming out of it unscathed are about as good as a flip of a coin. Car manufacturers would rather not take the chance of being blamed for the latter - building what may be preceived as an inherently "unsafe" car - so they engineer in some understeer.

So, experts, is this anywhere near the mark?

 

Well, with the cure for understeer comes the shift towards oversteer. The goal is neutrality which is not too hard to achieve with this car for the speeds you can reach until you reach its limits for most people. The manufacturers prefer you understeer in emergency situations since the first inherent thing most people do is let off the gas and brake that shifts weight toward the front wheels which are slipping. If you have a stiffer rear sway bar, the rear essentially will have less traction, allowing the mini to rotate more, but you have to be careful to know how to handle the car in a situation where the rear breaks loose, especially when you guys put it on the stiffest setting.

So to reiterate what X2 said, " Just keep the DSC on until the tires warm up." :smile:

Edit: Kurvhugr that is correct! (I suppose it takes me more than 10 minutes to write a post, haha)

_________________
-Anto. 2003 MINI Cooper S DS/B Bought 2/9/03. 16" R84 X-lite, DSC, MFSW, H/K System. It's All Excellent.
Mods: Pilo Racing Intake 5/24. Alta 15% Reduced Boost Pulley 7/10. Quicksilver Cat-Back Exhaust 8/18.

 

I have both the rear sway bar and the 19% pulley. You're right they are both AWESOME and I highly recommend both.

RaceCarDriver

 

>>>>
>>>>The pulley is all right, I mean, when you first get it, it's not like your car becomes a ROCKET.


If you switch from the 15% pulley to the 19% it will become a rocket.

RaceCarDriver

 

Are you gonna get endlinks if you're going to use the stiffest setting? :smile:

 

>>>>So is there a negative effect on ride quality at all?
>>>>If this cures understeer, why wouldn't MINI put this kind of sway bar on in the first place? I can't see it costing any more then the one they do put on.
>>>>
>>>>Sorry, i don't know much about suspension.
>>
>>In principle, it reduces the independence of movement of the two rear wheels so I would think it would make the ride harsher over bumpy roads.
>>
>>Those, with moded sway bars: any really noticeable harsher ride on 'normal' city roads???
>>
>>(By the way, one of the best explanations I've seen for how a (anti)sway bar works is this one:
>>
>>http://www.houseofthud.com/cartech/swaybars.htm
>>
>>

Not under most circumstances. When going straight ahead and running into an expansion joint for example, there is essentially no effect of the bar on ride. If only one wheel is affected (pothole etc..) then there is some effect, but in case of a pothole it may actually equal out some of the force of the pothole on the car, and it will not necessarily make the ride crashier. Only if you go over bumps in a curve woudl I expect a negative effect.
In my practical driving experience I cannot tell a negative effect of the thicker bar I have (stiffer), only a very positive effect on cornerning.

 

do you know of any shop in nj. that mod work can be competently done .am in ac will travel. want ecu pulley sway bar+. have 2002 s type&loving it. had 3type 1s & raced. type2 is a wow. HELP! contact jwga1923@aol.com nullnull

 

Funny I almost made the same comment yesterday but since I've been plugging teh 19% so much I decided not to. But I do second the above quote!

 

If there is understeer and oversteer what exactly is "neutral"? What does the car do when you exceed the friction coefficient of the tires? Slide laterally with all four?

 

Jimmyg,

There is a good aftermarket tuner located in Philadelphia. It's called Helix Minisports. Check out their website.


Has anyone put a rear sway bar on a MC instead of a MCS? Just curious if the benefits would be as noticeable? I would imagine that they would be but I thought I would ask.

 

I put the Helix one on my Cooper, and yes - it absolutely is noticeable. There are a few Cooper owners that have done so.

 

SO the question is, how much does the handling shift towards oversteer? Does the car understeer *less* or does it oversteer now?? On a high speed sweeper, when the car slides, do the rear wheels lead, or the fronts? On tight switch-backs? I'll argue that 95% of drivers can get themselves out of an understeering situation, but the rear coming around freaks people out and they do the wrong thing.

And ultimately, sh*t happens on the road... you're coming around a blind corner, and there's something in the middle of the road... and you have to hit the brakes hard... mid corner... what happens??

That's why mfg. dial in understeer... to save people's lives.

For the guys running a rear bar (at the stiffest setting), I hope you've run at least a few auto-crosses, so you know what happens at the limit or in a panic situation, and know how to catch the car, if the rear comes around...