I am thinking of ordering the torque arm bushing and 19 mm hotchkis rear sway bar based on Way's recommendations here of bang for buck mods. I already installed Konis fsds as I found the ride quality of the non-sport suspension with 16" wheels on my 2011 MCS intolerable. My main concern is with ride quality in upgrading the RSB. I want to cut down on understeer, but don't want to give up the ride quality I gained with the FSDs. I know there is always a compromise but most of the reviews of the 19 mm bar on NAM say ride quality was unaffected, but some say it makes it choppy by reducing independent functioning of the rear struts. Can anyone here who runs a 19mm bar with Koni FSDs comment on the combination with regard to improved handling vs deteriorating ride quality? I cannot make the ride quality worse or the woman will complain about back pain even more, and that is less bearable than understeer. As always the help i get from this forum is much appreciated!

 

Just a few weeks ago I added the FSD and 19MM sway bar combo and absolutely love what it has done. Understeer is a little more pronounced on very agressive corners but not unmanagable. What kind of tires are you running? If they are RF's, that will account for the roughness. There are tons of discussion about RF tires. Our longest cross country to date was 11 hours on the road with no discomfort or fatigue. Could have gone longer but the garage door loomed large. A rough ride is not typical of MINI motoring.

 

Got a 22mm sway bar and Koni FSD on my 06 and love the combo. As mentioned, ditch the runflats and get a puncture kit.

 

My car is only at 8000km so I am still running the contiprocontact ssr RFT 195-55-16s. I did notice a big improvement in ride when I put on FSDs, and going from non-run flat winters to the RFT this spring, I didn't notice too big of a difference. I noticed a lot of people do FSDs and RSB as once as I guess it cuts down on install costs but that also makes it hard to tease out their individual effects.

 

@sidthekid - What kind of improvement did you find with the ride - Firm ? Less body roll? better handling?

 

I have the exact setup. I love it. Get it - Way is absolutely right. TOTALLY transformed the handling and I'd never consider going back. I have my H-Sport on the middle setting and it feels generally neutral now overall slightly leaning on oversteer (which is great). Corners relatively flat. It does, admittedly, feel a little "choppy" on some surfaces, but that's the FSDs working; regardless is firmly planted. The wheel skip just with the FSDs is dramatically reduced. I didn't feel the H-Sport RSBs reduced ride quality significantly, but does definitely stiffen the ride - if you don't like that, well, I suppose, then, yes a little. however, due to the improved handling, even if it did I wouldn't care too much. I don't find Cary to be uncomfortable on long trips at all. In fact, in a couple weeks, will be motoring nearly the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is about 550 miles, with my club mates, the Tar Heel MINI Motoring Club. If it was a miserable drive with the new suspension, I'd never consider going. Get it, you'll not regret it!

 

Dozuki: I considered trading my car in because of how much it skipped over bumps and jarred passengers with the stock suspension. The ride is much better now, the only downsides are you can hear the FSDs working which is odd at first but good for your car and back health, and the other is that initial turn in has a slight bit more body roll if you make turns very quickly but the FSDs adjust right away. With run flats the ride is a lot more comfortable in a straight line with the potholes and cracks that cover Canadian roads, and even with the slight decrease in initial turn in, I can go through corners much faster due to the increase in wheel to road contact especially with mid corner bumps. I recently drove a 2012 Nissan altima and the ride is about the same in comfort but the MINI with FSDs feels more planted and handles much better.

Cary: thanks for your input. I think I will do the RSB along with non run flat tires so that any changes in ride are neutralized, and I will hopefully get a big boost in handling, as I am sure the RFT are ruining handling too.

 

@sidthekid - Thanks for the confirmation as I have been debating to switch from the stock shocks to FSD. Yup, I got the body roll, skipping, swaying left and right when bump or uneven road. I thought my shock or spring might be bad at 40,000 miles but the dealer said they are fine. Still looking to improve the ride and handling. Just wanted some firmness, less body roll like my BMW and not bouncing all over the place.

 

Oh, just intalled the non-run flat Kumho Escta 4x and like it a lot. Less noise, comfortable and feel the contact with the road. Should have replaced the RFT sooner but I don't have issues with the RFT on my BMW like the mini though. May be the Mini is too light and the suspension is not so great.

 

That's step one. Step two and three is 19 or 22MM sway bar (look into the adjustable ones) and FSD's, you'll never look back. BTW, doing both at the same time saves a lot of steps.

 

Thanks Fly'Brick - Yup, I think I need to give it a shot... hopefully the dealer won't give problem with non oem parts upgrade. I'm going schedule with Helix13.com for the installation.

All, great with the feed back and gave me some confidence moving forward. Any ideas on the control arm bushings and end link bushings.

 

Just an afterthought. The short wheelbase of the MINI has a lot to do with that difference. For a benchmark test take it down a gravel road about 25 to 30 MPH. Take an extra dally on your dentures before you do though.

 

Umm! I have a Clubman and it has longer wheel base than the hard top. Any thoughts?

 

My winter tires were 16" runflats, and my summer tires are 17" non RFT. The ride was similar, but the turn-in was better with the runflats. My S had the sport suspension, so I did not notice a difference when I installed a 19mm RSB. I would be suprised if you noticed a difference in ride quality with this RSB. The RSB also has adjustable stiffness, so if you feel uncomfortable, its about 15 minutes to reduce the stiffness. I would ask to have it installed on the stiffest setting, so that you get the most from the bar. You can always back it off if it does not feel right.

I did have a significant idle vibration with the powerflex lower mount bushing insert. There are dozens of guys here that love them, but I pulled it from my car. Supposedly automatics are more sensitive to this, but it is a 10 minute install/removal, and only $50, so why not try it?

 

Do we need to switch out the front say bar too?

 

No need to change the front bar. Increasing the front bar will increase the understeer and make the car sluggish, which is the opposite of desired effects. Just changing the rear bar makes the car better.