Hey all !

So I'm looking at the rear sway bars at the moment and can't seem to make up my mind. I'd like to top off my street setup with a nice rear sway bar so i'd appreciate your opinion on this topic.

Primary use : spirited street driving, very occasional recreative track. I mean like once or twice every summer, there's a BMW event I attend where most people take their daily drivers on the track and have fun. It is not competitive at all.

Current setup : 2010 Cooper S Hatchback, H&R Street coilovers, OEM sport sway, h-sport camber rear links, OZ ultraleggeras wrapped in hankook V12 tires, Hawk HPS pads.

So what have you been using and how did you like it ? I am tempted by the H-sport 19mm for their greasable bushing

 

19mm isn't really far off from the 17mm stock bar. I say go big or go home. I went with the 25mm Tarett Swaybar because there is no other bar with the best and most adjustability.

 

 

harsh ride ?

 

DAMN! That is sexy!

 

I have the same coil overs that you have. I'm running a Hotchkis H-Sport 25mm competition rear sway bar and I love it! It's set on the middle adjustment setting. If I lose traction, my rear will start to slide slightly before my front so it's perfectly balanced with no under steer.

 

Any of you can comment on ride quality/comfort with a ''race'' oriented sway bar ? Any change what so ever ?

I chose street components to modify my Cooper as it is a daily driver and do not want to compromise too much comfort.

 

It's not a harsh ride but I notice that the rear does feel more planted so that alone is a huge benefit in the MINI platform.

 

Another vote for the 1" hotchkis bar (oops, I mean 25.5 mm). Its light and adjustable. I'm sure that you can find a setting that will suit your driving style.

I had changed my sport bar to an H&R 19 mm bar (actually measured 18 mm). I noticed little difference. When I changed to the Hotchkis bar, I noticed.

Many people will recommend skipping the 19 mm bar in the R56, going right to the 22 mm bar. The 1" bar is similar in stiffness to the 22mm bar.

Your choice will also be affected by the spring rates on your car. If your springs rate are different than stock (or the relationship between front and rear stiffness is different), then this will also change the balance of the car.

Have fun,
Mike

 

I vote for the HSport 25.5 hollow on middle setting.

 

well ... it seems like a very popular bar ... I guess I'll go with the family.

I forgot to mention that I live in Quebec, Canada where we have a cold winter with snow and ice, -30 celsius and everything.

I already swap coilovers in favor of the OEM sport shocks for the winter, should I do the same for the sway bar ? I'd sure like to skip this part...

 

You probably don't need to swap out the RSB, but maybe you will end up softening it up one notch for the winter. Only one way to find out....

Have fun,
Mike