Alright guys, I've done a bit of suspension work already and I really like the setup that I have. The ride is a little bumpy (really that's ok with me) but if I was to improve it would you recommend koni yellows (I have stock shocks on NM springs) I think coilovers would be a waste of $$ - I'll (probably) never track/autocross the car.

 

I see people talking about autocross. What exactly goes on with this ? Sorry in advance, I'm a dirt tracker. We only make left turns but crashing is starting to get old as I get older.

 

Autocross is a great low budget way to get into technical driving competition. It's done on a large lot, race track, or airfield and there are safety regulations on how far the course(made of traffic cones), can be from obstacles so it's very low risk. Some paint damage may occur if you hit a cone hard enough. Here's a video of an autocross run by a friend of mine:

It's a ton of fun and minimal cost, wear, and risk.

 

Well that's like like fun. Beats the hell out of flipping a sprintcar end over end and having a headache for week

 

It certainly does. You can drive your daily to the event. Do a quick safety inspection, set your tire pressures or suspension settings if desired, Pay $25-35 and get multiple runs in. best part, no 2 courses are the same so it's a new obstacle each event.

 

On a car like the mini that has a very stiff and solid chassis its is pretty much bling. On a lot of older generation cars with a lot of chassis flex then it does make a difference.

Want to prove it to yourself. Do a precise measurement from one shocktower to the other (I mean precise down to the mm or 16th of inch). Even better get a bit of string and string it as tight as it goes from one shock tower to another. Now jack the car up from under the front wheel (not the jack point). Jack it up as high as it goes. Now measure the amount of flex under load by remeasuring between the shock towers, or looking at your piece of string. In the mini there is barely any perceptable change.

If you want to get really fancy, rig up a wire or string as above, take off the bonnet, set up a go pro and go and run on the bumpiest road you know at high speed, and look how much the string sags or stretches.

A strut tower is trying to prevent flex between the shock towers under load. The truth is on the mini there is virtually none.

So it is mainly bling, but pretty nice bling at that! It does have some additional benefits in strengthening the top of the strut tower.

 

I go with EBC green stuff. I am throwing on a TCE 4pot BBK but not just yet. The EBC def has more 'bite' than OEM pads. Honestly if you're looking for more reponsiveness some SS lines and EBC pads alone will blow OEM out of the water in terms of feel. Not too useful when it comes to the best brake fluid though since I'm not changing that until I do the BBK.

 

I would say strut plates are worthwhile simply to keep the strut towers from eventually 'mushrooming', but bracing the struts....debatible on benefits.

 

Bracing the struts does nothing on an MCS, those rear body interior braces are worthless too. Underbody bracing, like the TSW brace or better yet the full cusco underbody setup does make a difference. But you'll only feel it on the track, not worth it for a street only car.

 

I'm not disagreeing with you, and honestly I bought mine for the bling, but it makes you wonder why they put them on the MINI Challenge cars. Are they only good for pure track cars?

I'm thinking about the TSW brace but I've heard it rubs on speeds bumps and such.

 

Bouncing off a curb at 120mph is way different than just cornering hard. When you start generating some decent grip everything flexes to a certain extent. Typically the cage is welded to tie the front strut towers together but if the mini challenge cage doesn't do that then it's possible they see a benefit from the strut tower brace. It's probably not much of a benefit though.

 

I was thinking of the green stuff. green stuff it is.

 

Those cars have a full cage; I doubt that front brace is doing much if anything. I have a four point in my car, and it does help. These cars really don't flex much in the front.

 

From all I have read, the strut tower mushrooming was only a problem on the Gen1 cars. I'm in agreement that an FSB is going to be 99% bling on the Mini. Just looking at the geometry, there's not a lot of distance from the firewall to the strut towers.

My next mod will probably be buying myself some camber plates for Christmas.

 

We're in the suspension forum in a thread talking about suspension mods- but since you asked, I found EBC Yellows, WMW SS brake lines, and a flush with Motul RBF600 to be a great combination for starting to get into track days. There's lots of threads by some of the dedicated track rats on best pads for track.

EBC Reds seem to be a favorite for street for great performance and low dust. So far I'm sticking with the OEM for street until my 3 yr/36K is up.

 

Camber plates is money well spent.

 

Not if you go slowly.

 

Any thoughts on how to reduce the "bump steer" characteristics of the front suspension? I find that hitting a bump in the middle of a high speed corner causes quite a change in direction that needs steering correction.

 

What suspension are you on? I never had issues on stock suspension. If it's coilovers, you need to adjust your ride height and/or springs/spring rates.

 

You're too low. If you run these cars too low you get into the crappy part of the toe curve and bumpsteer gets worse. Either raise the car or install a bumpsteer correction kit. Usually involves a longer (taller) outer ball joint and a different tie rod end to correct suspension geometry on a lowered mini. Not sure who sells then though. On the mini it's more likely to involve flipping the tie rod so the rod goes down through the hub. Not sure what you would do about the ball joint though.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using NAMotoring

 

His sig says "shopping for coilovers" which tells me he hasn't lowered the car at all. On that note, my suspension is 100% stock and I feel the car has way too much bump steer as well. "You're too low" doesn't apply.....

 

I'll preface this by saying your post is probably somewhat rhetorical and for entertainment, rather than for serious discussion on the "why"; I have nothing better to do at the moment sitting here on the couch; and ALL of my mods, experimenting, and most of my disposable income have gone entirely into suspension and getting power to the ground more effectively (i.e. Quaife TBD recently installed, Vorshlag plates, etc). I still have a lot of work and learning to do and money to be spent.

Having said that, a more powerful car is way more exciting on the street compared to an entry-level competent suspension setup which would get you quicker lap times at the track or autocross - which I know you know due to the number of track days you run. Or on the high end, a $4K setup from a race shop probably feels amazing on the street (or bumpy and ill-suited for pot holes and expansion joints, if it was really designed for competition), but a relatively cheap tune is quickly accessible, requires little to no installation labor, and is immediately felt.

A "relatively" small number here are serious about HPDEs and/or autocross. Sure, there are members here that are serious about competition, but how many compared to the number that log in here on a daily basis? This is why the Suspension section sees relatively little traffic.

This has turned into a great thread though w/ lots of info and discussion on the topic!

 

I kinda worked both angles (Engine/Suspension) at the same time but I did it to construct a whole that was the best Mini I could make. Yes, if $$$ is limited, go suspension first and probably followed by a limited slip dif... THEN work on engine knowing that single parts and pieces do NOT add substantial HP gains. Finally when all the pieces and parts are in place, a tune.

 

On my 2013 MCS Roadster, it would skip when hitting bumps at high speed in a turn. By skip I mean jump to the outside. By installing a NM front strut bar and then the NM springs it is gone. But I would say that after the strut bar that it was gone if not mostly gone.

 

10 points to InjectedGT for reading the sig

Suspension is so far stock except for 22mm RSB. The stock suspension does very well on the track and smooth roads, but is too harsh on sharp bumps. I suspect part of the problem is the stiffness of the front dampers in reacting to sharp bumps. Would "digressive" valved dampers (Ohlins) or Koni FSDs help with this?

45 series tires probably don't help either. I had a CMS4 as a loaner for a few days and it had a notably softer ride due to both different dampers/springs and also 60 series tires.