I have been trying to figure out a cheap and east way to eliminate some of the understeer that is present in my 03 Cooper S. Any info would be much appriciated

 

Rear Bar

 

rear sway bar... set it to the hardest setting and you'd wish you got that understeer to save you!

h-sport, alta, madness all make very good ones

 

What he said!

Gotta love the sway bar and if you have any "stones", set to the stiffest setting

 

If you want to get rid of SOME understeer cheaply try changing tire pressures. Last year I autocrossed my '02 S on Prada Spec-2's. I found that having less air in the back tires reduced understeer. You can't get any cheaper than that.

 

Cheapest and easiest way to reduce understeer is to adjust air pressure.
according to-
http://www.susquehanna.com/susq/other/stuning.htm#tires

To reduce understeer-
Increase front inflation pressure by 2.5 psi increments
and/or
Decrease rear inflation pressure by 2.5 psi increments

 

Air pressure changes only do so much, and its not enough. Rear bar.

 

Honestly.......The MINI does not understeer drastically. You should be able to make modest changes in you tire pressure to get the car to rotate. If you're getting a ton of understeer it probably has more to do with your driving then your set up.

But yes, a rear bar will technically make the car less prone to understeer.
Stuart

 

>If you're getting a ton of understeer it probably has more to do with your driving then your set up.


As above. No funds needed. Practice turning. :smile: (no offense intended).

 

tighten the nut behind the wheel through...


Driver training courses and track time!

 

get the rear sway,
even with lots of training the car loves to push
even trail braking with the stock suspension does minimal rotating.

 

LOL, thats a funny one.

Try using the RIGHT pedal some more

 

I know where the right pedal is......And no, I cannot remember the last time I was beat by a "modified" Cooper on a handling course. Really, do you think the MINI is a drift car? Remember, the MINI is not rear wheel drive so if your objective is to do donuts in front of the Tasty Freeze then you should reconsider your purchase.

Stuart

 

for a front driver it isn't bad, infact it's alot better than most ffs in drifting...

sway bar, tire pressure, and drivers training all help...

 

I'm of the opinion that there is an optimum tire pressure that maximizes traction. Deviating from that will only produce less traction. Reducing traction in the rear may make the car turn, but it won't hold the road as well and will therefore be slower. Fiddle with your camber, shocks and sway bars instead.

 

Front and rear bar should help.

 

Front and rear will end up cancelling each other out no?


Cheapest way would have to be air pressure (just look at all motorsports how the change tire pressures by as little as 1/4 of pounds to cancel out some under/over stear...but getting a sway bar is a very nice addition to the car and is not expensive...

 

How come in a post a while back, everyone was running higher pressure in the back tires than the front and claiming that reduces understeer. Now the consensus is to run with higher pressure in the front than rears. What's the deal with that?! I don't mean to sound ignorant, but how does tire pressure help with all of this?

 

At my last TDE event, (the driver's edge) 2 people were arguing this fact quite hard...one guy, (he was there selling tires, brakes, rotors, and so on...part of Bobby Archer Racing) and the other was my instructor.

The instructor was saying that with more air in the back, you lessen the contact patch, and it makes it easier to trail brake and allow the rear to spin around...the other guy was saying that if you put less air in the back, you increase the contact patch, therefor allowing the tires to do what they were meant to do. This means that you allow the tire to contort a little, and you get more grip since the threads are helping you turn (if that makes any sense) I like both theories, but I think the latter would eat up your tires really quickly...maybe he meant R compounds since he most sold those...

L

 

Jlm - do you have an opinion on the optimum tire pressure for traction????
I've been wondering about this for a while now. I used to run 32 on all 4. Now I run 35. The thing I noticed most was that my MINI takes off noticeably better from a standstill. MINI recommends 33psi for up to 2 passengers and 38psi for 4 passengers + cargo. 2/3 of my driving involves just me or me and one passenger. But the other third is usually 3 people with cargo or 4 with cargo. Should I stay with 35 in the middle or lean towards the 38 so it's better equipped for the heavier loads when I have them?

I have the 17" Goodyear All-Seaon Runflats.

 

There are several theories out there around tire pressures. Not everyone agrees on this topic and I'm not sure there is neccasarily one right answer. It depends on what kind of driving you are doing. Also, a big part of this debate centers around "cold" vs. "hot" tire temperatures. Depending on the type of driving you are doing you are not always going to have the opportunity to get your tires up to optimal temperature (i.e. Autocross). Here's how I understand it.

Low tire pressures - More friction(grip), more heat build up, more tire flex
High tire pressures- Less friction(grip), less heat build up, less tire flex

If you go to the Kuhmo website they will tell you that if you want to "increase" grip in the front or rear of the car you need to "add" air presssure. There explanation for this is that if you "add" air to a tire then the tire will run at a cooler temperature have better overall grip then a tire that is overheating.

I don't want to sell myself as an expert on this subject and I'm sure the more scientific types can certainly argue my theories but I've seen people running all different pressures across the board. Even the so called "Pros" debate over tire pressures. I like the Mark Daddio (multi time SCCA national champion) approach, it doesn't matter what you use as long as it works.

My .02

Stuart

 

Thanks, Slang. With that said and everyone's opinion is split on this topic, I will going back to all-around even tire pressure. I'll rely on my sport springs and swaybar to deal with the understeer.

 

I think the real confusion about tire pressure stems from the fact that it changes based on the driving you do. Autox is much different environment from a multiple lap road course. Heat doesn't really have much of an affect on the Autox track and from my limited testing, lower tire pressure = more grip and higher tire pressure = less grip. Specifically true if you are using a street tire where more tire pressure will have a tendency to crown the tire providing less grip in the corner or accelerating a FWD car with high pressures on the front.

 

Another great way to decrease understeer and substantially increase overall cornering performance is to add negative camber to the fronts. Camber plates are more expensive than a sway bar, but they allow the car to decrease understeer by greatly increasing the cornering grip of the front tires. The sensation of plowing into a corner is replaced by a feeling that the car is on rails, so you can accelerate through the corner instead of easing off the accelerator (or braking) to shift more weight to the fronts.

 

Easiest and cheapest way? When you are in a corner and experiencing understeer pull E-brake handle. Guaranteed to reduce understeer.