I have posted problems with my mod before and I think I have them worked out somewhat. My mods are 18" 35 series wheels and right now I am running eibach springs no rear sway. I had kw coilovers on with a h-sport rear sway but could not get the ride dialed in (but that is another story). Here is the issue that faces me now (maybe it is a normal issue and is all part of the driver). Going around twists and curves at constant speed is fine but I am finding that when semi-sharp changes in acceleration or deceleration the car wants to change the "line". It usually goes into an understeer situation (going to the outside of the curve) on acceleration. I will put the sway back on next week but I want to find out if this is a normal situation or could it be a tow in/out problem.I want to work out the issue (if any) before changing the sway bar again. Thanks for any help

 

Anyone??

 

I would suggest putting the rear bar back in and getting a proper alignment. Make sure the check for bent or dammaged rear control arms. If there are no visual defects and the alignment doesnt cure it I dont know. Its a hard call without driving the car. What may feel like understeer to one person might feel normal to another. So many variables.

 

When ever you get 'lost' with suspension tuning, you should return everything to stock or some previously defined, easy to find, base line. Even the pros get lost.

Why on earth did you remove your rear bar?

What is your current spring/damper set-up?

18" wheels...35 series??? What is the width? Are front and rear tires the same size? I've seen a few install larger rear tires on a front driver for looks...definately not the path to good handling, however.

It is no surprise to read you're getting understeering conditions upon drop throttle and full throttle applications.

 

Removing the rear sway bar would greatly increase the amount of understeer. Try putting that back on to start with.

 

Uh, think about it.

Why do people install a stiffer rear sway bar? And you have no sway bar?

Hello?

 

Yikes - reinstall your rear sway bar pronto!

What was the problem with the KW coilovers?

 

It's been known to use the rear swaybar as an alignment tool for
poor customer service at various stores.

 

Put the rear sway bar back on right away. I think the stiffest setting works the best, but some prefer the softer setting. Try them both and decide for yourself. In either case, the addition of the rear sway bar has a dramatic positive effect on handling, and is particularly effective in reducing/eliminating understeer. It is usually suggested as the first step in improving handling, even before springs and struts.

 

Well I have the stock one on . But to answer a couple of questions and maybe define the problem better. I had the KWs and the H-sport rear sway on and I had a very scary handling issues. I had very poor handling at anything over 90 MPH straight and turns felt like I was on ICE. So I took off the KWs and rear sway but still had the 18" s on and still had the problem so I put on the Eibachs and still problems... IT boiled down to having 50+ PSI in the tires which I thought the alignment place should have checked (but I should have checked it as well). So after lowering the pressure to 36 PSI most of the problems were resolved. Now I have been "learning to drive" the car and I noticed the understeer. I am running TOYO Proxy 4s 215 35/18 and the springs brought the car down a little more than the stated value of 1"...more like 1.25. So I will try putting on the H-sport again and check the alignment. Maybe I push the car to hard in turns??? I came from a car that had little power/handling and maybe the increase inpower is causing me to push it to hard into turns? BTW I do plan on lessons as soon as I can set some up. If I can get this set-up to work I may sell my KWs and later on go for PSS9s. But I want to make the current set-up work before moving on.

 

Don't over drive the car. Every car has limitations. The Mini is not a Ferrari, which also has limitations.

Try setting the tire pressure at 33-34psi cold front. If your finding the back end still a bit twitchy, try a 1/16" toe in. You can control high speed stability very nicely in the back end, rather than the front, with toe alone. Choose your spring/damper/sway bar mix, set up the front geometry the way you like - nothing too aggressive, and then play with rear toe.

I prefer to set my cars up this way; I can get the camber and toe I like for the amount of response and bite I'm looking for up front. Any twitchyness - with in reason - I eliminate at the back end with toe, camber, and, sway bar adjustments. More toe in and or more neg camber in back will reduce oversteering characteristics.

 

Good advice about not over driving the car.

My previous setup worked very well up to 90+ speeds, and the car was very clear about it: "Don't mess with me at this speed - I will be most unforgiving if you do." Indeed, the car gets pretty funky at those speeds. Running Thunderhill backwards last year, going thru turns 8 and 7 were pretty spooky and it's where I always lost ground to other cars. It simply protested against those speeds. And since I had no desire to view the track from the dirt, I just slowed down.

At those speeds you enter the world of diminishing returns. I think my car would have required body changes to gain some down force. - not so much a suspension issue as just the car gets light. When you start to increase down force, then you have new suspension issues and more.

 

Just not a lot of distance between the front and rear axles...

 

50+ PSI!?

Geez man, you really need a good shop to go over your car with a fine tooth comb and get everything in correct working order. Also, I'm sure a weekend at a driving school isn't out of the question either.

 

Previous posters, that is! Go back (toward stock) to go forward! That said, I put on an H-Sport comp rear bar (middle setting), which does make a difference in tighter turns. But it seems to me that the car worked better with the stock bar for stability at speed, now it is more twitchy, and more prone to trailing throttle oversteer, and during braking. I am thinking about going to the softest setting for the street, and using the stiffer settings for autocross.