who are the vendors for the rear brace and which is THE one?

pics if you got em please

That rear brace does nothing IMHO. It's no where near the rear shocks. The benifit to having one of these is nill.

I would have to disagree. It does not give a huge change like a 22mm swaybar, but it WILL tighten up the back. I have it paired with the 19mm from promini, and I couldnt ask for a better balanced car. I have driven a JCW with a 22mm and I would say it feels sloppy. This thing feels tight and secure as the car rotates.
I got the one from pilo, and I would recommend this after a swaybar if you want an even tighter back end. And if you dont beleive that it actually does anything, go find someone who has it and listen to the creeks and pops as you tighten this sucker up. Its almost scary!

Yea, I would agree that that sounds pretty scarry. Can you fill me in on just what this means? How does a bar like this work to "tighten' up the suspension?

Spider, if you want to stiffen up the car then I think you should really look into a good roll bar or cage. The Built By Bones is a great bolt in bar that still lets you use your back seats (if you still have them). Don’t waste your time and money on dumb bar that does little more then connect the two seat clips together.

Not many choices.
Piloracing.com makes a rear stress bar that fits across the rear seat back area.
Other sources are looking into making something more solid but I don't think any are finished yet. (cross reinforced design)

The Pilo rear stress bar can be had from Piloracing.com, Detroittuned.com and Webbmotorsports.com to name a few. Any of them can provide you with info.

It's always good to talk to MINI owners in your local area to see if someone has installed one and is happy with it. Go for a test drive if you can.
Don't worry... Be Happy.

I had read somewhere ( I don't believe all I read) that while the front is very stiff and the strut brace is ofquestionable benefit, tha t the rear was pretty flexy and the braces help. I don't think that it is suspension directly related just to cut down on the body flex......but what do I know.

btw, onasled - IC and hose is in and the monster is awake.

You should have a discussion with Randy Webb regarding both. In the absence of a conversation I'll include a narrative of our conversation.

Randy installed a modified front strut brace; two pieces joined midway between both strut towers with a female and male end. I'll assume you know how they fit. Randy tied A zip tie to the male end and makrked its position. He went our on the track for a spirited ride. When he checked the zip tie it barely moved. What this really means in terms of feel and handling I cannot say. From his experience a front bar is not necessary.

He also spoke at length about the rear bar pointing out the considerable beam that resided between the lower rear strut towers. In my conversation with him, he did not feel that a rear bar was critical.

You can apply the same test to the rear if you have the time and expertise.

The creaking described above, in my opinion, describes niether a good thing or a bad thing; Perhaps the bar is too short or too long or causes the body to change shape in a way have nothing to do with flex associated with driving the car. Or, it may. It alone does not define that the rear of the Mini is sloppy...but it may be.

Also, assuming the rear is sloppy, I would expect a tad more understeer if you tighten up the rear in this fashion. Very typical in my experience. FYI

EDIT - ACTUALLY UNDERSTEER WAS ACCENTUATED IN ONE CAR 89 VOLKS GLI 16V, AND OVERSTEER IN ANOTHER - 99 CIVIC SI

I have had the front sway bar discussion with Randy and was aware but the rear Ihave not talked with him about.......thanks for the input.......no rear bar for me........I might put on a front for "bling" factor........yeah, I know, it's bogus

Remember that unlike the front strut suspension where the strut towers are subject to lateral, vertical and longitudinal loading, the rear suspension is a link design. All lateral loading is carried via the links to the crossmember then to the frame, longitudinal loading is imparted to the frame by the trailing link leaving only the vertical loading forces to be imparted anywhere above the floor. If you are interested in stiffening your rear suspension against deflection in turns and such, you are much better off by replacing the rubber bushed lateral links with heim jointed ones such as Alta's. Tying the rear shock towers together via a brace has no effect, since this brace is over two feet away from where all the action is happening under the floor. The shock 'towers' in the rear are only subject to vertical loading, and a simple lateral brace will have no effect on this. Had the MINI been designed with MacPherson struts in the rear as in front, then a lateral brace might have some effect.

Now, I don't know who might argue about the benefits of a full roll cage...

Racing Dynamics has a Carbon Fiber Rear Strut Brace.

Remember, it's all about power to WEIGHT, so anything that adds weight but does nothing is else is not in your interests!

Matt

Where can i get that RD bar?

We have actually redesigned our bar from an oval to a round design. We have shed about 1/2 lb from the whole setup, and reduced the weight to under 3 lbs. I have to weight the origional parts, but I believe that there is only about 1lb net gain from the install of the rear bar. We have plenty in stock as of right now.

Here is another happy customer. To my knowledge, there have been no negative responces from anyone that has actually purchased this product.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=49082

I had an opportunity to test one of these bars out in my JCWS and I couldn't tell any difference with or without it. If you are looking to spend money that will make a difference the Alta 22mm rear sway bar and rear lateral links with heim joints will give you the best bang for your buck as suggested earlier by Greatbear

How much does this guy weight?

-TopGearNut-

Just so you all know, The stock brackets are 12 OZ. The Pilo Racing Rear Stress Bar is 2lbs 11.5OZ The net gain is only 1lb 15.5 OZ

This product is extremly light, but very rigid.