HI

I'm considering get a better suspension. Have done no work yet. I only want a small drop ... 1/2 - 3/4" in the back.

One thing im considering is Dinan stage 2 including new rear sway bar. It does not come with new rear control arms, they say, because the 1/2" drop doesn't require them

Comments anyone?

 

and there is SOME ajustibility in th rears. Sounds reasonable, but if you drop 1". then the rear tires are leaning A LOT!
Matt

 

Mine is dropped 1.2 inches, and my rears are leaning, but tire wear is not so bad that i NEED control arms. I am gonna order them soon, but you could easily get by without them at this drop.

 

Any drop less than 1/4" roughly will be OK with the 2 degree at the most stock adjustability on an 05 or newer. Otherwise for $200 get an adjustable rear lower control arm, and you will save the $$ on tires within 10-15K miles...

 

I've talked to a racing shop and they say you can lower 3/4" on rear and dont need the control arms. I have an '04 and they say it had 2 1/2 degree and the tires will not wear uneven on the edges.

Opinions?

 

Makes sense to me. Like i have said, i run my car lowered 1.2 inches with ultra high performance summer tires (which by no means last long in terms of tread) and i dont have any uneven wear on the rears.

 

I have H-sports on my car and Randy said rear control arms weren't necessary unless I was doing some auto-x.

Mark

 

Weird, as anytime your tires arent flat against the road you will most definately have uneven tire wear. The MINI in particular doesnt have much room for a drop without changing the camber. Coming from the sport suspension, as stated, over 1/4" is going to change camber and promote uneven tire wear. You may not see it now but later you will, and the amount of initial investment in adj control arms is small to be safe that you get that extra 10K Miles out of your tires. My philosophy is do it right the first time, and better safe than sorry, so I may be a little to hard on this but coming from my wallet, I'd rather make the initial $200 investment, than $400 in tires later on...

 

Thats true...if you want to run with the tires completely flat on the road then you will need control arms. And you will in fact get less tire wear. Many people are happy with the performance benefits of the slight amount of camber added when the car is lowered, and the tire wear difference is very small. I have had mine like this for over a year and a half. So far, no super fast wear on any tires.

 

mine lean noticably.

I run H & R springs, and so far do not have noticeable uneven tire wear.

I do plan to get adjustable control arms though.

 

There's less than 500 pounds riding on each of those tires - that would explain why you can get away with more camber in the rear of a Mini than you could on most cars (light car with *heavily* front biased weight distribution) without affecting treadwear terribly

 

Great info everyone!