wanted to get a rear sway bar
mostly for street use but soon for track use also,
I have done a lot of research and I think the Rspeed bar is best
but they have two bars 22mm and the 25.5mm
which one should I get and what is the best for my situation

 

I too am interested in knowing which rear sway bar is recommended. My Mini S (with Sport Suspension package and Limited Slip) is used mostly as a daily driver (spirited) with some track days.

I am interested in knowing which bar provides the best balance front to rear. Something where I wont end up having too much oversteer. There are just too many choices and everyone says theirs is the best solution. 19mm or 22mm or tubular bars? Alta rear sway bars seem to be the least expensive; do they hold up (being welded and all)?

Any help or insight you can offer would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,
Ken

 

An excellent observation. Of course, every vendor wants to sell theirs so its best to just ignore the advertising.

Further, your about to get a bunch of personal opinions saying that their choice was best. Nothing wrong with that ... everyone has preferences. Kind of like "what beer is the best beer to buy?" In a perfect world, you could taste all the beer and decide for yourself!

From my observation, the best one is the one that suits your needs and your driving. Consensus seems to be that 22mm is best for MCS. As to which one ... pick one. I'm willing to BET they all work well for the average person.

Just make sure it has the appropriate grease fittings because they can squeak (like the H sport has zerk fitting for grease). Other than that ... you pay you money and take your chances

I might add the h sport is hollow so its effectively 22 mm.

 

Exactly. I chose the H-Sport comp for it's grease fittings. Set to the softest setting, it provides a perfect street setup with minimal understeer. The Rspeed bar will provide a similar feel without the grease fittings or the lighter (hollow) bar.

 

I have the 22mm R-speed sway bar, on the softest setting, and I've been very happy with it. The suspension is otherwise stock. I can't imagine you'd need a stiffer bar for street use.

 

I think the only real consideration is adjustability given the fact that all the bars are likely to be similar in quality and there don't seem to be any reported failures. I chose the H-sport comp bar because it is 3-way adjustable. A bar can't really be too big if you can make it softer easily.

 

Adjustability is key; you may need a bit more responsiveness on the track - stronger setting - which may in turn be too repsonsive for the street - soft setting. If you go to a track event and it rains, just like the pros, you;ll need to back off the damping and sway bar strength.

25.5 feels like too much for the street, but perfect for autoXing.

 

I am a big R Speed fan because they are right here in Atlanta and they have done all the work on my car, so I am biased but my advice is call Joe at R speed. he is very proud of the bar......last time mine was on the rack he pointed out the difference in the quality in the bends etc. I bought my bar from him when he was out of stock on "his" so I have another manufacturer. I can't complain about the one i have at it has done fine, very fine actually......but I like to support Joe and Hector.

 

I think the 19mm is the way to go - bigger is not always better.

I have this for spirited street occasional autocross and find itssssssssssss just right. I am currently set on the middle setting and the car is perfectly neutral.



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