I know that this has been asked many times, but did not see it being answered recently. I still have yet to put on a rear swaybar. For street use what are the best ones for the money? I don't want to go the Exreme Swaybar $400+ route. What's the best and what size? Thanks.

 

I just got this one..good price too
http://outmotoring.com/alta_2way_adj..._sway_bar.html

 

H-sport Comp is the way to go!

 

For MCS, the Mini-Madness sway bar has better bushings (won't start to squeak) and three positions.

There's not a lot of "best" involved - other than the bushings, a sway bar for the MINI is just a piece of bent steel rod...

 

I have the H-Sport comp which comes with zerk grease fittings on the bushings for easy re-greasing. I've had it on for over 6 months and no squeeks yet. It's also hollow (25mm) and is much lighter than stock. The Madness looks nice if you don't care about the extra weight savings.

 

One thing the Alta and Madness bars have going for them are the "stops" welded on the bar for the bushings. I have seen bars that don't have them actually shift to one side or the other after some spirited driving.

 

I have the Alta 22mm and love it. Wish I had done it sooner. It should have been one of my first mods.

 

I like the H-Sport bar or our Preferred line bar, both around $230. The Preferred hasn't been launched yet, but I have a few available. The reason I like these bars is because of the ability to prevent squeaking. The H-Sport uses a grease fitting, and the Preferred bar uses a unique compound in the bushing as well as a textured finish.

The H-Sport is a good choice because it uses a bend schedule to prevent lateral movement which doesn't add any weight. It also uses tubular bar stock with forged endlinks. That makes it very light.

The Preferred bar uses lock collars, which are adjustable, to prevent lateral movement. The entire bar is forged, which makes it the strongest bar available, but it is heavier - in line with the Alta or Madness mentioned above.

Both H-Sport and Preferred bars are three position adjustable.

Hope that helps!
Randy

 

I chose H&R, for maintanence concerns and reliablity.

 

Randy, all of the pics I have seen of the blue H-sport don't show any kind of bend in the bar. The black one on your site does, but it doesn't match any other pic I have ever seen.

 

I hate when this happens. I don't know which brand of something to get and I ask thinking I might get a majority answer to sway my decision, and everyone seems to say something different. H-sport, Alta, R-Speed, Mini Madness, H&R...now I really don't know.

 

Nothing new has come to market lately (that you're considering)... I don't understand why the other hundred threads aren't relevant anymore?

I'm happy with the H-sport on my car. Of course, that doesn't keep me from wanting the new Webb bar anyway...

 

I realize that nothing new has come to the market, but was hoping that maybe more agreed upon opinions might have come with time, as the past threads were similar to this one, where many different brands were praised which did not make any one bar sound better than the other, so it did not help my decision making. Thanks anyways though, sounds like there are all good.

 

The bars are all somewhat similar, assuming the same size.
Do you want the lightest?
The sturdiest?
The cheapest?
The most adjustable?
Some combination of the above?

Kelly loves her Alta, I love my Rspeed. Odds are you'll love what you get. If you're still feeling iffy, give Randy a call, bend his ear for a minute, and pick one based on his recommendation - you can't go wrong.

 

The bend is the endlink start - in other words, the bar takes a turn to the rear of the car exactly at the point the straight enters the bushing.

The H-Sport bars are all black now by the way. The black bar in the picture on my website is a comparison to the stock unit next to the blue H-Sport.

Hope that helps!
Randy

 

Thanks Randy !

 

Any problem with buying a used swaybar (4000 miles used)?

 

MINITOR- 22mm alta on stiff setting.

 

H&R 19mm on stiffer setting! It's a mount and forget accessory. Transforms handling. Since I live in Germany, I drive very fast. I wouldn't dare go beyond 19mm as it only increases the odds of the rear stepping out in an emergency maneuver. Plus, the 19mm H&R is absolutely confidence inspiring. Delivers very neutral cornering. Combined with FSDs, it's what the MCS should have come with. Total transformation of handling/cornering and dramatic improvement in ride quality.

 

H&R seems to be the only one reccommended in 19mm, all of the others seem to be 22mm. Any reason for this?

 

My theory - people are going to recommend whatever it is that they bought, and most (all?) of these people will have only ever tried that one swaybar. That makes the recommendations pretty meaningless.

Most of the people here have Cooper S's, so my next point is less important than for Cooper people... but something to think about is what bar is on the front of the car. The sports suspension front bar is smaller than the sports suspension plus front bar. The difference between the front and rear bars (I think) becomes the really important thing for reducing understeer. If you have a smaller front bar, you don't need as big a rear bar as you would with the big front bar.

I would probably not recommend my setup. :D I've got the stock SS front bar and the Helix / RDR 22.5mm rear bar. I've only ever used the rear bar on the stoftest setting. It works well for me there. My concern is that if I do something else that will increase front end grip, like install front camber plates, I'll wind up with an imblance between front and rear grip and have too much lift throttle oversteer and no way to soften the rear bar.

The solutions would be to either get a smaller rear bar or a larger front bar.

 

I agree with snid. My H-Sport is set to full soft at the moment too, but that's on a MCS. I still get understeer at the limit unless I'm on the brakes. A Cooper doesn't need as stiff a rear bar to compensate for the smaller factory front bar and suspension rates.

 

i dont know why H&R chose to "reccommend" it as you say.......but 19mm tends to be perfect for the Cooper which has a different weight distribution, and a softer front swaybar. So that's atleast why the provide it.

 

Allright well I guess I just made my decision because I just picked up a slightly used Alta 22mm for a great price and I cant wait! Thanks Joel. Which setting do I want it on for street use then?

 

IMO, always start at the softest setting (the last hole on the bar.) If you want less understeer than that, then adjust to taste.