Who's got a nicer rear?
 

Although there hasn't been a ot of exposure to it yet it appears there is a redesign to the rear suspension in the MINI.

Information is a bit sparse:
Here's a bit
The central-arm rear axle is new to MINI and unique in this segment. Its longitudinal track control arms are made of aluminium that reduces weight by 6 kilos over the former model.
http://www.mini2.com/images/zandvoor...600_r56_HA.jpg

Old rear suspension
http://www.bmwworld.com/pics/mini/5014_832.jpg

http://www.mini2.com/images/zandvoor...cal/095607.jpg



What's the take? Better or worse? What are the advantages, if any, of the new rear suspension?

it could have all sorts of goodies piece by piece, but i would really
need to drive it as a whole with all the parts combined to determine
whether that's better or worse.

Is it just the rear central arm axle that changed? I'm assuming that is the main component that is black in the picture. Sometime during 06 the lower control arms changed and they look similiar to the ones in the picture. More squared off at the edges instead of the pressed together looking ones. Though they are still some type of steel.

I got mine for two hundred bucks at steve's auto clinic. Never thught i was saving so much weight .....eh!

Keyra Augustina does.:thumbsup:

So much for my straight exhaust being unique... I like that.

6 kilos (13+ pounds) in savings on the control arms?! Maybe as a whole for the rear, but not just for the arms. A pair of stock control arms, on an '03 at least, weighs 6.8 lbs. The Alta's, which are quite light, weigh 3.8 pounds, or a 3 pounds delta, per pair...

... I'm not seeing a difference here ...?
I know the trailing arms are aluminum, but the complete design looks to be the same. Am I missing something?

re: From whence the weight loss?
 

Are the spring and damper assy's shorter? In the drawing they appear to not extend as high as my '04. :confused:

Also, could they be counting (unfairly, IMHO:sly: ) the loss due to single exhaust?

I know it's a poor drawing, but I don't see adjustable control arms, just fixed length ones like we have. The lower outside bolt might be in an eccentric like the 05/06s but even that isn't clear in the image.
That's a lot of weight to save from 4 control arms - there must be something else.
cheers,

No, the weight saving is not the control arms, but rather in the new aluminum trailing arm

Ah, that would do it then. The language provided said control arms... I guess they did their homework, but my first inclination would be that steel might be desirable on such a piece for strength concerns as it sees a fair amount of force.

onasled: is your sig photo a Porsche 917? I love it!

The brake calipers in the sketch look quite different than that of the current models. Is this only a sketch variation or have the brakes actually been changed? I like the straight-through exhaust. It might sound like a real British car now. :thumbsup: Plus this should open the door to less expensive aftermarket versions.

I wonder where the battery is located in the new model...

If you look closely the hubs appears smaller as well.

I'm betting with the larger bonnet and engine bay they made some room, but hatis purely a hunch.

From looking at the photos and how everything lines up, it appears that if you want to do a sway bar in the 07+ that you'll probably be having to move the exhaust in order to move the subframe, which is going to make the simple mod more involved.

As far as which is better I think we'll just have to wait a few months, but as much as I'm not fond of many of the changes I also highly doubt BMW would make the car's impressive handling (and possibly largest selling feature) any worse so I'd expect it to be at least equal.

908/3 :thumbsup: