I started looking for new control arms and found out that there are allot of different ones out at various prices. I thought I would start a list for anyone interested.



Helix 13
$179.95 pr.
outmotoring.com



Mini Madness
$239.00 pr.
Mini-Madness.com


Megan Racing
$189.95 pr.
outmotoring.com



Alta
$199.95 pr.
outmotoring.com



Promini
$246.95
outmotoring.com



Promini
299.25 pr.
Promini.com



Ireland Engineering
$230.00
Detroittunned.com





Noltec
$300.00 set/4
Don't know who sells them? help?



Ultrik (mini mania)
$219.00 pr.
Minimania.com

I'm sure I'm missing some so just post and I will add them.

Longboard

 

Here's a pic of an Ireland Engineering one next to the stock arm...


Just a thought, maybe you should list the arm manufacturers own website under to the pics you posted.

 

Great idea. I think you'll find lots of opinions here on what is the best and their reasons why

 

 

Sweet!! Did you have these made??

Longboard

 

The "Promini" arms are the H-sports, just rebagged. Cheaper from H-sport if I recall.

Wow, why do the Madness arms look sooo much like the Helix ones? I wonder???

-Brian

 

Thanks for the photo. I have seen this thing done for a few other items. I think we should do this for allot of the popular items.

Longboard

 

I figured they were the same except for the price. Same for the H-sport. Were is the WEBB?

Longboard

 

Nice job on taking the time for finding all the photos and posting links. I myself run Alta control arms and love them.

 

They look the same as the Helix/RDRs. Different Heims though.

-Brian

 

Webbmotorsports.com sells

Webbmotorsports rear control arms $290 a pair, Race and Street versions
(looks like the ireland arms?)
8 pounds shipping

These are the ultimate in adjustable rear control arms for your MINI. The lightest on the market, using tubular aluminum, they are also durable enough for race use. Using these bars in a pair, camber and toe can be adjusted individually; by using four arms, toe and camber can be adjusted independently - and more toe change can be effected.

For the track, we have heim jointed ends available. These will transmit directly, but will also give a slightly harsher ride. On the street, we offer urethane bushing ends which will isolate road noise just like the factory units, but still shed weight and allow for more adjustment.

and
Helix control arms $179 a pair
6 pounds shipping weight
These control arms are a great solution to the camber issue on pre-'05 lowered MINIs. One set of arms (2) will allow the adjustment of camber, and 2 sets of arms (4) will allow you to adjust camber and toe independently.
They are manufactured from 6061 heat treated aluminium (British spelling), which is both strong and very light. The Helix units are 1.5 lbs each, whereas the stock arms are 3 lbs. Replacing all four makes a serious change in unsprung weight.
These arms also use Teflon lined heim joints, which are extremely strong, and with the Teflon lining, reduce the noise that some other units may make - no audible "clicking". Using the heim joints also removes play in the suspension, allowing for more accurate toe settings that don't change under load.

and
H-sport control arms $242 a pair
14 pounds shipping weight
These use tubular inners and outers with polyurethane bushings (that include zerk fittings for lubricating to avoid annoying squeaks). The center adjusters are blue anodized billet aluminum. The H-Sport control arms allow you to adjust camber and toe in the rear of the car easily and quickly. The stock suspension has no provision for adjusting the camber in the rear. These are legal for SCCA Solo 2 STS, STX, Street Prepared, and Street Mod classes.


You might check the weights because some are quite a bit lighter.

 

I sell a lot of H-sport units. They are really nice.

Chad
Detroit Tuned

 

Just because I know there are a lot of autocrossers here: Read the rulebook!!!

Heim joints are not legal in many of the popular classes. As Minihune pointed out, the H-Sport would be legal for most of the classes you'd want to run a Mini in (other than stock of course), as would the ireland arms with urathane bushings.

 

Since I'm too lazy to look are heim joints legal in SM?

 

Yes, they are. In the 2006 Solo2 rules, the only requirement for SM suspension is that it attaches to the original mounting points on the chassis. Time to custom order some titanium-carbon-fiber Heim-jointed money eaters

 

Thanks.

Think I'll pass big $$$ units. Team budget is maxxed out now <---That's a joke...... I have no team... and calling it a budget is suspect as well

 

I run the Helix/rdr's. Nice and strong. Lightest of the bunch.

-Brian

 

Just off the self stuff. walked into my local race shop and walked out with everything I needed. No mystery to these things. The reducers, which are not pictured, are the only slightly tricky thing.
These are by far the lightest control arms you will find. Might offer them after they are race tested next year.

 

The other Promini control arm looks exactly like my SPC control arms... probably another re-badge...

 

Are the upper and lower control arms identical? I noticed that some of the arms are sold in sets of two, while others have the option of buying two or four.

If I choose one of the brands that's only sold by the pair, do I just need to order two sets in order to change out both the uppers and lowers?

Scott

 

One aspect to consider when buying control arms are the turnbuckle and jam nut locations. From my experience with aligning cars (MINI in particular), you want the turnbuckle and jam nuts easy to get to. That means it's preferable to have the turnbuckle and jam nuts somewhat near the center of the arm. Many easy to manufacture heim joint syle arms have the jam nuts at the ends of the bar, which may be difficult to get to, especially for the uppers.

Just something to consider.

 

Yes, the upper and lowers are the exact same length, .. at least in 2003 and earlier.

 

Been discussed before and i would have to disagree somewhat here. Might be easier to adjust, but I personally would never have this design on my car. You would never find such a design on any high performance street or any race car I doubt.

 

Rod ends are easily available and can yield lightweight linkage designs, hence it's high popularity with performance street and race cars. This does not mean the other design is inadequate in any way. In fact the linkage is actually stronger, since you are positioning the threaded area (weak part) away from the pivot points.

 

Again, I would have to completely disagree.
Take a straight bar and connect each end to a fixed point. Cut two slots half way through with a saw right in the middle of the bar, about two inches from each other. Now grab that bar right in the center and pull up and down as hard as you can. The bar will bend and break with ease.
Now do the same thing but cut two slots, one about an inch in from either end. Now grab that bar in the same place as the other and do the same thing. It will take a lot more effort to bend and break that bar.
Believe me, if the center adjustment thing was better, the AMLS, Indy, and F1 cars would be using them. They are not running to the race store to pick up parts off the shelf for these cars. Every nut and bolt just about is designed and built for that car.