Thank you Onasled Racing and TSW...

[Bimmer Lite]

Background
Well, this suspension thing has been a long saga for me, some of which I'll update in this thread. But the long and the short of it is that my MINI is handling like never before!

I'm putting this in the track forum because it culminates with an amazing three-day event at Lightning (NJMP).

Purchase
After going back and forth about which suspension to put on my car, I finally decided on TSW's KW V2 setup with 450 lb/in front and 500 lb/in springs.

Install
Greg from Onasled Racing helped me through the decision, and given his experience setting up quick MINIs (as well as making his own custom race MINI), I thought it'd be a great idea for him to do the install and setup for the car. This was a good decision.

I dropped the car off to Greg and he began by dyno-testing the KW springs. KW must have sent a weird pair of rears, because they ended up being progressive, which is not what I was looking for.

As always, TSW's customer support was second to none. They weren't happy about the test results, and were as confused as we were. They accepted the springs back and will send them to KW for more testing. Obviously this is an exception and not a rule for these KW springs - I've seen others who have tested theirs and all is good. The lesson, though, is to test your springs/shocks before you install!

So, we got around that hurdle (time was an issue) by ordering some Hypercoils with similar spring rates. If you're interested in the dynos for the KWs and the Hypers, PM me and I can help you out.

I also purchased the Vorshlag camber plates (the ones TSW used to sell), which are beautiful pieces. It turns out that my IE adjustables had completely failed, and the only thing attaching my front suspension to the car was the weight of the car itself. Scary!

Pics
Here's a shot of the corner-balancing:


My car's "stance" before:




With my track wheels/tires (205/50 azenis on 15x7 slipstream):


Greg also had a set of used 949 Racing 15x8 6ULs on basically new 225/45 Toyo R888s. Obviously, I had to snatch those up, too. Here's a pic of basic install, before any setup:


When I picked up the car, it looked like this:


Then I put on my street wheels/tires (16in x-lites, 205/50 GSD3):



Front clearance closeup:


Rear clearance closeup:


In order to get everything to fit, we had to use a 5mm H&R spacer in the rear, and Greg had to do some shaving of the inner plastic flares. Also, to get the 949s to fit properly (for track work), Greg made some hub-centering rings out of aluminum.

Here's how the car sits on the track wheels/tires (in the Lightning paddock):






Street Impressions
The car is really freakin' low. I scrape the plastic thing that hangs down from the front on almost everything. This was to be expected, though, because prior to setup, I told Greg to set it up as best he can for the track since the car sees limited street work.

At first I was shocked at how smooth the setup was with the shocks set in the middle of their rebound setting. Then it started to wear on me a bit and the bouncing was a little tiring. The shocks/springs handled imperfections in the road well, but the new camber plates, witch put nothing between the suspension and the body except metal, make for much more noise and harshness. Hitting a pothole is rough. Good thing I never conceived this to be a decent street setup.

Track Impressions
The car is completely transformed. We kept the RSB (H&R 19mm) on full stiff, and Greg aligned and corner-balanced the car.

Turn-in is instantaneous, weight transfer is much less dramatic, and it literally sticks to the road and does whatever I ask it to. It only pushed when I made stupid errors; the rule of the weekend was balanced cornering with slight oversteer (which is how I like it).

Obviously, a lot of this transformation has to do with the addition of R-comp tires. It did take me a while to actually trust them, but once I got used to the rubber and the suspension, we were flying.

My instructor, who also drives a MINI (stock suspension on Hoosiers) said at least three times: "Your car handles SO much better than mine; this car is set up perfectly; what else do you have in this thing!" hahaha I wanted him to drive it for a few laps, but it never worked out.

Some action shots


Entering the "lightbulb" and proceeding through it. This is a +- 80 mph banked bulb, one late apex, get to full throttle ASAP since it leads to the front straight. I was getting to +-120 on the front straight after this turn.







This last picture is at full-throttle, at the limit moving right towards the track out cone and onto the front straight. The car looks well-balanced and felt that way, too.

This full-caged M3 was a lot faster than I was!


Two MINIs and a Corvette (both MINIs were a lot quicker than the Vette):


Whoever bought the Nuzzo racecar was in my group (didn't get a chance to meet him):


Lightning is an excellent track, one I definitely prefer to NJMP's Thunderbolt. There are spots where the HP cars have the advantage, like coming out of 7 (the 90 degree left), but a smoothly-driven car that can keep its momentum is really rewarded here.

Excellent weekend put on by the NJ and DelVal CCA chapters - can't say enough about what they do for us.

And the car was incredible. I stopped counting how many people would walk by it in the paddock, look under it, examine the hood, look for the suspension, scratch their heads and then ask, "what's in this thing?!" I'd just say, "A great suspension and a magical setup "

- Marc

[M^Cubed]

Very cool!

One thing I don't get though is how some vendors do the higher spring up front and others do them in the back.

I am currently apart of the higher up front club with the Cross setup.

[goaljnky]

I am not an engineer and I don't stay at the Holiday Inn unless me and Snoop are chillin' with our peeps, but with an average weight distribution of about 60/40 on a Mini it would make sense to have stiffer springs up front. Even if you are stiffening up the back to loosen it up and to induce rotation it would seem unlikely that the rears should be stiffer then the fronts.

Can anyone confirm or deny?

[Bimmer Lite]

Don't know the specifics of it either - just left that one up to Greg, and it was supported by some other people I speak with at the track (FWD, front engine). I'll try to find out and post back in a bit.

- Marc

[Bimmer Lite]

So, I'm not an engineer either, and I stayed at the country inn this weekend, but here goes:

- stiffening up the rear for better rotation is one reason
- motion ratios is the other. Ask your local expert for an explanation, because I know mine won't suffice. Greg tried to explain motion ratios to me, but I'm hopeless, as are many of us who just sort of repeat stuff that's said by people who actually do the work and the math.

For a full explanation that's not diluted through me, give Greg an e-mail.

In any event, whatever the engineering behind it is, it works for me so far!

- Marc

[Nathan]

Greg is welcome to join the site and add to the discussion.

Use the Invite a Friend feature found in the main menu. Sends off an email with a link, and you get credit for the referral adding a ticket to the Referral Contest drawing.

[goaljnky]

Marc,

What were you running before. Did you by chance get to compare the before and after times on the same track?

[Bimmer Lite]

Stock suspension before. Lap times? No, sorry I do driving schools and not timed events.

- Marc

[M^Cubed]

How are those 888's holding up for HPDE?

[Bimmer Lite]

This was my first time on any r-comp tire, and as everyone says, the difference in grip is substantial. I was still heating them up significantly and could still feel them going away as I would with my Azenis, but their ceiling is just so much higher. Wear after the event (they were slightly used when I picked them up) looks to be normal - still lots of tread left for rain excursions (of which I had one on Saturday).

I started them at 32 psi, and when I'd check them hot, they were at 38-39, but this is after a cool-down lap and some time in the paddock, so I'm thinking they were up around 40-42 hot, which might be a bit too much.

- Marc