Suspension Brakes 1st Gen Most liked posts in thread: Chassis bracing

If I where doing things over I would go with the Cusco. I have the X brace under the Rat, and it does stiffen up the front, but as Mark stated it doesn't tie the front to rear. Ideally if you have the Cusco braces, a good fabricator can add cross sections in the center and even tie the bracing into the floor plates of a cage for ultimate chassis stiffness.

 

Have you tried JSC Speed
Cusco Power Brace
02-06 Mini Cooper S Cusco Power Braces: JSC Speed

 

For everyday driving, no. The MINI is plenty stiff to begin with, as you mentioned.The braces won't make a difference. People will tell you they do, but unless you're really pushing it, and by that I mean driving harder than you should in public, it's not going to make a difference.

On the track, different story.

 

Mine did. From what I understand that's more a function of the design of the windshield--rake and flatness--than from flexing of the chassis.

Let's face it, the MINI windshield is basically a sail, and gets a ton of stress from small rocks and at high speed even air. Any small hits or imperfections get magnified quickly.

 

Desperately needs these mods? Um, no. The MINI out of the box is substantially stiffer than the average car. I'm guessing you had another issue with the car.

Most complaints with the first generation MINI centered around the car being too tight, both chassis and suspension.

 

In my old MG when hitting a really bumpy patch all the parts no longer touched each other & were just there floating along in the same direction of travel. It was pretty funny to watch when it happened. That car had the rigidity of a piece of tissue paper.

 

I have some sacred chick bones in the glove box to ward off any M7 bad juju....

 

My R53 stopped creaking in corners after the roll cage was installed. But it has spring rates over double the stock rates and 50 treadwear tires.

Most of the rough ride people complain about is from lowering the cars without sufficiently increasing the spring rates, and therefore hitting the bump stops. Or putting on big wheels and low profile tires.

I seriously doubt bracing is worth the added weight on most street cars.

 

Drool.....

 

That's some nice fab work there.

 

Having the brace welded will pay dividends for you. Think about doing that & I bet you a donut you'll feel an improvement. I agree all things we do come down to personal choice. I'm going to try a belt & suspenders & see if it helps me in the twisty bits.

 

+1. And it would be VERY cheap to have that done if you know someone trustworth.

 

This is the one you want. It stiffens EVERYTHING, some guys even don't have to use Viagra after installation. Rumor has it adding the fire extinguisher is good for another 15 WHP and 10 cool points.

 

Wow what a piece of carp that is. You know what they say about fools & there money, that applies here. ut: How can someone sell a piece like that with a straight face?

 

No it really is an M7 part. :lol:

 

I remember arguing with the sheeple on NAM about them too.

Everybody knows I have bought my fair share of junk parts (Bytetronik, Sprintex, M-garbage body pieces, and on and on...) but out of all the carp that has been bought and removed, you'll notice one thing that I have never done... Rear chassis braces only add weight to the car, and lightness to your wallet unless it involves a cage.