Most liked posts in thread: Install - Hotchkis 25mm Comp Rear Sway

  1. InstrumentOfPeace

    InstrumentOfPeace Active Member

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    Even after pouring a hole in the heat shield there still wasn’t enough room to manipulate the bolt. I decided to take the heat shield off (removing one of the muffler pieces to allow for space.

    New sway bar in place. The instructions called to remove at least 1, if not both shock towers. I removed neither but merely unbolted 1 from the top which gave enough room to squeeze the bar up & over.



    Time for the reverse process.
     

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  2. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Full stiff for the win. Learn to drive a fwd with a rear drift.
     
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  3. InstrumentOfPeace

    InstrumentOfPeace Active Member

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    Hahaha. That’s a keeper!


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  4. old81

    old81 Club Coordinator
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    Sure! Crashton could chime in too. As I know in his ralleye days he might have expierenced 'lift pucker'

    If you enter a sweeper, or a turn such as a fast on-ramp or a country road turn which is over 30 or 40 degrees of arc under full or near full throttle, lift gradually or reduce your power in a controlled manner, if you lift and cut power to nothing, usually you introduce oversteer where the back end of your MINI swings around and you might back into the barrier, tree or ditch ass first versus a nice graceful transition through said turn, then you can put on power for the rest of your drive. Until the next sharp turn. Wow, run-on sentence, I hope you get the drift.
     
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  5. InstrumentOfPeace

    InstrumentOfPeace Active Member

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    Haha. Funny!

    I got ya, lift my foot. Check. Thank you. I do take some turns that are sharp in the canyons. Typically I try to brake before then accelerating into a turn (H.S. Drivers Ed?) of course I’ve misjudged plenty & puckered up.
    So calmly & gently counter steer when (if) the back end swings. Check. Check. Noted. ... hmmm like driving in Western PA in the snow.



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  6. InstrumentOfPeace

    InstrumentOfPeace Active Member

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    Hmm. This sounds like an amazing next hobby.


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  7. old81

    old81 Club Coordinator
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    Going fast is not = to speeding, pick your roads carefully!
     
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  8. colinmini

    colinmini Well-Known Member

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    Agree with most of the above. Start on softest setting and get the feel of the better rotation of your MINI. The “lift off oversteer” is a very real “bad thing”! Autox courses are a great place to explore you, your driving and car’s dynamics.(slower speeds/yet still at the limits, nothing to hit but cones.). Have fun! But also be safe!
     
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  9. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Crappy old OEM endlinks ?
     
  10. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    I was reading this thread and had a flashback to my HS Driver's Ed class. Here's the background:

    1. I had a fellow student who had never driven... had never even sat behind the wheel and her parents threw her at this 1 week summer Driver's Ed course and said 'good luck'. She wasn't one of the brightest bulbs in the box to begin with and was prone to panic when she didn't know what was going on. She was also VERY tall... I'm 6'4" and she was close to looking me in the eyes. Let's call her Betsy
    2. The vehicle... a GIANT Ford LTD from the mid '80s with a V8. It had an instructor's brake on the passenger side, so that the coach who taught the class could at least stop the car if the student driver was doing something deadly. It had a bench seat across the front that would be set for the driver's size.
    3. The instructor: A 'coach' who taught HS football and the occasional history class... you know... the class where you watched more filmstrips and videos than got any real instruction. Also important to note... he was probably 5' tall MAX...
    OK. Here we are on day 2 of the week-long driver's Ed. class. Betsy knows that her turn to drive is coming up and she's getting really wound up. Shaking in her seat. I'm trying to talk her down a bit when the coach reads out 4 names... 3 would get in the back seat to watch and learn, one in the drivers seat and the coach would be in the passenger seat. Betsy is going to be our first driver. I wind up in the rear seat directly behind her.

    Betsy is completely freaked out. She gets the seat adjusted (slides it WAY back because she is so tall) and decides just to go for it. She plants her right foot firmly on the accelerator and turns the key to start the engine. It fires up and immediately starts SCREAMING... the full force of the V8 shaking the car hard. The coach sees it coming first... she's reaching for the gear selector on the column, planning to drop it into drive with the accelerator planted on the floor. He goes for the instructor brake, but he's only 5' tall and the seat is set for someone who is over 6', so he slides his butt off of the seat, planting both of his feet on the brake and lays almost flat on the front seat, pressing as hard as he can against the seatback with his shoulders. I see what's going down, so I reach up from behind her and pull her right shoulder back, so she can't reach the gear shift. Betsy is now in full panic mode, flailing around, trying to break away from my grip (and doing so at least twice), going for the gear selector with all of her might. The girl next to me is freaking out, screaming at the top of her lungs and has thrown her arms around my neck, hanging on for dear life. I finally hook under Betsy's right arm and get a good enough grip that the coach feels he can let go of the brake. He flops over, grabs the keys and turns off the engine. I release my hold on Betsy and turn my attention to the girl sitting next to me who screams for at least another 10 seconds before going very quiet. We all sat there for 30 seconds or so before the coach gets out and helps Betsy out of the car. We broke for lunch (it was about 11am) to resettle and Betsy didn't rejoin us.
     
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  11. old81

    old81 Club Coordinator
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    My 20 year old GrandDaughter will learn to drive in a 7 Day course in France this summer (if they ever get out of Singapore), the above just makes me glad she is not going to learn to drive at 20 years old in our Country. I cannot imagine the competence level of the local drivers course in any state in the U S., coaches by default were not always the brightest instructions (film strips anyone for history)! I digress, I had drivers-ed in HS in Southern California, at least I survived but I did take a lot of competition classes so I was good on track and so far very lucky with driving on our roads and highways. I first learned to drive at 9 or so on a GMC Pickup on the farm, not saying that was good, just an experience. I can pull a stump out with any old truck with a granny 1st gear. :) I was a pretty good driver, but at approaching my mid-70s, I am getting more cautions looking for young ones out driving. Knowing that nothing has changed since my DE class and probably agranger's exiciting class with Ms. Betsy. :) lol

    Don
     
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  12. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    It’s an easy install. I have mine on the center setting but I have coilovers. I guess it depends on your preference. It will have a more tall happy feel set there but with the stock suspension and alignment they tend to push anyway.
    Maybe some others here will have used it on the stiff setting and will chime in.
     
  13. wmwny

    wmwny Well-Known Member

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    I'm just wondering if the oem bar is on right now or some other bar?
     
  14. InstrumentOfPeace

    InstrumentOfPeace Active Member

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    Thank you, Crashton. Had I needed to change a flat, dear mercy.

    1 set fully loosened. Working on the others over time. At 185lbs I was “lightly” hopping on my breaker bar and nil movement.


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  15. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    So how is the car in the corners now?
     
  16. InstrumentOfPeace

    InstrumentOfPeace Active Member

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    If @Dave.0 enjoys ridin a stiff one, I’ll give’r a go.

    Actually felt it a bit more today rounding off one of the freeways in LA *whoa*


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  17. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Hahahaha my wife said stiffer the better, save the soft setting for Cadillac’s.
     
  18. InstrumentOfPeace

    InstrumentOfPeace Active Member

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    @Dave.0 speaking of which, any pro-tips? Dos donts, how tos... with regards to the bar.


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  19. InstrumentOfPeace

    InstrumentOfPeace Active Member

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    Thanks Don! Mind explaining a bit more on the term “lift”?


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  20. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    No pun intended!!:D