Fixed plates will work well on an 03. All Minis can use more negative camber than stock so adding fixed or adjustable is good. The only issue with fixed plates is that there is no adjustability. Which can be important if you want to change camber, such as increase negative camber for an Auto-X, then decrease it for street driving. Adjustability can also be nice if the stack camber is way different from side to side. Most people never adjust the adjustable plates once aligned to their spec so fixed plates make more sense for most people.
Ireland Engineering makes fixed plates. Fixed plates tend to be less expensive and less robust than adjustable plates.
Well on the wmw website it says that the ie fixed plates do not fit anything before an 04. I am interesed in the fixed plates cause I know I will not adjust them if I had the adjustable ones. Nick
The IE Fixed plates should work on Gen 1 cars from 04/2002 through 2006. I believe Mini changed the suspension about April 2002 and then it was the same all the way through the Gen 1 build. Here is a link to the IE site: http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=ireland&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=375515162&Count2=292655587
Might want to check the ID's of the umbrella girls, couple counties in TN have laws against saying 'vorshlag' to minors :ihih:
Got my fixed plates on Saturday an got it aligned today. -1.2 L -1.7 R But after reading here I guess this is normal to have them unequal. I have thought about filing the holes a little to try and even it up a bit.
I think what you are seeing is normal. But 1/2 a degree is pretty far off. Could there be a production variance between those plates you used.
Nope I checked that before I put them on and on the other set I have here. What does anyone think about filing the mounting holes a little?
If it was me I'd either live with it or buy a set of adjustable plates. The idea of filing the holes just would bother me too much if it was my car. How does the car handle with the plates alignment & new rear swaybar?
Tis what it is, don't go filing on your shock towers. Like was said above, .live with it or get off the bucks and get some adjustables...life is full of compromise.
The car handles fine and goes straight. Haven't had a chance to push it yet. Too much work to get done. I'll do the white tire mark test on our drive Saturday.
Back in the olden days showroom stock racer's would put a car on a frame rack & bend them to get camber. Could be a way to equal things out. As far as chalking tires, that drive isn't twisty enough or high speed enough to get a good reading. But it's worth a try. :wink:
Unequal right/left front camber is a Mini thing... for practical purposes, unless you're a hardcore trackrat (and I mean hardcore enough to run slicks), it's not going to matter. Though being limited to only 1.2/1.7 will make a bigger difference long before the 0.5 delta between the sides will. I'm not a hardcore trackrat... but I ended up with adjustable plates and equal camber anyway. Because I wanted more than 1.2 on the weak side.
^^^^ Yup when I got mine aligned recently the front was off a little...and I don't have any camber plates. Only proper way to get it perfect is adjustable camber plates...
I felt pretty lucky to end up with -1.9 & - 2.0 on my MINI with the IE fixed plates. For me the cost of Vorshlag plates was a bit much. That's why I went with fixed.