Maybe just the cops stuck in small towns are a-holes. I got pulled over once because the running light/turn signal bulbs were a chromey blue/green (Silver Stars) color when not lit. I showed him they were amber when lit, he still gave me a ticket and told me I had to change them to plain amber. I didn't change them and got pulled over again 5 months later by the same cop, I got another ticket. I changed them. I wish the cops in GA would pull the texters and passing lane cruisers over. I got pulled over once down here for doing like 95 in a 55, got off with a warning. GA cops are fantastic
I must be lucky - I only got pulled over once in all these years in Wisconsin, was doing 65+ in a construction zone north of Beaver Dam on 151 heading to Road America in the rain. Only a warning. I don't really go over the limit often, and in fact am getting old and grumpy about the morons driving into Madison in the morning doing 75 in a 55. Never seen a single cop in that segment of 151, ever. Add photo radar and you can fund the entire city police department with the revenue of that camera, but people around here don't want them... In my town (Sun Prairie) cops seem to be non-existent. Traffic rules are not enforced at all - right turn on red from the second lane going onto Main street - you could write 1000 tickets there a day, but nobody ever is pulled over. Running 4-way stops at 15mph? Hell, that's almost like stopping here. Seems they don't want to offend the local voters with ticketing them. In all my years of driving in the US, I only got one ticket, for doing 87 in a 70 in the middle of nowhere in Nevada, close to the Utah border on US 50. Moments before I was being passed by a posse of locals doing 100+ in vans and pickups. But I had out of state plates (in the rear only, didn't matter to the guy) in a red sporty car - ticket magnet. That is also why my son put the plate on the front of our Chili Red Mini... ticket magnet color.
Handle better, but only theoretically. In some cases it's for brake kit clearance, but mostly just to get the outside of the wheel to better fill the fender line. see the full story about wheel spacers here The benefit is not really that big of a deal. But the center of gravity is undeniably lowered.
The only thing I've ever heard that really does hurt bearings prematurely is those crazy offset tires from the 90's that stuck out like 10 inches. And stance kids with there crazy camber and riding on the inside of a wheel. I've had my 12mm spacers on since 65k, and am about to turn 100. You'd think if these spacers did wear wheel bearings early these factory originals be humming like crazy by now. She's smooth as butter.
I use to average a ticket a year, but I'm slowing down a bit and I get one about every five years now. I just think of it as "Driving tax". It hasn't affected my insurance one bit, I've been getting the preferred rate for the last twenty years. I always fight the tickets I receive, I get out of about half of them. I thank the National Motorists Association for that, It is an incredible ticket fighting resource.
I think this is a good and very relevant question. I can only offer an opinion as I am certainly not a suspension expert. The great thing about our MINIs is it delivers so much road feel back to the driver if you know what you are looking for. From a stock set up, I think our MINIs handle wonderfully for normal to somewhat spirited driving in most public driving situations. When I added the thicker rear swaybar, the feel that something had changed was noticeable as soon as I made a sharp turn on a poorly angled street. The car simply changed direction faster with less input. At higher than average speed, I have also noticed in turning (hard cornering), that the outside wheels could probably use a bit it more sideways grip. A slightly lower suspension, some negative camber and tires pushed out slightly more would certainly do that. It also makes your car look "faster". That's the pro side of the argument. However, my car is also my daily commuter and longevity and reliability needs to factor into the equation. Also having a family who don't appreciate the harder and slightly bouncier ride affect the decisions being made. The set up will affect tire wear, ride. My rear tires wear faster, and more on the inside or the wheel over time, making for uneven wear. If you are using supersoft expensive tires, you will need to budget for that. Also, at lower speeds, particularly in northern winter conditions, you lose some grip, which could probably be offset with lower air pressure at the expense of some fuel mileage. I'm an old guy now, so other than keeping the rear swaybar, I've set the suspension pretty well back to stock. My car came with Sport Suspension + .
I'm stock too except for the 12mm spacers. If you go to a shady tire shop they'll tell you that odd tire wear is due to bad struts. Which it can be, but it can also be bad alignment, or out of balance tires. I'll be rotating every 5k going forward. MINI's chew up some tread.
My tire shop (whom I trust for tires) tell me it's my wheel alignment, the MINI dealer tells me it's my tires. I do rotate my tires twice a year. When I put winter tires on, and when I put the summer tires back on. When tires are taken off, they are marked which corner they came off of. Since my wheel alignment is to factory spec, (I do a wheel alignment every few years) and this pattern of wear has happened to different sets of tires (Yokohamas, Pirelli's, Nexxen, Continental), I suspect it's just the way I drive along with the 22mm swaybar on the hard setting.
My wife took her car to a chicken fry Friday night and parked in an empty lot, ate her meal and found that some asshole has dented her passenger side door in FOUR places! and people wonder why I get pissed...ya can't have a nice car anymore!
When I had two cars, a daily driver and a Miata toy, I had the Miata set up for tracking at Motorsports Ranch, where I was a member. One of the mods I did was have the wheels aligned with about 1-degree of negative camber. Since I only put a couple thousand miles a year on that car, and it being a 2,400 pound car, I didn't have any significant tire wear issues. With my MINI being my ONLY car, right now, I am reluctant to do any mods to it. CD
I use to have a problem with cupping and tier. First I started to rotate my tiers every oil change (3000 miles) that really helped. Now with adjustable camber plates and tie rods I get a lot more miles out of my tires.
Crappy rear tire wear is from not adding adjustable rear control arms and having your car aligned correctly. The spec BMW / MINI alignment is crap for a MINI with spacers, larger anti-sway bar , lowerd or wider tires. If you mod your suspension the OEM specs are not for you.
Dropped my car off at HELIX today for this springs RMW mod list. Woohoo Oh anyone need a kidney? I have a good one with only 49 years on it. lol
She's now got a new coolant pump for the turbo, coolant pump pulley and a belt, so she's feeling good. In other news, I finally ordered this thing- http://www.detroittuned.com/light-in-sight/ since I woke up with a krick in my neck and hunching over to see what color the light was, was a tad painful this AM. I have to turn my body like Sasquatch to look at folks yapping in my direction. Someone tell Santa I need a hot tub.