I already covered my brake, wheel and tire upgrades in part one of ìThe MotoringFun Suspension Projectî which shaved off a few pounds and enhanced grip and stopping power, so now it is time to take the next step – reducing the understeer characteristics of the car and improving the stability during high speed cornering.

These goals will remain constant through the remainder of the project. Others may be introduced as we go, but for this installment understeer is the main thing I wanted to correct. For this reason, the ALTA 19mm rear adjustable sway bar was selected.

In the past, ALTA used a 2-way adjustable design for their sway bars. With the Version 2.0 product line, they have introduced a 3-way adjustable design, giving the driver an extra adjustment position to completely control how they want their car to feel. As you can see in the picture below, the old versionís stiffest setting is almost one entire spot over and the soft setting was identical to the new version’s middle setting.

My good friend Luis volunteered his car to be a part of this project as well and installed the ALTA original 2-way adjustable sway bar on the stiffest setting, as he wanted as much as he could squeeze out of the 19mm bar without having to go to a 22mm bar.

I opted for the middle setting on the 3-way adjustable bar because I was not sure how ìlooseî the adjustment would make the car and the last thing I wanted was for my back end to come around too easily. Believe it or not ñ that was my biggest concern in freeing up the car. For those who donít know me ñ I am no mechanic and really owe the little knowledge I have of cars to watching NASCAR and owning my MINI. My 2005 MINI Cooper was the first car that I owned that I took to the track and in that early experience, I actually used the understeer to my advantage by not spinning out a few times when I probably should have.

My concerns were that if I freed up the car too much, that the car would be difficult to drive and feel like those NASCAR drivers describe their cars on Sunday afternoons when their rear ends want to come around and smack the wall. This would not be a good thing. I can honestly say that my concerns were unfounded. Instead of making the car difficult to drive, the rear sway bar actually made the car feel more comfortable to drive at speed, giving me more confidence when taking tight corners. The back end of the car does not feel like it will come around. Instead, the back end seems to follow the direction the car is pointed much better through the turns, resulting in a much smoother roll through the center and exit.

Knowing that I will be adding further modifications such as coilovers and camber plates in part 3 of ìThe MotoringFun Suspension Projectî, I decided to keep the middle setting until everything is installed to determine how everything feels and see if any changes need to be made. Luis really liked the setting he chose so he is keeping his as is too.

Speaking of coilover and camber plates, to prepare for the next step in the process, I did quite a bit of research and determined that to take full advantage of these adjustable components, rear adjustable control arms would be needed. I also had heard reports of the stock control arms failing on 2005 and 2006 model MINIs and figured that was the extra incentive I needed to make the change, especially if my MINI would continue to see the track. The 3 things I wanted in a control arm were 1) camber adjustability, 2) strong construction to prevent failure and 3) resistance to rust.

Stock Rear Lower Control Arms

I must say that if you have not checked out the MotoringFun chat room yet, you really need to stop by one night because you really can learn a lot from the discussions that take place in there. In fact, it was through the chat room that I learned about SPC (Specialty Products Company).

SPC Performace Adjustable Rear Control Arms

SPC makes the most beautiful and massive adjustable rear control arms for the MINI that I have ever seen. They are made out of aircraft aluminum which makes them strong and should not rust. The quality workmanship on these control arms is impressive. When I got them installed, they actually drew a crowd of mechanics who all wanted to check them out.

Stock vs. SPC Performance Rear Control Arms

I set the control arms to stock length since I wanted to hold off on camber adjustments for now until the next step in the project. The ALTA 19mm Rear Sway bar will run you $189.99 and can be purchased on ALTA’s website. The SPC Performance Adjustable Rear Control Arms cost $383.73/pair and can be purchased on SPC’s website.

SPC Performance Adjustable Rear Control Arms

I hope you found this review informative. Check back soon for the next installment of ìThe MotoringFun Suspension Projectî where I will cover the installation of my BC Racing coilovers/camber plates and Powergrid endlinks.

[ ALTA Sway Bar Install Guide ]
[ SPC Performance Control Arms Install Guide ]