14 replies to this topic

[Masoa010]

whats the best way to solve lots of understeer/oversteer, anything i can do to the car or am i just trying to go round a corner to fast :/ ?

[Bungle]

get the suspension checked and set up by someone that knows what they are doing

[Ryang556]

Check the front subframe mounts as well, open the bonnet and have someone wobble the seering, if the subframe moves quite a bit get them done

[tiger99]

A Mini is supposed to have lots of understeer, power on, and mild oversteer, power off. That is what makes it so safe in the hands of most normal drivers.

If you get severe oversteer, the rear wheels are toed out, which is dangerous, and needs to be fixed urgently. Could be bent radius arms, or a bent or rotten subframe, or maybe just a combination of manufacturing tolerances, which can be solved by adjustments to the outer radius arm brackets.

If you want less power on understeer, you need negative camber front arms, but don't go too mad with it, to keep the gentle breakaway characteristics. 1 degree negative is about right.

[Cooperman]

A Mini is supposed to have lots of understeer, power on, and mild oversteer, power off. That is what makes it so safe in the hands of most normal drivers.

If you get severe oversteer, the rear wheels are toed out, which is dangerous, and needs to be fixed urgently. Could be bent radius arms, or a bent or rotten subframe, or maybe just a combination of manufacturing tolerances, which can be solved by adjustments to the outer radius arm brackets.

If you want less power on understeer, you need negative camber front arms, but don't go too mad with it, to keep the gentle breakaway characteristics. 1 degree negative is about right.

+1 on all that.
At this time of year the roads have residual road salt and post-snow debris. They are also damp and this makes them very slippery. Don't drive faster than you know how to. If you have very wide tyres they don't help at all and in these conditions a 145 section tyre at about 28 to 30 psi is best.
Apart from that, remember that driving is not a race on the roads

[racingbob]

i see you in west sussex tom airy tuning may not be far from you
at cheriton but you will need the camber arms and tie rods and hilos

[ministar]

Could just be bad tyres?

I have recently sold my 12x5 alloys with 165/60/12 A539's on. and using 12x4.5 145/70/12's and the difference is amazing, If not a little scary!!!

These 145/70/12 Federal tyres are only a stop gap till I get my 10x6 GB's and 032 rubber.

[bmcecosse]

As above - old/hard tyres may be the problem.

[tiger99]

Or, possibly just a driver who is not so experienced on Minis and has not yet learned to fully exploit the handling? That comes with time. They really are fun to drive, but it is scary to go back to an inferior car afterwards. Not every car gives you so much warning of imminent breakaway, and allows you to recover so easily.

[bmcecosse]

It's unusual to have understeer AND oversteer - why do you think you have these problems??

[ryan22_lgm]

i think im getting this issue in my car aswell but i think its due to the rear being lower than the front what sort of speed show a mini handle a corner without any issues?

[Mini 360]

If its Pirrelli P3000 tyres you're running I know the problems you speak of. Total ditch finders in dry and wet. I had a set on my steels for over one winter, ace on snowy roads but anything else, oh my god!

[Cooperman]

The P3000 is a Summer tyre with a hard tread compound.
You can't blame your tyres if you go into a ditch. It's not the tyres which are 'ditch-finders', it's the driver. Even if you are running a less-than-ideal tyre for the conditions you should always be able to drive to the limitations of those tyres. If you fit Winter wide pattern narrow tyres, you should be able to realise that on dry tarmac they may not have the grip of a tyre with a closer tread pattern and a better compound. The same applies the other way around. If your tyres are close pattern wide ones, they won't grip so well on ice & snow or heavy rain or mud/grit/gravel.
A capable driver will just drive within the limits of the tyres.

[ministar]

A capable driver will just drive within the limits of the tyres.

Not a truer word!! I knew the limits of my A539's, but finding the limits of the federals is somewhat scary, although fun. To get understeer and oversteer depends what you are doing with your right foot too!

Smooth driver is a faster driver.

[The Matt]

Smooth driver is a faster driver.

"Slow is smooth, smooth is fast"

I think the key is, get your suspension geometry checked if you can, but check overall condition of the vehicle yourself. There are several checks you can carry out easily:
Tyre pressures OK?
Tyre condition good?
Free play in each wheel?
Does anything look out of alignment?
Any chance that your driving is causing it? <---that may be the key one to be honest

Minis are great handling cars, but if you put yer foot down in a corner, you'll get a bit of understeer (if the car's set up normally), so you lift off to counter it, and then.....oopsies.

The thing is, without being too patronising, to drive a Mini smoothly isn't difficult. To drive one and feel like you're on the edge and having fun isn't difficult, to push it a little bit too far isn't difficult either if you're not too experienced. Rear toe-out can be a problem, if a kerb's been whacked especially. Is there a tendency for left or right corners in particular or is it more of a general thing? If you suspect that there's something wrong after checking what's been said in the previous replies and above, then get that sorted. But the fact you've asked whether perhaps you're just trying to drive it too fast may hint at what the problem is.