124 replies to this topic

[A362 TTU]

My friends words as a passenger:
How is it not understeering!!! (as we go round an island)

[AndyMiniMad.]

So your about to sit your test...Good luck..And once you have passed...please dont go out in your mini and see how fast you can drive on a back road....loads of people get dead that way...drive within your capabilitys for the first wee while...and then build up your speed once you get used to the cars handling...and you become more experienced...

[Kam]

Front camber: -1.5
Caster: 5
Front toe: -0.2

Rear camber: -1
rear toe 0.2


On the last car with 13`s i ran the same settings but with -1 neg camber on the front and 0.5 neg camber on the back. increasing the caster made the car much more stable but meant i had to have arms like pop eye to drive it.

Main issue is with mini`s is the lenght of the front suspension arms. and the rear suspension style.

What tyres, what shocks, what donuts, any hi-los? More importantly where did you buy your adjustable suspension from

[minime94]

So your about to sit your test...Good luck..And once you have passed...please dont go out in your mini and see how fast you can drive on a back road....loads of people get dead that way...drive within your capabilitys for the first wee while...and then build up your speed once you get used to the cars handling...and you become more experienced...

All noted :) cheers pal

[Alex_B]

How should they feel steering weight wise, I am used to a Renault Twingo Gordini, and i took my mini out for the first time ever and along some national speed limit roads and around 50 the steering feels a bit light and almost a bit floaty, I know i'm used to power steering but should a Mini feel like that? not had the tracking measured yet.

[ministar]

My friends words as a passenger:
How is it not understeering!!! (as we go round an island)

Then, my friend, you aren't going fast enough!!

[Zulu162]

All in all to the OP... Yes.

[blacktulip]

minis do corner better than modern cars but i dont believe they feel like go carts like the common belief. what is true is that you feel more in contact with the road and along with this brings confidence in spirited driving. once you have driven one, nothing will compare to it. thats probably why we all end up buying another when we sell them.

[Cooperman]

On good modern tyres and on fairly smooth roads the road-holding is good This assumes that the suspension is set correctly in respect of toe-out/camber/castor on the front and toe-in/camber on the rear. It also assumes more or less standard ride height to enable it to cope with bumps in corner.
As for handling, it's very different from a modern front wheel drive car. The turn-in/power off turn-in oversteer is more marked and whilst this is good for an experienced Mini driver, it can be tricky for a low-hours (aviation term) driver.
As said above, when you hopefully pass your test please don't go out trying to drive at the limit of the car's capability as it may be beyond your own limited experience. I don't say that to put you down, rather to try to keep you safe. If you can get some advanced driving lessons then do so. In other words, don't drive faster than you know how to.

[cooperdan]

Lets not get technical about 42 and 3 quarter negative camber, caster angles, and tyre to surface etc....

Simple, Yes mini's handle as well as they look just sitting there in front you, Job done

Edited by cooperdan, 22 March 2012 - 10:45 PM.

[Mini_Magic]

Sold my first Mini, then bought several modern cars. None of them handled as well, so bought another Mini.

Quite simply, they feel fantastic going around any corner at any speed.

[Cooperman]

Sold my first Mini, then bought several modern cars. None of them handled as well, so bought another Mini.

Quite simply, they feel fantastic going around any corner at any speed.

Do you mean the road holding or the handling? They are very different things.

[joshspragg]

only thing i'll say about this is dont try to test the handling on a main road. it'll never be too good.

[spacekadett]

to be honest I did things ass about face as the first one I had on the road properly was the Mk1 racer which has nicely set up adustable rose jointed suspension etc. Then I bought a slightly shonky '91 cooper, went bombing down the road in that and thought omg what the hell is wrong with this!?!! A new pair of front donuts and little maintenance have improved things greatly and swapping the ditchfinders for some Toyos I've got laying around won't do any harm either. I'm still gonna neg it's ass at some point tho

[CMXCVIII]

Am I the only one who thinks that mini`s dont handle too well at all? They grip well at times but handleing is a bit cack.

I'm curious. What is it you don't like about your car's handling?