Madness MINI Cooper S 22mm Adjustable Rear Sway Bar

I received and installed this just in time for my Autocross track time, and boy what a difference. I only had it on the lowest setting, and I could totally tell I had more control. I plan to test out all settings (which is another great feature by the way). Thank you!

Coming from BMWs, I was bummed at the amount of understeer in the stock Mini; you can actually feel and hear the car grinding through a corner while it tries in vain to go in the direction the steering wheel is aimed. Not any more! With this substantial bar set in the middle adjustment hole, the Mini is transformed, tracking through corners without that grinding push from the front end. Turn the wheel and the car goes where you point it. You can even feel the back of the car almost get loose at times. It's like it should have been from the factory! Installation was straight forward and I actually saved a little time by just loosening, not removing, the sub-frame bolts on one side. That gave enough room to pull the old bar out from the loosened-only side and slide the new bar in from that side, rather than taking out all four bolts and putting them back in.

I selected the Mini-Madness Rear Sway Bar over all of the others out there because I believe that this bar offers far more than any of the others. It is forged, meaning that I will get the most response and feel possible from any one of the 3 settings available. I can set it on soft or medium stiffness depending on the road conditions in my area and when I take my MC to the track I can set it on the stiffest setting for incredible feel and sensitivity. If you want only the best Rear Sway Bar on your Mini then I recommend that you purchase the Mini-Madness Adjustable Rear Sway bar.

This is a nice sway bar that keeps the car much more level in the turns. I have yet to really push it as I am currently working my brakes but you can already feel the difference. Word of caution. If you are trying to install this yourself, you might want to re-think it. Two people will make it a lot easier to do as will a proper lift.

This is my first experience tinkering with the suspension of any car. I had the sway bar installed, with the links in the middle position, and also within the week replaced the run flats with 205R16's on the stock wheels. As one might expect both the ride and handling changed. I've been slowly testing the changes the handling. The car is at stage 2, it is my daily driver and I don't race or autocross. Here is my experience so far. There is less under steer. Under hard cornering I don't have to add as much steering input to keep turning. The car begins to turn quicker than before. There is less body roll than before. There is more grip on the road and the ride is more comfortable. The ride comfort is due to the tires. The better grip seem to be a combination of the tires and the sway bar. Everything else is due to the sway bar. Some day I will sort out what is happening at the limits of cornering but not right now. You will feel the effects of the sway bar in the very first corner that you take. This mod is to the suspension what the smaller pulley is to the engine, lots of bang for the buck. ex997guy