Matt1977
27 posts
Joined: 05/01/2005 19:21:43
Location: United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
fast is good, so is handling!!!
Hello, The 52mm Burlen SU throttle body did make a good overall improvement to my 97 cooper. You might also consider making the car lighter, that will help speed things up a bit as the engine has less to drag about! Dont forget you have to be able to stop as well though!!! Brake fade and dodgy suspension set-up is a b**ch when youre trying to avoid a prang!!! The turbo route is popular but all the claims of 150 horse power are nonsense if you are using it for daily driving because the A+ series will just blow up if the turbos kicking out 20 psi or something! Ive heard that theres a company fitting the supercharger from the new Mini into proper minis. Failing that, fit a flip front, entend the nose by 90mm and drop in a K-series or a Zetec!!!!!
Posted: Apr 08, 2005 03:14 PM
biblejohn
85 posts
Joined: 08/05/2005 12:44:41
handling
All the reports and tests ive read suggest that mini`s do handle much better with 12inch rims than 13inch rims and that rover only moved upto the 13inch rims for the last mini`s purely for styling reasons. But... as you say, there isnt a selection of 12inch racing tyres, so depending on what you want you might have to move to 10inch or 13inch rims for racing.
Posted: May 25, 2005 02:24 PM
Northernnutter
1 posts
Joined: 27/08/2005 18:21:23
Location: Worthing United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Chrome Pull / Grab Handle for A 1997 Rover Mini Cooper????
Hi, I am currently converting the interior of my Mini and at present I have manage to get chrome window winders, Door openers and latch all in chrome but not the door pull. I dont want the alloy version with the holes in! Can anyone suggest a company thats selling them that would fit my car? Cheers
Posted: Sep 05, 2005 07:50 PM
minimarcos
Joined: 14/03/2005 17:05:08
Location: etten-leur Netherlands
dodgy handling
Hello, Im struggeling for quite some time with the handling of my mini marcos. Steering is not very well in a straight line (tracking has been set right) but while driving on rough streets, it feels like something is changing the alignment of the wheels.. steering rack, trackrod bushes, balljoints have all been replaced. the only thing i can replace (I think of) are the bottom arm bushes. I was for a long time thinking of changing the lot with negative camber arms, adjustable trackrods etc... But I first want to know what is creating the dodgy handling... Thanks...
Posted: Oct 08, 2005 04:05 PM
Deborah
14 posts
Joined: 23/09/2004 17:26:25
Location: Feltham United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
chrome pull handle
Try moss-europe.co.uk. They do a whole set (not horrible holey ones) but you could try asking if theyll just sell you the grab handle. It says only up to 1982 though so you might have to do some drilling and change the door cards to cover any extra holes.
Posted: Nov 05, 2005 06:23 PM
Pickup
3 posts
Joined: 26/04/2005 12:15:05
Location: Basildon United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
DIfference between MK1 & Mk2 door handles
Can someone help me out by informing me what the difference is between a mk1 & mk2 external door handle is if any?
Posted: Jan 08, 2006 01:28 PM
pickme
672 posts
Joined: 08/09/2004 23:10:14
Location: Chippenham United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
door handles
As far as I can remember, the early ones were quite thin and ended almost in a point. This was felt to be a risk because the handles point forward so the MK2 ones were thicker, had more of a return on the end and should have the studs on the doors to bridge the gap and close the previous open end. The door studs look exactly like metal football studs.
Posted: Jan 08, 2006 06:24 PM
J. Rolph
33 posts
Joined: 24/08/2005 23:49:02
Location: Ludlow United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
handling problems nooo!
My mini seems to be being a bit unsteady through corners at the moment and I'm not sure why. As I turn into a corner it feels as though it I'm going to go too far round and end up in the hedge on the inside of the corner! (this actually happened to me in my old mini so I'm a bit worried!)
Overall the handling just doesn't seem as pin sharp as a mini should be, there is still tons of grip but no sure feeling as you turn into the corner that you know what the car is doing.
The car is set up with standard rubber cones, spax adjustables all round, 165/60/R12 yokohama tyres on 4.5x12 minilites. Also the handling seems very very sensitive to tyre pressure too. If i let the tyres down to around 25 psi it seems alot better but is that too low? I have before now put them up to about 33psi and it was quite a bit worse.
Does anyone know what tyre pressures a virtually standard mini should have with the setup described above?
Thanks
James
Posted: Apr 30, 2007 10:49 AM
P. Grant
29 posts
Joined: 03/10/2005 08:56:58
Location: Watford United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Tyre Pressures:32-33 psi is for when carrying 4 persons or having being loaded up, you should be able to safely run 29-30psi and that would give a good balance.
Tyre Sizes:12" and 4.5" arent that great to corner on, consider getting a wider tyre or go down to 10"'s!! (If it came std with 12" you may ned to change the brakes from the 8.4" setup to 7.5" cooper set up to fit 10"s on.)
Adjust. Suspension: The suspension might be set too hard...look at softening it up a little...
Good luck!
Posted: Apr 30, 2007 11:57 AM
John
1948 posts
Joined: 28/05/2006 16:49:46
Location: cambridge United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
has it got exess play in the stearing maybe bushes have gone, subfraim mounts conditions ok? car not dropped at all at the frount ? if so knuckle joins may be failing this gives horible handing. its not the rims iv got 12" x4.5j rims with yoko tires handles loverly. yeah 10" wheels will help as lowers centre of gravity and also u get less feedback from the wheel to the stearing. with the 145 tires origially fitted pressures are around 28psi on 12" rims. with wider tires u lower the pressure to get the correct cross section profile on the tire so around 26 psi is good. as long as u can see the edge of the tread with no big bulge its not under inflated if u get me. if its over inflated ul loose the grip as only the centre of the tire will be in full contact with the road. with will make it feel like it has less grip. the correct pressure is one that gives a good contact area to the road yet doesnt cause the tire to overheat due to excess wall flexure. vissually u can usually tell when that is. yes with extra loads of towing or a full car its a good idea to add around 2-4psi depending on load.
Posted: Apr 30, 2007 01:44 PM
Tim
1849 posts
Joined: 18/10/2004 09:40:59
Location: Bournemouth United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Has your mini always done this, or is it something that's just happened? Assuming you haven't hit the kerb or something similar recently then it's got to be something in the suspension. Don't forget to check the rears as well. Look for obvious stuff first - i.e. sloppy bearings and ball joints. The tyres and wheels you have are exactly what I've got on mine, and it handles perfectly!
Posted: Apr 30, 2007 02:38 PM
Roy
261 posts
Joined: 19/09/2005 19:34:20
Location: huntingdon United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
Yes I agree with Mr Roberts as i have the standard 145/12" set-up and dont have any major handleing problems with bog standard suspension, it's not perfect as I think my toe-in needs adjusting (there's a left hand bias if i let go of the steering wheel and under heavy breaking) How's your tracking? could be worth getting it checked also have a look at the tie rods, If they're bent it will also affect tracking as well as camber and caster angles.
Posted: Apr 30, 2007 06:02 PM
he said he has 165's not 145's
Posted: Apr 30, 2007 06:32 PM
Thanks for all the suggestions!
Subframe mounts are new on those pear drop things at the front, not in bad condition on the ones infront of the foot wells, but not sure about the tower ones, maybe they could do with changing. do poly bushes give alot better handling? or is it better just to regularly change rubber bushes especially if i don't want it getting anymore bumpy
I have noticed the front being a bit lower than than the back so could be knuckle joints, plus there is a squeaking sound occasionally when going over bumps, also there does seem to be some play in the steering which I couldn't figure out as it's a virtually new rack, and track rod ends are fine. So looks like i'd better get thinking about how to do knuckle joints!
Thanks for the help!
Posted: May 01, 2007 10:23 AM
There shouldn't be ANY play in the steering! If you're happy that the rack and the tie-rods are OK, then you should check for play in the top and bottom ball joints, and also for any movement in the suspension upper and lower arms (where they are mounted in the subframe).
Posted: May 01, 2007 12:57 PM
taffy1967
1783 posts
Joined: 27/09/2006 18:58:07
Location: Rhondda-Cynon-Taff United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
165/60*12 on 4.5 Minilites should handle very well, but set the fronts to 28psi and the rears to something like 26psi?
Posted: May 01, 2007 02:05 PM
Sorry when I say play I don't mean in the sense of you can wobble the wheel left or right if it's jacked up in the air. I mean the steering seems a bit vague, while driving, shouldn't really have used the word play. Sorry!
Before I put the car on the road I did, bearings, ball joints, rack, track rods. So all that should be fine. Didn't do bottom arm or tie rod though, how would I know if they need doing?
Posted: May 01, 2007 02:44 PM
iv driven a mini with failing knuckle joints it stears isnt very direct and the handling is terible, there not easyiest things to change ul need a cone compressor. to replace them. if there is a definate drop of an inch or more at the frount this would be the number 1 suspect. can also be the rubber donuts have perished and got sqwashed with age and this is more aparent at the frount due to the differnt compression ratios of the donut frount to rear. it might also be good to fit some hilo s to get it level after. all depends really how much ur wanting to spend. if ur skint just the knuckles, if u want to improve handling new ruber donuts will help and if u want to be sure it will sit level after fit hilos.
Posted: May 01, 2007 04:31 PM
knuckle:
http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?pid=33828
non gen hilo complete set
http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?pid=36773
uprated rubber cone
http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?pid=38124
standard rubber cone
http://www.minispares.com/Product.aspx?pid=34436
Posted: May 01, 2007 04:39 PM
mark
397 posts
Joined: 18/08/2005 14:01:28
Location: Hitchin United Kingdom (Excluding channel Islands)
handling, cooper sportspack
I have now added a cooper sportspack (1999) to my stable of mini's
I find the handling is rubbish, I have geased all the joints, and there is slight play in the top O/S ball joint, the tyre pressure were 20,30,40 and 58 and have now been set to 28 and 26. the car is stock apart from a full set of Koni shocks, although the ride has vastly improved, the front just breaks away down the lanes, and feels like it hits patches of ice. I know they are meant to be bad, but this is dangerous after about 40mph, and the front can let go when in 1st or second gear also. I have considered purchasing some new boots, but £200 could be expensive if the handling does not improve. I have also considered putting standard shocks on the car to stop the bounce when the lanes aint as smooth as they should be
Anyone else had similar issues with the same type of mini ?
Posted: Jul 11, 2007 07:52 AM