Grinder34
Track Monkey
My old car was an 02 MINI Cooper S with a few light mods. The only suspension mod was a rear swaybar. Well then I bought my STI, and was intoxicated by the power, so I didnt really notice the suspension as much at first. Since then I've put on some nice stiff coilovers and done swaybars and I was pretty happy with how it handled.
When I last drove my MINI, after a year of it just sitting in a garage, I was shocked at how well it handled! Totally different than the STI. Way more responsive, to the point of almost being twitchy in comparison...but in a good way. The STI doesnt feel close to that tossable even with overly stiff springs and the shocks set to full stiff rebound and compression! I think the term "go kart handling" has been over used in terms of the MINI, but it's true. As soon as you give a steering input, the car MOVES that way.
Let me try to illustrate my point with an example. With the MINI, on the highway, if you wiggled the steering wheel a bit (L/R/L), the car would dart to the left side of the lane, right side of the lane, and back to center. With the STI, i feel that the same input just causes the whole car to undulate, but not actually move around in the lane.
I know the STI is ~500 lbs heavier, but that's clearly not the whole problem.
So how do I get my STI to give me the same grins as the MINI did? Is it suspension bushings (if so, which ones). Is it the steering bushings? Which bushings will get me closest to my "go kart" desires?
Edit:
For reference, my setup with these handling woes is currently: coilovers based on the Koni 8611 shock. Springs that are honestly too stiff for DD duties. Camber plates all around. 24mm sways front/rear. 33k miles 07.
When I last drove my MINI, after a year of it just sitting in a garage, I was shocked at how well it handled! Totally different than the STI. Way more responsive, to the point of almost being twitchy in comparison...but in a good way. The STI doesnt feel close to that tossable even with overly stiff springs and the shocks set to full stiff rebound and compression! I think the term "go kart handling" has been over used in terms of the MINI, but it's true. As soon as you give a steering input, the car MOVES that way.
Let me try to illustrate my point with an example. With the MINI, on the highway, if you wiggled the steering wheel a bit (L/R/L), the car would dart to the left side of the lane, right side of the lane, and back to center. With the STI, i feel that the same input just causes the whole car to undulate, but not actually move around in the lane.
I know the STI is ~500 lbs heavier, but that's clearly not the whole problem.
So how do I get my STI to give me the same grins as the MINI did? Is it suspension bushings (if so, which ones). Is it the steering bushings? Which bushings will get me closest to my "go kart" desires?
Edit:
For reference, my setup with these handling woes is currently: coilovers based on the Koni 8611 shock. Springs that are honestly too stiff for DD duties. Camber plates all around. 24mm sways front/rear. 33k miles 07.
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