14 replies to this topic

[matt large]

Hi guys,

has anyone experiment with a rear anti roll bar if so what sort of benefits, cons or results were had,

cheers matt : )

[summs116]

im running a kad one its great on track handles very well,rear wheels lift when cornering hard,and on roundabouts,and had to lower the exhaust abit to clear it,but it depends what you use your car for.

[matt large]

im running a kad one its great on track handles very well,rear wheels lift when cornering hard,and on roundabouts,and had to lower the exhaust abit to clear it,but it depends what you use your car for.

autograss, so wont have any issue with exhaust clearance, also thinking of a front one, have you got one fitted aswel?

matt : )

[Timinichelsea]

autograss, so wont have any issue with exhaust clearance, also thinking of a front one, have you got one fitted aswel?

matt : )

What class will you be running in?

Personally i'm not so sure they would be beneficial on the grass track, might be too hard.

[matt large]

tis a class 5, going for something different and staying with front wheel drive but want to get the most out of handling/suspension geometry.

Most surfaces on a good day polish up like tarmac is only on rainy days when your reminded your in a field

Got a thoughts on what it might do handle etc but not sure yet, car is in the building stages so if going to try one want to add brackets now rather than have to do once all painted etc

matt : )

[Burnard]

Im thinking of fitting one to mine, but i was also considering a rear beam.

Can the KAD one be addapted or converted to work with a beam?

I know they do 2 types, really just wondered what the differences are before ending up forking out £400 for 2 lol.

[Burnard]

My bad... Thought the two types were for the different subframe setups. turns out its for disc / drum brakes.

anyone know if there is one for a beam setup?

[Timinichelsea]

You could get one for a beam setup made quite easily, it'll have to be boot mounted and the drop links would have go down through the boot floor.

[retroracer1275]

im planning on fitting mine in the next few weeks, its a janspeed one bit crusty but should do the job

[matt large]

Have seen this set up on a hill climb car, not sure what make it was and obviously wasnt an issue putting holes for drop links through floor

my thinking is that by running the anti roll bar i can run softer damper settings. This should allow for the uneven surfaces maintaining contact between tyre and track but then during cornering having a stiff enough roll bar toresist body roll.

anyone have any thoughts on this i would be grateful : )

[Burnard]

Have seen this set up on a hill climb car, not sure what make it was and obviously wasnt an issue putting holes for drop links through floor

my thinking is that by running the anti roll bar i can run softer damper settings. This should allow for the uneven surfaces maintaining contact between tyre and track but then during cornering having a stiff enough roll bar toresist body roll.

anyone have any thoughts on this i would be grateful : )

I know it probably doesnt scale up perfectly, but that exactly what i used to do when racing RC off road.

Soften the dampers, but stiffen the rear anti roll bar for bumpy tracks (remove the front anti roll bar)
But stiffen the dampers and loosen the rear ARB and fit the front for smoother tracks.


Dont really want to be haveing holes in the boot floor for a road car... But i guess it could be bolted to the boot floor on the underside...

Might phone KAD and ask them hahah.

[matt large]

thats along the lines of what i was thinking

yeah on a road car not ideal to have holes in boot floor but must be able to fabricate some means of mounting it underneath

did see one roll bar once mounted almost directly on top of a rear beam with jubilee clips connecting it to rear arms as was room for drop links

matt : )

[Cooperman]

There seems to be some confusion here as to what a rear anti-roll bar actually does.
The principle of stiffening up the rear roll resistance is to reduce initial rear roll when cornering hard and thus reduce the understeer at the front, particularly the power-on understeer. This is particularly good on racing cars where the front-wheel-drive understeer prevents full power being applied early in a corner on a very smooth surface.
Some people have tried them for rallying but without much success as on a bumpy road or track it can cause the car to be very 'twitchy' and easy to plant off the road.
On a road Mini they don't really offer much of an advantage as normally you are not looking for a few tenths of a second better speed through an ultra-smooth surface corner or a slightly higher 'on-the-limit' exit velocity. The disadvantage of the car being more 'twitchy' will tend to slow the car down on 'give & take' roads and especially in the wet where the tendancy of the car to oversteer in corners could be embarrassing.
For a hill-climb car where the ability to get back on the power in a corner is very critical it would be a good idea to fit one.
There is an old adage which is: if you stiffen up one end of a car you increase the road-holding at the other end.
I've driven several Minis with rear ARB's and they don't 'arf turn-in suddenly and could easily catch-out a less-experienced driver.

[summs116]

as cooperman said its great on smooth track,on the road its very twitchy,i run both on a hot dry day,just rear mild damp wet day,
the rear does really stop the understeer as you power out the corners,and if you ease off the back end steps out very suddenly ,but if the roll bars are set up wrong can make it handle even worse than with out 1

[Burnard]

spoke to KAD

For anyone interested they make an ARB which fits the minispares beam, and also the huddersfield spares beam.
Both bars bolt to the beam, and then to the arms rather than the boot floor or anything like that.


I think im going to lighten my subframe slightly, allong the lines of alloy drums, hubs, arms, hand brake quadrents etc. and run a KAD ARB.

Reason for this is the fact i will have quite a bit more power than the average mini and am expecting under steer to be more of an issue.

Probably worth adding i wont be able to afford to do the rear sub frame before i do the engine conversion, so plan could always change.