2 replies to this topic

[Tremelune]

I have a 1992 Rover Mini 1.3i from Japan that I am putting a Nissan Leaf drivetrain into (hopefully).

 

I'm getting close to the point where I'll begin fitting the motor, and I'm trying to figure out how to best set this car up while allowing this to be possible. My goals are pretty much daily driver on bumpy city roads, with jaunts up in the hills and mountains. Comfort and NVH does matter, but I don't want to lose how fun this thing is to drive around a turn. Hopefully anything will be better than the much-maligned coil springs I have on there now, but I see real value in some kind of adjustable coilover suspension.

 

I'm not certain what the weight/distribution will be when I'm done, but it will increase by a few hundred pounds and move rearward. Top speed is likely to be 75mph, and highway driving will be rare. Power is about 110hp, but torque is 210ftlb at 0mph—quite a bit more than any VTEC motor, which makes me nervous about torque-steer and, well, traction. I don't intend to drag race, but I don't want the car to yank me off the road if I goose the throttle.

 

They're probably US-centric, but does anyone have experience with the MiniTec front or rear subframes? The fronts are designed to work with Honda D/B engines, and I suspect they'll be better suited to the Leaf motor than the stock subframe (though I have no great reason to believe this). My car is right-hand-drive, which I'd kind of like to keep, though it's not that big a deal to me.

 

I thought these used MX-5 coilovers and brake components, but it's looking like it might be specific to MiniTec...? It would be lovely to use standard/common components, if possible. I'd love to get disc brakes on the rear, for no other reason than I hate working on drums.

 

Are there any other aftermarket subframes (front or rear) that might be worth looking into?

 

 

[nicklouse]

torque steer is one of the many miss understood concepts.

 

in Minis it is actually mainly poorly set corner weights and unequal suspension settings.

 

real torque steer is a very strange phenomenon.

 

Most modern performance cars has fixed this by fitting an intermediate drive shaft so that they can have the drive shafts entering the outer CVs at the same angle.

 

there is a great YouTube video where a tester states that the only time he can feel any torque steer is when putting the power down when cornering but there is non when straight lining it.

 

your man issue will just be setting the corner weights.

 

as to the rest of your questions I have no idea.

[Tremelune]

Fascinating and useful! I've never messed with FWD cars much. My only experience with torque steer was in an '87 Saab 900 Turbo, and it mostly manifested itself when the tires were slipping under power, which I'm not sure qualifies as torque steer anyhow...

 

The Leaf motor has an intermediate half-shaft which should help me center it enough to keep the driveshafts equal in length, and even if I keep the stock suspension, I'd go with hi-los for height adjustment and corner balancing, so hopefully this won't be a huge concern in the end.

 

Handy article explaining some of this:

 

https://www.aa1car.c...orque_steer.htm