Im about to fit a set of KW V2's and only use my car for hard street where permitable.Is it worth buying adjustable camberplates or will stock do.Also can you get stock with uprated bushes,or similar

 

definately get aftermarket camber plates. If you're not going to muck around with alignment settings, just get IE fixed camber plates, which dial in an extra 1.25 neg camber on top of what you already have. Adjustables don't cost that much more, but i like to tinker, so the adjustables are my choice.

MINIs have almost no front neg camber. So these will make a big difference.

For fast street handling, i'd recommend a bigger rear swaybar, adjustable swaybar droplinks front and rear, adjustable rear control arms, and the KWs....

Good luck

 

My $.02: you've gone this far on the suspension, go the rest of the way. I've had 2 sets of POS H-Sport plates rust out on me, so I'd skip those. I currently own Webb/Perfect Power plates. They're okay, but raise the front about 1".

My plan is to go with Helix plates next (last?). I've also heard good things about Ireland fixed plates if you don't need adjustibility.

 

Fozworth
One thing you may want to consider when selecting camber plates is how they are made and what amount of added NVH you are willing to live with for a daily driver. The fixed plates from Ireland Eng. utilizes a bushing from BMW that is incased in rubber, much like the stock unit. It should not add any NVH to your car. With the fixed unit you may or may not end up with a disparity from side to side. That would depend on what camber you have to start with stock, the tolerence between the new plates, and which way everything is tugged and bolted in in reassembly. Bottom line is you probably will not notice a difference on the street.
If you go with some of the other adjustable plates that have a ball and socket design you may get some NVH added to your car and also a slight rise in your front suspension. Take note that you will only get about - 2 deg front camber with stock spring diameter. To get more than that you would need coilovers with smaller diameter springs. Whichever way you go you will enjoy the added benefit of preventitive protection against mushrooming.
I hope this helps a little, Steve

 

What does NVH stand for?

 

Noise, vibration, harshness.

 

Ireland Engineering also has a very nice set of adj. plates at a very reasonable price.

 

+1 on that - I've got a set awaiting install. Note that they are now cad-plated and not black as on Detriot Tuned's site.

 

I've been running a set of 1st gen Ireland street/race adjustables for almost 2 years now... daily driving, autocross, and track days. They've been bulletproof so far...

 

Ive pm 'd you Steve.Basicaly my car has had a front suspension wishbone mod which gives more negative camber.This is done by a company called BBR GTI .If you look on there website they call it the power grip suspension modification.So im a little worried about using IE fixed camber plates as this might give to much NC.I like the current camber setting and the car handles well so if i fit these KW V2's and only drop about another 30 mm will this add much more NC to whats already there.Incodently at presant im only running with OEM factory sports suspension plus at stock cooper s ride height so i was hoping 30mm wont add to much more NC to whats already been added.

 

well, i can tell you that i've just added KW's variant 1's and IE fixed camber plates and ended up with -1.7 negative camber on the driver's side and -2.0 on the pass. side.

I had the rears adjusted to -1.7 negative camber with 0 toe for both front/rear.
The rears look like they should go with a bit more negative camber, maybe close to -2.0 once my coilovers settle and i go back for another alignement.

 

I love my helix plates--not too harsh, and the turn-in was so good, I softened the rear sway bar for more total grip.

 

I got 1/2" lower with the new Hotchkiss Comp adjustable. I've had them on all winter, and no issues yet. The stock ones sag over time, so it's hard to get a good reference to what is "stock" other than as delivered....

Matt

ps, notice the fixed plates ended up at -1.7/-2? Every car I've seen has some side to side variation that you can only eliminate with adjustables. Is it worth it for street driving? Probably not...

 

Every car that we've installed the fixed plates on suffers from this, yup. But, for fun in the twisties, at the AX, or track, they're much better than what ya get with the stock mounts!

For the finicky among us, adjustable is the way to go - of course, it also allows you to play with the settings more (re-adjusting toe while toying, of course) and get MORE negative camber if you wish... But, for the vast majority of people, they're probably overkill and introduce NVH that not everyone is fond of...

 

I have the IE fixed plates installed, and I came out -2.0 left and -1.9 right. Lucky, I guess.

 

I think what some people are over looking is that most cars coming from MINI do have some disparity between left and right from the factory. It is called a tolerence in manufacturing. Do you notice this? Some of are cars have some disparity some are luckey enough not to have any. Basically the I.E. fixed plates will add -1.25 to whatever you have to start with. The only way I know of to see what you have stock is to get an alignment and see.
Steve

 

Several people have mentioned this, but it didn't work out for me. With the IE fixed plates, I have -1.1 deg left, -1.4 right. So, I think the IE fixed plates give an average of -1.25 deg, rather than adding -1.25 to the stock camber. When you think about it, there seems to be no way the new plates could "add to" to stock camber, since the stock mounts are completely removed to install the new plates. The stock mounts plus any camber they would bring are gone.

I was hoping for less than the 0.3 deg differential, but I guess this is not atypical.

 

My Experience...

Hotchkis Camber Plates (New Version):
Duration: Over 1 year, ZERO problems
NVH: Not Noticeable
Ride Height Change: NONE!
Adjustment: 0 to -3.6 degrees with infinite increments

Cheers!

 

A fixed plate moves the top of the strut inwards a fixed amount relative to the stock location. This will result in a delta that is pretty much independant of initial camber, if the camber is less than 5 or 10 degrees to start with (For the nerdy, that the approximation for the sine of a an angle, Sin (theta) ~ (theta) for small angles...) IF you came out at -1.1 and -1.4 and someone else came out at -1.7, -2, the two cars didn't start with the same camber!

And FWIW, it's looking like the side to side variations are due to the mounting of the front subframe....

Matt

 

Agree with the bolded part. But are you REALLY sure IE didn't simply pick an inward displacement that results in a nominal -1.25 deg camber, rather than the more complicated approach of figuring what the stock camber typically is and how much additional displacement is needed to add another 1.25 deg? I don't know for sure either way, but the first situation seems like a safer way to go from a product development standpoint, and also happens to fit with my experience.

 

They come out at a bit more than you'd expect... I think stock is -0.5 degrees nominal. did you get camber measured before the plates went on?

Matt

 

inimmini
The stock camber plates are set in the three mounting holes and the bearing should be some where near the center of that location. That should give you "x" amount of negative camber at your ride height. When you install the I.E. fixed plates they are relocating the position of the bearing to give you the added -1.25 degrees at the same ride height. The dimension of offset is approximately 1/3 of an inch per degree of offset. This is how it was explained to me by I.E.. Did you have an alignment done before you switched your plates to know what you started with?
Steve

 

No, unfortunately I didn't get the camber measured before the IE plates. The strut towers were mushroomed by that time anyways, so I would have had to plan this far in advance, when the car was new! If you have gotten it directly from IE that the plates are supposed add -1.25 rather than end up at -1.25, I will accept that as fact. The only explanation for my numbers then, is (1) the alignment shop is wrong (but I doubt it, reputable place), or (2) my mini had ~ZERO camber from the factory!

 

inimmini
I think you may have one more option. If your strut towers were that badly mushroomed they may now be in a different location than when your MINI was new.
Steve

 

Yeah, I was expecting 1.7-1.8. I didn't have it measured before having the plates installed.