Adjustable Rear Lateral Links

[41hstock]

Have a '03 MINI Cooper that I autox in Street Touring class. Rules allow for replacing rear lateral links with adjustables for setting camber and toe. I plan to take my MINI into IT in the future and need clarification.

If I read the IT rules correctly, on a trailing arm independent rear suspension you can only adjust rear camber and toe using offset bushings or slotting the mounting points.

My question for everyone is: Are my adjustable lateral links IT legal, and if not is this a rule other racers would like to see changed???

My concern is that the MINI's stock lateral links are famously weak. I have seen accounts of them snapping on cars that are simply daily driven. I would refuse to track my car without replacements. Also, slotting seems like a major hassle that could potentialy weaken mounting points and not all that easily done.

If cost is the primary motivation behind this rule, I can tell you that bushings for this car are more expensive than many aftermarket links, and I would probably f#$% up the slotting and would need repairing.

It is just so much easier to use bolt-on adjustable links!!!

Thanks!

[Chip42]

your read on the IT rules and your follow on interpretation is correct. offset bushings or slotting, stock arms only.

it's a Warts and all type of thing. apparently the mini is a huge bag of weak parts, because this is not the first component we've heard of that can't take the rigors of racing. it's a "Warts and all" issue that might mean the mini is simply not cut out for IT, assuming the parts really are as weak as you describe.

It can't be fixed as you can't make exceptions for one car without opening the door to the snowballing of such allowances, which no one wants to see.

[JeffYoung]

As Chip indicates, we don't make exceptions to the rules for cost, or even for "safety" concerns like this one. I don't doubt the stock arms are weak but my guess is if you replace them on a regular basis (like I do with ball joints and other suspension items) you won't have an issue.

Note we are not singling you out -- we just don' make this kind of change for anyone, and we all have to race/work around the weak links in our cars.

[lawtonglenn]

...we all have to race/work around the weak links in our cars.

pun intended?

.

[Flyinglizard]

Look around the B spec MIni. see how it is addressed there and follow sucess.
If they are allowed better links, than they will also be allowed into IT with the right letters .

[41hstock]

Thanks for your insight, guys!

I like th B Spec angle, but only 2nd gen MINIs are allowed in that. They may have addressed the problem in the 2nd gen. However, there were some guys who raced 1st gen MINIs in Showroom Stock. They may be worth asking.

To give you an idea of how weak these puppies are, here is a couple of links to a MINI forum illustrating the link/control arm problem even on street driven MINIs. There many similar stories to these.

http://www.northamericanmotoring.com...unk-noise.html

http://www.northamericanmotoring.com...hat-to-do.html

I guess I will just have to keep the MINI as a fun track car, or find stronger legal replacements. Can you legally reinforce them???

[ShelbyRacer]

Look around the B spec MIni. see how it is addressed there and follow sucess.
If they are allowed better links, than they will also be allowed into IT with the right letters .

I'd be careful in making such statements.

As the newest member of the ITAC, I can only speak for the short-term past, but I'd say that the likelihood of getting this type of modification, even for one car, even if it's legal in B-spec, is extremely low. We will certainly discuss each letter individually on its merits and consequences, so there's no harm in sending something in, but I wouldn't want anyone thinking that the rules and allowances in one class would directly transfer to another, even when going "up through" the categories.

As others have said, an allowance for alternate suspension pieces is a fundamental step away from the basic philosophy of the class (a phrase for which I have a new respect). There are many individual or systemic cases of parts that are "unsafe" unless replaced, and yet there are racers that manage to run those cars with some success by realizing a shorter maintenance interval or a careful periodic inspection process.


A side note---

Considering that I've driven an SSC Mini at a few hillclimbs (held class record at one hill), and that same car was routinely driven by multiple drivers at each event, I'd be skeptical that the suspension parts are that fragile. Said car has over 100K miles on it currently (obviously street driven- in NJ and PA in addition to being raced) and is still climbing away.