The R50/R53 Mini's Front Lower Control Arm Bushings are made of soft rubber that allows for a comfortable ride when new but they are prone to wearing out every 60k miles. The soft rubber also causes misalignment in the front suspension that can make spirited driving difficult and unpredictable.Â
In our efforts to tune "interesting sport cars" we've found that eliminating bushing deflection from suspension joints results in much more favorable driving dynamics! Our solution for the R50/R53 Mini Cooper is to replace the sloppy Front Lower Control Arm Bushing with a Spherical Bearing that will not deflect under acceleration, turn-in or braking! We have found that this does increase the NVH a bit but absolutely turns the Mini into the street legal go kart it deserves to be!Â
Our Shop is located in the Northern California Mountains and rigorous testing has been done on the local roads with our JCW Mini S over the past six months. With confidence I can say that the driving dynamics are now on the level of legendary drivers cars like the Toyota AE86 and Lotus Exige!Â
