Handling or grip or something else

[minipower]

Saw a post here on PH and heard about on another internet site that minis are crap at handling. I can't quite understand because I have naff tires with different tread patterns all round and made by some unknown company that do bugger all in the wet, but still i can keep up with other good cars quite easily round corners and have never felt like I was very close to the edge.
As my grip is crap and supposedly handling crap, why am I able to still go round corners pretty well? (I'm no expert driver either as only passed about 2 months ago). Is there some unknown thing involved or are these people talking out of you know where.

[love machine]

Which cars usually win autotests? Enough said about handling.

My 66 will out corner pretty much anything. It would pretty much out corner anything running 5.20 crossplies. (left the sides of the car covered in tyre dust though)

[minipower]

exactly what I thought. Some people do talk bs. After going in a couple of my mates clios and saxos i could not believe how much they bodyrolled and understeered when taking a corner. I'm normally ready to change up round a corner where as they're normally ready to change down as theyve had to slow so much.

[GreenV8S]

Classic minis are renowned for having superb handling and chuckability (if rather lacking in outright performance compared to many modern cars), so I don't know where those other opinions are coming from.

[love machine]

I run 10" wheels, sticky rubber, -2.5/-0.7 camber, lowered until the wheels are concentric in the arches, rear anti roll bar and stiff shocks an n/a 1380 and it's fun. The problem I have is staying sat in the seat on corners! Seriously

I'd offer anyone a ride who believes minis are crap on corners.

Whilst the mini has been off the road, I have grown to like the saxo I have borrowed, it's chuckable. I wondered if the mini would be as good as I thought when I flashed it up again. It makes the saxo look like it corners like a hovercraft! the turn in is something else, totally flat and it just "goes around".

I love minis!

[skyedriver]

A Saxo not worth its salt then......

........runs and hides under pile of rust in the corner

[Wildfire]

love machine said:

The problem I have is staying sat in the seat on corners! Seriously I'd offer anyone a ride who believes minis are crap on corners. Whilst the mini has been off the road, I have grown to like the saxo I have borrowed, it's chuckable. I wondered if the mini would be as good as I thought when I flashed it up again. It makes the saxo look like it corners like a hovercraft! the turn in is something else, totally flat and it just "goes around". I love minis!

Harnesses mate, it's the way forward. Since I put mine in I would never drive mine without them.

Try going from a Griffith to the Mini.

[Cooperman]

Almost nothing handles like a Mini except, perhaps, an early Escort Twin Cam/RS1600 set up properly.
So long as the suspension on a Mini is correct it will do everything properly. The tyres are then just to improve the road holding at the limit. Who can remember the 4-wheel drifts that you could get with the original Dunlop C41 cross-ply tyres on the early 997 Coopers. Fantastic fun!

[twelve_75]

Its shocking how people who drive such nasty handling cars can slate not only a legend, but a well proven one.

I wouldn't drive anything else, ('',)

[Wildfire]

I think the post people are referring to is this:

gwaredd said:

Just remember that they don't handle well, but they do GRIP well. People seem to get the two confused with these cars. Great fun tho, but need at least 60bhp IMO, otherwise they become annoying very quickly.

[Cooperman]

How on Earth can anyone say they don't handle well?
One might wonder what the experience of someone saying that really is.
Nothing handles like a Mini, even an 850 Mini!

[minipower]

ye that was the post that i was on about. I was thinkin of this the other day when drifting (controlled) across from one lane to the next when taking a tight corner. I couldnt believe how easily controlled it was. I've come to the conclusion that the opposite should be taken from that thread. My car handles unbelievably well but grips crap.

[Cooperman]

Stick some decent rubber on and notice the difference.
Of course, tyre pressures are important as is suspension hardness.
I have driven Mins with very hard damping and high TP's and they can 'skit' about on an uneven surface. Personally I like the dampers set just firm with TP's in the 32 psi region. The suspension does need to work rather than be damped right down, but the tyres need to be reasonably hard to keep the treads in place.
Perhaps the only other advice I've got is to keep the wheels to 10" or, at most 12" and don't lower the car too much. I keep mine no lower than standard and raise them a bit for rallying (hitting the ground does slow the poor little things down too much!).
Happy cornering.

[love machine]

Crossplies rule! On my raced up 1293, I was running 5.20's and the thing did smoking slides. You could just get it upset and then do a big lazy slide into a corner until it gripped again and drift it around. A mini on crossplies still out-rules most things. The 5.20's upset the quick getaways though. I used to burn 2 tyres out a fortnight in mine!