dyi front camber mod

[insite]

keep in mind that when you change the camber, you are also changin the toe.

with our cars, the tie rods attach ahead of the axle, so when you add negative camber, you toe out. when you add positive camber, you toe in.

the cars are set from the factory with some toe-in, but if you add enough camber to cause toe-out, be aware that the car will become darty when trying to drive straight. it will get a bit squirrely under braking. it will also tend to understeer a LOT in the rain. oh yeah, and it can DESTROY your tires.

better to be sure you understand what you're doing. the best alternative is to have an alignment shop add neg camber while doing a full alignment. this way, you can be sure your toe is proper.

[baxster]

Thank you insite for your insight . You sound like an expert on the topic.

Once I extend the bolt holes, I will have a professional alignment done with zero toe and camber maxed in the front, and 1/2 degree greater camber in the rear with slight toe-in.

[insite]

bax -

what are you using your car for? street, auto-x, track, combiniation? what kind of tires do you have? maxing out your front camber isn't necessarily a good thing.

the boxster has a LOT of caster built into its design. that means that as you turn the steering wheel, the suspension geometry actually adds camber. the further you turn the wheel, the more camber is added.

more front camber GENERALLY helps with understeer, and can increase lateral g capability. this comes at the expense of braking distance and straight line stability. in effect, you are trading straight line contact patch for a larger contact patch during corners.

the right amount of camber really depends on a lot of factors. give me some insight & i'll give you some insite.

[baxster]

The box is mostly for street, then some auto-x, and hopefully some DE days. It has 17" S-02A's.

From what I've read, maxing the front camber will get you something like .5 to .7 of neg camber, and that's with about 1/2 inch of movement of the strut tower bolts. If I can get 1/4 inch more movement of the bolts, I might be able to get up to 1 degree negative camber.

Are you saying that -1 deg of front camber will make my braking noticeably worse?

[insite]

-1 up front is too much for street tires. -0.8 is about perfect. aim for -1.8 to -2.0 in back. the amount of neg up you can get up front will depend on whether your car is lowered or not. when you lower your car, neg camber increases.

and yes, more neg camber reduces braking distances. you are trading straight line traction for turning traction. always a trade off......nothing is free.

[Pat]

The nice thing is, with increased camber you don't have to slow down as much for corners, so loss of braking isn't such a big deal.

[j.fro]

Just some information, FWIW.
I use aftermarket struts with mounts that give me a lot of camber adjustment. Camber is set to -2.3 degrees up front with zero toe.
In a typical year, I'll put 12,000 miles on the car and do 12-14 auto crosses. The car eats two sets of tires: a set of r-comps for the AXes and a set of street tires for the rest of the driving. Every spring my tax return goes straight to a tire purchase.
Is it sensible? no way!
Is it fun? HELL YEAH!!!

[baxster]

Originally Posted by insite

-1 up front is too much for street tires.

With the mod I'm talking about, I'll probably be lucky tp get up to -1. Why is -1 too much for street tires?