N00bie question re: negative camber

[red_wagen]

Hi, this will be a series of threads/questions by me which hopefully culminates in my getting my own Boxster. Anywhoo regarding the negative camber on the car, I understand leads to premature tire wear. Is there a way to adjust the camber so tire life may be extended a bit? I understand, correct me if I'm wrong, that the negative camber is there to aid in high speed driving. But if I drive smart and keep my speed under the century mark is it possible to adjust the camber? Bear with me and my n00bie questions as I know close to nothing about these cars and I want to research as carefully and as much as I can. TIA.

[986Jim]

Negative camber is for good handling and faster turn in going into corners.

If you can't afford to replace tires, you can't afford the boxster it's as simple as that. Ruining the handling of a car that Porsche spent a lot of money to develop simply to save tires is madness.

Conceivably you could correct the camber to zero to save tires, but you would be left with a pure sports car that’s ruined because the owner is too cheap or can't afford to buy tires... See where I'm going with that? That’s like taking out three spark plugs from the motor to save on gas. If you can't afford gas for a performance car, you shouldn't be driving it.

[KevinH1990]

Originally Posted by 986Jim

Conceivably you could correct the camber to zero to save tires, but you would be left with a pure sports car that’s ruined because the owner is too cheap or can't afford to buy tires... See where I'm going with that? That’s like taking out three spark plugs from the motor to save on gas. If you can't afford gas for a performance car, you shouldn't be driving it.

In the pre-purchase inspection report of the 2000 I bought two weeks ago, the technician noted that the insides of the relatively new rear tires were worn more than the outside. He recommended that I have a "Stage III" alignment for the car.

I brought the car to an alignment shop that I use for tire installation and alignments on my other cars. I've always thought that they did good work, but this is the first Porsche I brought to them. They basically told me the same thing Jim said. Changing the camber on the tires would adversely affect the handling. I think the technician said something like "its the nature of the beast."

Should I consider finding another shop, and having them give it a try or just accept this as the nature of the Boxster?

[ScottT]

I agree... Tire wear is not the most costly thing you should worry about. leave the camber alone and deal with the tire wear as it comes. Besides if you buy one with plenty of rubber left you shouldnt have to worry about it for while..


Scott
'01 boxter
Black, black, with tan

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

You're arguing about degrees of Tire Wear, not eliminating it entirely. Given the Mid-Engine weight distribution, the Front Brake Bias, and the softer compounds used in the Spec'd Tires, I doubt that you'd extend the life of the Tires by even 5k mi., and this at the expense of negatively impacting the Handling for every one of those miles.

Tire expense on a Performance Car simply goes with the Territory. You should never keep your tires on a Car like this for more than 4 years regardless of mileage or tread depth because the Tires degrade as much with Time as with Mileage. They become Hard and lose some of their ability to manage Heat making them quite literally unsafe. If you can't shoulder the $$ - stay away! Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[red_wagen]

Point taken. But lest you be mistaken that I'm cheaping out on the car, I'm not. But I'm not Mr. Moneybags either so hence the question. How much mileage can one expect from a set? 10k? I know actual mileage may vary...
I should point out again that I'm not running away from this car simply because I might "only get 10K miles out of a set of tires". I was just curious...

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by red_wagen

Point taken. But lest you be mistaken that I'm cheaping out on the car, I'm not. But I'm not Mr. Moneybags either so hence the question. How much mileage can one expect from a set? 10k? I know actual mileage may vary...
I should point out again that I'm not running away from this car simply because I might "only get 10K miles out of a set of tires". I was just curious...

Hi,

Driven normally (which is of course a relative term), you should expect to get say 20k mi. from the Fronts and perhaps 15k mi. from the rears.

Your driving style, the area of the Country you reside in and how careful you are at maintaining proper Tire pressures will affect the actual lifespan of the Tires. Hope this helps...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[986Jim]

However if you like me and your hanging corners everywhere you go and drive hard you'll get two summers from a set if you do 3-4k a year on the car.

My talon is worse. I have to buy new rear tires and rebuild the transmission and a new clutch every year. I have come to grips with that and just do it anyway.

If all you have to do is buy a set of $600-900 tires every other year, thats no big deal honestly. Plus you get to do crazy burn outs every other year now. When you know your gonna change up the tires, smoke the pair you have on the car now off in some crazy burnout/donughts in style, get some sweet pics and post them up for the rest of us to see. Thats always good for a laugh. I'll be doing this in the fall...

Look at www.tirerack.com or www.1010tires.com they always have good deals on with cheap shipping. Then your local tire place can install.

[EPIQTodd]

You can have your camber set at 'agressive street' numbers, which are .5 front and 1-1.5 (in degrees negative) back. More agressive (track) numbers would be 1-1.5 front, 2.5 rear. Beyond that, you are looking at excessive tire wear if you drive more than 4000 miles a year.