front camber settings for road/track use

[BrennyV]

Well after purchasing some Cusco Camber adjustable goodness for my sti (because some dropkick at the suspension joint killed my old strut top)
I was just wondering what some of you guys out there run on you cars (obviously aimed at you rally boys / cone heads) as I’m looking for a good balance for street with a little spirited driving...ok a lot without going nuts on my tyres.
This is on a GD chassis so remember she’s a little more heavy over the GC’s I just want to know a good starting point. Then obviously ill adjust once a get a good feel for it.
So yeh, just looking for your advice and what camber settings you have run.
Cheers
Brendan

[Matatak]

one word.....Negative.

[BrennyV]

one word.....Negative.

yes, thanks dildo

my gc8 usto run 1.5 but that was a bit much. i think ill start at 1 and see how i go.

[discopotato03]

BennyV , I would set it up to have as much positive caster (strut tops back or towards the firewall) as the strut tops will allow . What this does is give more dynamic or effective camber change as the wheels (steering) turns .
Static (when the wheels point straight ahead) negative camber does little for you though 1/2 to 1 deg negative won't hurt .

You can easily tell a car that's set up with stuff all caster and lots of static negative camber - both front wheels lean in at the top when the steering is pointed straight ahead and the inner 1/3 to 1/2 half of the tyres tread will be worn/missing . This happens because in corners the outer wheel is negative cambered (like you want it) but the inner is also negative cambered when it needs to be positively cambered . The inner tyre is only running on the inner half of its effective tread width and less if there is a lot of body roll . What it has on the deck is highly loaded as the tyre shear forces try to drag it across the road .

When you have more positive caster the tops of both wheels lean into the corner as the wheels (steering) turns in . That way the sheer forces have both wheels tread width mostly on the deck where they'll give more grip and better turn in .

Note . Manufacturers design production cars to understeer because in an emergency stop the thing tries to plough straight ahead which scrubs off speed until hopefully the tyres grip and steer/stop . If your going to hit something they want it to happen front on for crumple/protection reasons and now days drivers handbags are supposed to deploy and protect you better from the front - always provided the cover doesn't take your dial out .
So you need to be careful reducing understeer because it can increase oversteer meaning in some circumstances the car will try to swap ends - and slide into something backwards .
So if you make your car capable of being driven faster around corners generally it will be and if an accident is inevitable it often occurs at higher speeds . The methods of getting cars to handle better are out there but driver education is often overlooked . Its one thing to go faster but the safety margins close up and you have to be able to deal with emergency situations at short notice and often with marginal room in which to deal with things .

Truth ? Good tyres are a good starting point before the geometry is altered from std , I like Michellin which is why my R33 Skyline wears Pilot Preceeder 2's . 900+ worth of rubber for 235 45 17's and worth every cent .
Good tyres and std geometry enhances what a car already has without altering the manufactures designed in characteristics . Grippy tyres means the ABS takes over less because the tyres don't try to slip/slide as easily .

It starts to cost a bit to make an Impreza handle well because you need to beef things up to handle the loads of higher rate anti roll bars - the links are often not strong enough and break . On a predominantly front wheel drive platform (Impreza) the rear bar is the one that has most say with keeping the front geometry predictable though most do both ends to make it balanced .
My suspension mentor said with those cars the path is links/bars/bushes and also with some of them the rear suspension arms because they often don't cope with the increased bar loads needed to control body roll which alters geometry and the tyres contact patch on the road .
When I was interested in Imprezas (for 2 weeks 4 months ago) he said figure on spending ~ 2G beefing things up so that further mods remained reliable .
Then he said figure on extra for good dampers springs etc .

He preferred the Lancer Evo platform because he said the factory does more of the hard stuff for you and you only need bars/bushes dampers and springs . A bit better weight distribution and superior roll centers .

Over to you , cheers A .

[BrennyV]

whoah, cheers for that info trying to suck it all in atm.
im in the process of installing whiteline end links and anti lift to also to give better feel for the car. i think ill have to chat to you more often

[BrennyV]

ok, cars booked in for front anti lift and strut tops pricing up rear swaybar and h brace atm.
also because i have a V7 sti i already have heaps of upgraded parts like the alloy front controll arms and bailjoint style links

[discopotato03]

Yes std Impreza's want to jack themselves up on their front suspension under acceleration loads which does less than perfect things geometry wise .

Don't quote me but I think whitline do a beefed up aluminium front control arm mount and this to a degree alters caster and the std anti climb geometry .
To stop it punching its chin into terror firma higher rate springs and better dampers are needed .

Talk to Whitline , cheers A .

[BrennyV]

yeh, the anti lift kills this problem and also gets rid of understeer.

[Point]

how does the anti lift work? raise or lower the suspension pivot?

[discopotato03]

Do a search on anti lift geometry and open the first one at the top of the list - Whiteline ALK (anti lift kit) .

Basically these gadgets drop the back of the front control arms 20mm and move them out slightly giving more positive caster and less anti climb/dive geometry .

If some computer literate person can post the link it would help .

Cheers Adrian .

[Point]

That would be this one

thanks disco.

[BrennyV]

ill post up some pix of it installed on the car if you like

[Point]

found them on the MRT website. Will help me alot on my Brumby conversion