Should I have more camber in the rear of the car. What is a good camber to run if you have full adjustability (I.E. -2 or so?

 

After purchasing the SPL front and rear camber hardware, I requested SPL's Track Day alignment recommendations . I use these today and work great.

Caster
9deg caster front,

Camber
-3 deg camber in front,
-1.7 deg camber in rear.

Toe
1/8" toe out front
0 toe rear

 

I prefer some toe in at the rear, otherwise, the rear wallows under braking.

Preferably 1/16" to 1/8" toe in.

 

I think I might need this.

I run -2.7 front and -2 rear.

 

I wish I could run more than the crappy -.6* and -.9* which is the maximum I can get stock in the front. It's at -1.9* on both sides in the back.

 

Always more camber in front on a RWD car.

Rear camber is always a compromise between putting power down and corner grip. More power means less rear camber and/or taller tire sidewalls.

Front camber is always a compromise betwwen braking and turn-in/corner grip. More camber means better turn-in and corner grip but less braking ability.

 

-3 in the front is a sh*t load of camber.

JET

 

John is always the bearer of bad news.

 

use a tire pyrometer or IR thermometer at the track to check your temps. from what i understand, more than a 10-15 degree difference between the outer and inner tread means you are running too much camber and you may be compromising between corner grip and contact patch too much. a slight toe in (normally anything about 0.1 deg) is normally desired (as dnguyent suggests).

 

As a general rule of thumb that's something to start from. But so much depends on the track and the driver that adjusting the car to match that rule can actually make the car slower. You also need lap times and the driver's feedback to further fine tune all suspension settings.

Willow Springs big track is a classic example. The fast corners are all right handers and you spend close to 40% of your time on track in those corners (2, 8, and 9). Its very difficult to get the left side tires into the 10-15 degree temp range mentioned above especially since you come off 8 and 9 and directly into the pits when you take temps. The left rear tire gets especially hot.

The way to reduce this left side tire loading is to work on the camber on the right side of the car and increase front caster. Add in as much caster as possible to load the right rear tire and stand up the right side tires in camber. You end up with an asymetric alignment on the car.

None of the books will tell you this stuff. You have to go out and test, get good data, and think. This is how you get an edge over the racer that reads books, sets his alignment on January 1, and races the whole year on what the book says.

 

i totally agree with you john. imho, alignment is a function of the type of driver you are, the tires you are running, your suspension setup, and the track itself. while there can't be an "alignment-for-all-trades" for the real racer, the weekend warrior or HPDE track star may not be concerned with a few tenths.

but if you are, always start off with the fundamentals first then fine tune from there. it's always good to have a base, and if it takes a book to give it to you, then so be it. but, as john has pointed out, you can't beat experience and real world testing.

 

How does -1.8 front -1.3 rear sound, for near stock power, I want corner grip, I can plant it in first and stick, I am having problems with the rear stepping out, but i think its on throttle lifts, Maybe if i slow down more and stay on the gas through the turn i will be more neutral, i have very low profile tires with stiff sidewalls, pole positions 265/35/18 285/30/18