Is this too much negative camber?
 

Currently I have an SPL camber kit on my car with -3.6 total in front OR you can say about ~2.6 from factory setting. The sole reason at the time when I bought it for me to get the camber kit was to clear the smaller 17" wheels I bought to save $$ on rubber.

It's been a year since I have done this and have done more than a handful of track days. Everything is fine and dandy except I have started to pick up more speed as I progress and have started to wonder about my suspension settings.

I do not have any negative camber in the rear, how do you think is this affecting the car OR would affect the car? The way I understand it, since the car has such a high negative camber up front it should oversteer a lot but I don't feel that way. May be I have gotten used to it? What do you recommend that I do about the rear? Should I do anything at all?

Lol yes!! Unless you want to be hellflush, gag.

So.....-3.6 per side? That's a lot of camber for street tires.

Yes -3.6 per side. This past weekend when I took the temps when I came back after a session there was a 20 degree spread. I wanted to keep it at 10 but I guess the high camber causes it.

Like I said, I just put it to clear the smaller wheels and prevent it from rubbing. I am currently running street tires (Kumob Ecsta XS). If I have to reduce camber setting it would mean I need to change wheels, which I am not doing anytime soon :)

So, now that I have so much up in front what about the rear? Do I get camber kit for the rear and add negative camber in rear to get it even? Even if it means that I am running more than needed on the street tires?

dial in some camber in the rear for sure.

I agree...either dial in some rear camber or reduce the front camber.

Ok then I will get a rear camber kit. Are there any suggestions for this? I have SPL V2 in the front so just go with an SPL in the rear?

Not sure why you need all that negative camber to clear 17" wheels. Are they aggressive offsets with 275/40 tires or something?

I would just set the front to -1.5 or so and call it a day. Are you even lowered? If not, hell go back to -1.2 or so in the front.

That's way too much camber for a daily driven car. My Z is a dedicated track car and I don't run that much front camber.

Yes, the offset is a bit aggressive

Wheels -- Enkei RPF1
Front -- 17x9.5 + 18
Rear -- 17x10 + 18

Tires - Kumho Ecsta XS
Front -- 255 40 17
Rear -- 275 40 17

For people who know SPL v2 - It comes with 3 shim blocks. Large, Medium, Small. Now I don't remember how much they add for each block but I take out the Large and Small pieces and leave the medium one in. The Z has a stock negative camber of 0.7 to 1. I believe I have an additional 2.0 from the factory setting which puts me at 3.0-3.3. The 3.6 number was total effective camber that the tech at a local Nissan dealership told me.

I am setting up an alignment appointment with a local performance shop and have been researching on what I should do to my rear. Like I said, the way the car runs at the track right now I do not see any issues but I am sure it's not setup right.

A few other notes - I am not lowered at all and plan on running 17's only. That means I cannot bump down the camber in front.
Also, I did not want to run spacers so that was compensated with more camber in front.

Hey Scott we went through a lot of discussion about this last year when I was getting my track wheels :) You have a bunch of posts in the thread too. Just as a reminder HERE it is. I am not expecting anyone to go through that thread again. But, I am looking for advise from veterans here to setup my car better. Also the fact that I am progressing makes me want to pay more attention to the suspension.

Why does that mean you cannot bump down front camber? :dunno:

You need to bump down camber a lot, and I see no reason why you can't only because you are running 17s. With your wheel and tire size, you should clear the fenders just fine...especially consider you are at stock ride height.

The 3.6 for the track sounds about right based on the temps you posted. Not knowing the track configuration that's about the best I can do. You need less for the street.

Since you bought adjustable camber upper control arms why aren't you adjusting them before and after each track event?

With the offset of the wheels I knew before hand that there will be rubbing issues with stock alignment. So, when the wheels were installed we checked to see which shims had to be removed to not have any rubbing and we had to take out the Large and small shims on SPL V2 A-arms.

Also, are you referring to camber settings in addition to the stock setting. I've seen a lot of folks do that. If that is what you are referring to my camber in front is 2.2

I am just being a Lazy ass :( I said the 1 hr each time at the end of a long track day is not worth it. Besides I don't drive my car a lot on the street. Even though it is street driven it is mostly driven to

- tech inspections
- back and forth from the track
- local Z meets

I was told that a 10 degree spread is advisable for street tires but because of the high camber in front I guess I end up with 20 degree spread.

If you are making alignment adjustments to clear rubber off your fenders, that is a really bad idea. The offset you are you using is much too aggressive which I am sure you already know.

-3.5 up front on a street tire is going to make the car unhappy.

Yup, I remember that thread. I thought you ended up at ~2.2* of front camber on the 17x9.5 +18 front wheels though. If you don't do much DD'ing, then your current camber is fine, but I'd figure you'd want to dial the rear in a bit as well. Did you ever lower the car (sorry if you did and I missed it)? If not, now may be a good time since you're considering getting another alignment anyway.

As for RPF1s, I now have three sets (street, autox, track) - yikes!

Can you please explain a bit more? I understand that too much camber in front will cause oversteer but like I mentioned earlier I don't feel the car is unhappy. Also note that I am an intermediate driver with about 15 track days experience and might not be driving as hard as some others around here.

Please be advised that I am relatively a novice when it comes car mechanics ... but I am trying/willing/able to learn. Just need the right direction :)

You are right, I posted HERE that I ended up with 2.2. This year around May I got an alignment check done at a dealership and guy said I had a net -3.6. Not sure how he got that number. I know all these numbers mean nothing without a proper printout. I will try to find the printout and post it here.

No, I did not lower the car at all. The car does a lot more potential then me so I am trying not to make any unneeded changes at the moment. Right now, I am trying to set it up right so that I don't have tons of camber in front and none in rear.

So, why lower the car?

Are you sure you are at -3.5'ish each side? Or total. Can you take a profile picture of your front tires?

Too much negative camber with quickly overheat the inside third of the tire, will make the car challenging to stop under braking. If you are in fact running -3.5 each side, you aren't maximizing the contact patch of your street tire, which will actually make the car understeer. If you couple that with a lot of negative camber in the rear, you are basically giving up a lot of grip front and rear. How are you taking tire temps? Are they done immediately after a few hot laps, and in the hot pit area of the track?

Because you are reporting that your car doesn't feel strange, maybe your numbers are "total camber"?