Camber angle again

[steve-v8s]

OK, so I have made a Camber Angle Gauge out of cardboard, string and some sticky back plastic ( a sheet of fibreglass some stainless rod and a protractor actually, but see previous thread). I have read Steve’s book, and the replies to my previous post, and plan to fiddle with the ride height and camber this weekend. I have about –2.25 at the rear and -1.5 front . Before I crack on are there any tips all you knowledgeable people can offer ? I have got the feel of the car on the track just about right and can make it good for the road by simply taking a couple of clicks off the dampers. The reason for looking at the camber is that visual inspection shows I am not using all of the rear tyres. With more tyre on the ground I would hope to get off the line a bit quicker.

[joospeed]

only thing to do is try an angle, and then another angle, then another and see what works best for you .. it's called development and it's what people pay a lot of money for lol

[greenv8s]

Make sure the car is flat and level before you start. Just parking on flat-ish ground is NOT good enough, you need all four corners flat and level to within a couple of mil.

[shpub]

If by visual inspection you mean static on the ground then don't change anything yet. Yes camber will be a bit of a problem when starting as it does reduce the amount of tread but it is set up to provide the best contact when the car is cornering. Setting the camber to zero will improve the straightline grip slighly but compromise the car's ability to corner because there will be no negative camber to compensate for the positive camber caused by body roll.

End effect is you may well be slower as you won't be able to get the speed ouit of the corner onto the straights that give the big improvements.

To see what camber you require, get some video/pictures of the car cornering or measure tyre temps to see if you have cornering camber problems.

[shpub]

You will also need to check the toe and camber for any ride height change.

[steve-v8s]

Thanks for the comments. I have already reserved my neighbour’s double garage for the weekend as it has a level floor, unlike mine. By visual inspection I mean actually looking at the rear tyres, which are fairly new. It is obvious that the outside edges are not seeing any use. Even after some fairly “spirited driving“ the original moulding marks are un-touched on the outer inch, where the fronts are equally worn across the tread. I have, as you suggested looked at some pictures which appear to show the loaded wheels planted both front and back and the unloaded ones running on the inside edges. Even hard into a corner I can see no suggestion of any positive camber under load. Measuring the temperature after a run up the hill confirms the visible wear marks, the outside edges are stone cold, inside and centre are nice and warm. Fronts seem equally warm over the entire width. My plan is to slightly raise the ride height, (to clear the local speed hump) and then adjust the rears to –1.75 from the current –2.25 and give that a try. Is that sensible thinking or am I missing the point ?