front wheel camber

[Bournemouth James 0]

on one of my front wheels, the camber (i think thats the right word) looks wrong

 

i will try and explain it in words:

 

the bottom of the wheel/tyer is futher out than the top if you look at the car sideways, it looks if you compare it to the other wheel on the other side, which looks dead vertical

hope you can understand that

 

is the camber adjustable, or have i got a problem here?

[Henny 0]

Yup, Caster and Camber are adjustable on a C. Take it to someone good to set up the suspension properly and you'll notice a major improvement on the handling if you can already see that it's wrong! 8)

 

I got a local racing pro to corner weight my C (set all the heights on the coil-overs so that it's 25% of the weight per wheel) and do all of the geometry while he was doing it and I can safely say that it's now the best handling car I've driven... and I've driven quite a few! 8)

[dubster82 0]

should be adjustable, get a digital 4 wheel alignment done for perfect handling 8)

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Sometimes it's an illusion. You can look at your car from certain angles and swear one side is different from t'other, but may not be.

 

For the best result, set the camber to 0.5 degrees negative.

 

Kev

[Ess Three 0]

Yup, Caster and Camber are adjustable on a C.

 

Not strictly true.

Castor is not strictly adjustable...although a limited amount of adjustmant can be gained within the limits of moving the front subframe around on it's mounting bolts...but this is generally fractions of a degree.

 

This is common with most VWs..certainly anything with a front subframe like a Mk2 Golf, Mk3 Golf, Corrado etc.

 

Unless you know of another more adjustable method?

 

 

 

I got a local racing pro to corner weight my C (set all the heights on the coil-overs so that it's 25% of the weight per wheel) and do all of the geometry while he was doing it and I can safely say that it's now the best handling car I've driven... and I've driven quite a few!

 

Can I just say that I applaud you...you are one of the very scarce breed of people who actually use coilovers to improve the handling of their car first, and the looks seciond! :thumbleft:

Most people just set them to look good...and never understand the improvements that can be made if they are set up professionally and corner balanced.

 

 

 

For the best result, set the camber to 0.5 degrees negative.

 

Sorry Kev...

I'm not buying that...the last literature I read stated that the Corrado VR6 came from the factory with 1.2 degrees of negative...so unless this particulat VW tuner's literature was incorrect, I'd say you need more than 0.5 degrees!

 

The additional negative camber is what made a standard Corrado handle better than a standard Golf...forget all the passive rear steer bollox...the negative camber is the single most sensible mod you can do to improve front end bite, and hence handling....in my view anyway.

 

If a Corrado and Golf are both set up similar, the differences evapourate...I can assure you.

 

So, if the Corrado comes with 1.0 degree +...surely adding more negative camber will improve the handling again?

Well, yes. And no.

 

Adding negative camber works a treat when you have body roll...having very stiff dampers and no body roll in addition to 2.0+ neg camber can make a road car unstable in a straight line and because of the limited roll, you will not gain the expected benefits of added negative camber on the bends.

 

Also too much negative will wear out the inner edges....but if you like back roads you'll be wearing out the outer edges at present anyway...so tyre wear should stay constant as long as you are sensible.

 

For a road Corrado / Golf with decent suspension and standard anti-roll bars, I'd try about 1.8 - 2.0 degrees negative.

(anti-roll bars effect body roll...and the less the body rolls on a road car, the less camber you need)

 

For a road Corrado / Golf with decent suspension and uprated anti-roll bars, I'd try about 1.6 - 1.8 degrees negative.

 

For a standard road Corrado / Golf with standard suspension and standard anti-roll bars, I'd be looking to get about 2.0 degrees of negative on each front corner.

 

Out of interest, race cars tend to run between 3 and 5 degrees.

 

Of course, tyre compound, wheel size, wheel & tyre width, driving style and roads driven etc all come into play...but for my driving style these are the basic settings to go for for a transformation in handling.

 

0.5 degrees as you sugested will make for a very stable in a straight line, understeering on the corners type car...not as good as it could be!

The improvements that camber / castor brings are not rocket science...they are cheap (only the cost of a set up) so go and have a play.

 

 

After 11 years of building modifierd cars, doing trackdays, hillclimbs and sprints, I have the following on my Mk3 GTI (OK...it's not a Corrado...but it's not a million miles away!)

Koni coil-overs, Eibach anti-roll bars, Powerflex bushes all round, 7.0 x 16 BBS wheels with 215/40/16 Toyo tyres...front camber is set to 1.2 degrees negative at each side - the point at which any more neg camber and the tyre / rim was hitting the front strut.

Now I've added 10mm spacers and I'll be going for 1.7 degrees of negative per side...and 0.5mm toe out each side.

 

The turn in is sharp - very sharp - understeer is fairly non existant (Quaife LSD helps here!) and the back end is rock steady...but there are improvements to be made. Going to 1.7 degrees I hope will do the trick.

 

I'm not saying mine is perfect for everyone...but it will be for some.

My tyre wear is equal (over 7000 miles now on these settings)...so I just can't stress enough to people to go and have a play....you may be surprised with the results.

[Henny 0]

Yup, Caster and Camber are adjustable on a C.

 

Not strictly true.

Castor is not strictly adjustable...although a limited amount of adjustmant can be gained within the limits of moving the front subframe around on it's mounting bolts...but this is generally fractions of a degree.

 

Just what I've been told... I'll ask the guys who set my suspension up when I next speak to them... 8)

 

I got a local racing pro to corner weight my C (set all the heights on the coil-overs so that it's 25% of the weight per wheel) and do all of the geometry while he was doing it and I can safely say that it's now the best handling car I've driven... and I've driven quite a few!

 

Can I just say that I applaud you...you are one of the very scarce breed of people who actually use coilovers to improve the handling of their car first, and the looks seciond! :thumbleft:

Most people just set them to look good...and never understand the improvements that can be made if they are set up professionally and corner balanced.

 

eye thank ewe.....! :lol: :lol: I didn't see the point in dropping my C in the weeds (although it did drop 80mm when I first fitted the kit! :shock: :lol: ) when what I really want is a car that will out perform and out handle pretty much anything else about! 8) :wink: She's only about 30mm lower than standard now, but, by god, does she scare the hell out of me with the grip and handling! :wink: :lol: Sod the looks, I want it to handle like it's on rails and go like someone shoved a rocket up my ar$e!!!! 8) :D She's also quite a pretty car as well, so I'm not going to argue with that bit, as I see it as a bonus! :lol: I first noticed the difference when I went around (all the way around!) a roundabout at 60MPH+ and didn't even think about it until I noticed the passenger was white and had almost ripped the grab handle off the roof! :roll: :lol: :lol:

[Ess Three 0]

eye thank ewe.....! I didn't see the point in dropping my C in the weeds (although it did drop 80mm when I first fitted the kit! ) when what I really want is a car that will out perform and out handle pretty much anything else about! She's only about 30mm lower than standard now, but, by god, does she scare the hell out of me with the grip and handling!

 

I'm pleased to see you have resisted the temptation to lower it so far that the driveshafts end up pointing upwards and all the chassis inbuilt roll resistance is lost....lower it so far that the CV joints are stressed.....lower it so far that the sump is exposed.....etc, etc.

 

A car dumped in the weeds may look 'cool' however it doesn't look quite so cool as the owner bottoms out on a yump and removes the bottom of the sump resulting in a catastrophic loss of oil.....or breaks a driveshaft attempting to go fast. Both very un-cool. It happens.

 

 

I also see (by the look of things) that you have 16" wheels...bravo!

Resisting the temptation to fit 17" or bigger and destroy all the forgiving nature of the chassis.

I too think that 16" wheels are the best compromise between looks, grip and practicality....having tried the others over the years I'm most happy with the 16s.

 

However, if you drive on Scottish roads in winter...the standard 15"s are by far the best!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

 

Sorry Kev...

I'm not buying that...the last literature I read stated that the Corrado VR6 came from the factory with 1.2 degrees of negative...so unless this particulat VW tuner's literature was incorrect, I'd say you need more than 0.5 degrees!

 

No need to apologise mate, you sound like you know your stuff with suspension, so I'm always open to corrections/suggestions.

 

My VR6 is going to Stealth in a couple of weeks to get a faulty Koni changed out, so I'll get Vince to put the camber to -1.2

 

Cheers

Kev

[Bournemouth James 0]

ive got all the steering geomertry set up properly now, the camber and toe were way, way out

 

The car handles a whole lot better now

[Henny 0]

ive got all the steering geomertry set up properly now, the camber and toe were way, way out

 

The car handles a whole lot better now

 

You wouldn't have thought that it can make that much difference would you?!? :shock:

Glad you got it sorted... 8)