Best Negative Camber for track use

Dave B

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So I put in the Hardrace ball joints and chose to go the middle positions. Previously my stock alignment was neg 1.5 on front left and neg 1.8 on front right. (My guess is my subframe is not centered but I can live with that small a difference). Sure enough after putting on the Hardrace ball joints I went to neg 2.5 left and neg 2.8 right with both upper strut pins removed and the strut slid in as far as it can. I am on stock suspension and using 275 Nitto NT01s on 18 x 9.5 Titan 7 wheels with 45 mm offset. The car tracks straight as an arrow even with the 0.3 difference in side to side camber.

I know if I go to the highest setting on the ball joints I should be able to get to neg 3.5 and neg 3.8 which can likely be reduced to neg 3.5 after sliding the strut out on the right side. My experience in our endurance racer which is lowered and on much higher spring rates than stock, is that neg 3.5 is actually too much and neg 3 is better. Nitto NT01s are not the grippiest tire but do last quite a while and are good for lapping/ track days if not for time-attack competition but wonder if going to neg 3.5 is going to be worth it with these tires or other tires for that matter.

Not worried about tire wear on the street as I am at zero toe.
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Dave, I went with the middle notch as well and after the alignments they got both sides to -2.7 up front. Seemed to work fairly well for me last year and the front tire wear (Cup 2's) seemed pretty consistent. This was after several days at Calabogie and 1 in Shannonville which is where I think you go.
 
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Code Monkey

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Get a pyrometer and see what tire temps tell you. For me, -3.5 worked ok at Road Atlanta even though the tire temps suggested the driver could do with more negative camber. If you mostly go to one road course, you can optimize camber for this course and it does not necessarily need to be equal side to side.
 
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Dave B

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Get a pyrometer and see what tire temps tell you. For me, -3.5 worked ok at Road Atlanta even though the tire temps suggested the driver could do with more negative camber. If you mostly go to one road course, you can optimize camber for this course and it does not necessarily need to be equal side to side.
Which tire were you using?

I would have thought that a softer sidewall tire like a Yoko A052 would need more static camber than something stiffer like the new Falken 660 or RE 71R.

About the imbalance of camber from side to side, unfortunately the track I go to are all clockwise and the less negative camber I have is on the left side. Don't know if it is really worth trying to adjust the subframe for a net gain of only 0.15 degrees (half of the discrepancy)

Also wonder what happens to the camber with the extra load of me (170lb) as I wasn't sitting in the car at the time of the alignment and ideally should have been.
 

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Which tire were you using?

I would have thought that a softer sidewall tire like a Yoko A052 would need more static camber than something stiffer like the new Falken 660 or RE 71R.

About the imbalance of camber from side to side, unfortunately the track I go to are all clockwise and the less negative camber I have is on the left side. Don't know if it is really worth trying to adjust the subframe for a net gain of only 0.15 degrees (half of the discrepancy)

Also wonder what happens to the camber with the extra load of me (170lb) as I wasn't sitting in the car at the time of the alignment and ideally should have been.
Typically, I was recommend to start at -2.5 front and -2 rear for track. This should be done on alignment with a preload, so found an alignment shop does that.

Depends on track, camber will be vary and you need to test it out yourself for the best. Big track with a lot of straight will be better to have less camber for a faster speed on big straights, but small technical track you will add more negative camber to get you out of the corner.
 


WhiteRice

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I am also running the hardrace ball joints in the center position. At stock height with the mounts as far negative as possible in the slots I'm at -3.2 right and -2.9 on the left. I'm running federal rs-pro 275s for autocross. They seem to be wearing very evenly even on the inner quarter of the tire. Switching to re71r's for the next event. Hoping to borrow a pyrometer for the next event. Haven't ran them on the most aggressive slot on the ball joints yet. It feels pretty optimal where it's at.

If you are using it for street use, more negative camber on the passenger side is used to cause a slight pull to the left to counter road crown
 
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Dave B

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If you are using it for street use, more negative camber on the passenger side is used to cause a slight pull to the left to counter road crown
I was concerned that might happen but it hasn't and at least the caster is pretty even. Amazing that you could get than much neg camber at the middle position. I am jealous but not really that keen to go to -3.5.
 

WhiteRice

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This is at stock height as well. I'm not going to push it too far as I do daily it.
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