APEXHNTR

Hello Folks,

We just put new tires on the C4S and had a four wheel alignment done last week. The old tires looked very worn but even side to side. The new PS2 front tires (same brand/size as the previous tires) have a taller tread depth than the rears by about 1/3. The old front tires had more tread remaining than the rears by about 30%.

I asked the mechanic about changing the camber. He said another customer just had his 996 turbo put back due to excessive (uneven) tire wear. I inquired as to how far in degrees had the 996 turbo customer gone beyond the stock settings and found it was 2 degrees.

We discussed wear and he recommended 1/2 to 1 degree adjustment to start.

For all you folks in the know two questions:

1) Does 1/2 to 1 degree increase in camber sound like a good starting point?
2) Can we increase the camber in the front and leave the rear at stock settings?

My goal is to take away some of the understeer and sharpen the steering response but nothing too drastic to start with. Due to the additional tread depth in front- I felt that more front tire wear due to increased camber on the inside is no big deal if the front tires don't surpass the wear rate of the rear tires. Thanks for any suggestions.

PJorgen

In my experience, with stock suspension you'll be lucky to get -0.1 to -0.2 neg camber on the front. I run as much neg camber in front as possible (about -0.2) and -1.5 in the rear on my '02 C4S. I like the handling and am pleased with the tire wear.

FYI - I do track the car about 1-2 days per month.

Kerry

I agree with Jorgen, unless the car is lowered you won't be able to get much negative camber in the front; I could get -.5 and went with -1.5 rear. I autocrossed alot so the tire wear was fairly even in the rear. The fronts will always have even wear, given the mild settings.

ArneeA

Front camber is not adjustable for these cars?

Ed Newman

With a stock US ride height, you cannot get much camber. If you need or want more camber, according to the tech manual, you can install the 2 pc lower control arms (ala GT3RS) and use shims to get more camber.

ArneeA

Thanks. The same applies to the rear, I suppose?

RamVA

OP - Are you running stock suspension? If so dial in as much as you can, and you shouldn't see many ill effects. If not, I think you can safely go up to -1.0 with few adverse effects (I agree the wear isn't a big deal). If you go beyond that you may find the directional stability lacking, but good benefits in turn in and grip.

APEXHNTR

Thanks for the advice. I will set up an appointment to have my tech. dial in as much negative camber as the stock suspension will allow. That sounds like it won't compromise tire wear unless we start changing out components like the lower control arms. I will post the results for comparison purposes.