VaSteve

I bought my 944 from a friend who set it up well for the track. It's about 80% track, 18% to and from the track/tech sessions and 2% around town keeping the battery charged up.

The rear camber is something like -3 degrees. It looks like the legs of the letter "A" from behind. The car is great on the track, but it's eating tires like crazy on the street. They are wearing really fast on the inner edge to the point of the car being dangerous stepping out if the road is slightly wet. (The suspension is also very stiff).

My question is this...should I reduce the camber setting or is there something I can do to mitigate this when not driving on the track? I know there's camber plates for the front, but I've never seen anything for the rear.

Thoughts, suggestions, just live with it (most likely)?

Thanks!

A photo (the black one):

onefastviking

Buy a trailer and a battery tender, it's a slippery slope.

krystar

camber doesn't wear the tires as much as toe does.

i would think with that setup he's getting alot of understeer. his front wheels look less cambered than his rears. most everyone is running more neg front camber than rears. i think -2 or 3 in front, -1 or so in rear.

Lemming

From the pic it looks like you are running more negative camber in the rear than the front, which is not a usual setup on a 44? Does the car push much? What sways and springs are your running?

FWIW - I've always run my car with -2 to -2.25 in the rear and -3 to -3.5 in the front.

VaSteve

Yes, way more negative camber in the rear than the front...I'll look up the specs. Does not push much, just does what I need it to do. It's an amazing handling car. But non of the setup is my idea.

It has some H&R springs/struts in the front and H&R coil overs in the rear. I don't know the spring rate.

I upgraded to the M030 30mm front sway and an 18mm rear since it was cheaper than the M030 rear.

M758

The rear tire wear could be on track vs on the street. -3 is alot of negative camber. It can work, but you tires are telling you it is too much. I used to run -2.5 on my 944 spec with RA-1. With R888 I am closer to -2. Even then it is balance to get it spot on perfect. I still might have too much. Then again what is the fastest for a lap may produce alittle too much inside wear. It is common for racers to flip tires on the rims or at least rotatae the tires around the car if all 4 tires and wheels are the same.

I have rotated all my RA-1 and R888 for years to maximize their life. BTW.. with RA-1's even if they are bald they are not done. Run them till they are either down to the cords or stop sticking. If you are worried about the drive home either trailer the car or get a set of cheap street tires and swap. You wil save money by being able to use the RA-1 when bald. That extra life will allow you to pay for the street tires in 2 sets of RA-1's.

jerome951

Hey Steve,

-3 is a lot of neg camber in the rear. I run less than that but still wear out the inner shoulder faster.
I bought a cheap set of wheels and used street tires (narrower, too, to reduce tramlining) to run on the street (and I don't do much street driving).

VaSteve

Oh yeah, I swap wheels at the track and all that. Even still my hard as a rock street tires are bald on the inside. I need to put on yet another pair. Since I don't drive much on the street, used tires (often) is cheaper than a truck & trailer. Here's the specs from the alignment sheet:

Front camber: -2.58
Caster: 2.50
Toe: .02

Rear camber: -3.34
Toe: .06 (left) .02 (right)

dand86951

Interesting to me as my car has a little over -1 on the rear with a slight toe in, and I run between -2 to -3 on the track depending on the track. I still get a bit more wear on my track tires on the inside, correlated by temp readings, but overall this seems to work well for the R888s. I do put a lot of street miles on and don't see unusual wear on the street yokahamas with -1+.

TedA

Recipe for pushing like a dump truck...actually pretty close to my set up. Turn in early and big lift of the gas right before the apex to rotate...

VaSteve

LOL. Maybe I should have someone look at this set up or drive my car for me. I have made it work for me, but my former car was that blue one in the photo. It was almost a street set up.

This car does what I want/need it to do, I wonder if it could be better on the track and better manage the tire wear. Hmmm...

Where do I go to look for more information on this?

aj986s

Steve,
I would suggest taking it to one of the local shops that are familiar with track cars, and ask for a 4-wheel alignment with a proper street/track setup; sort of a compromise. Others are out there, but IMHO, Intersport (Charlie M) is excellent at setting up 944's for the track.

TedA

Steve

More camber in the front, soften the front if you have that adjustability, screw the tire wear...turn in will be worth it....

VaSteve

One of the local shops set it up this way...maybe I'll talk to Charlie, I know you use him for your fleet.


Is there additional adjustment without plates or is that something I get to spend money on?

RedlineMan

Hey Steve;

Just way too much rear camber. I'm like Tim in that I have never found the need to run that kind of camber. Not in the rear, for sure. And yes, toe kills more than camber, but that much rear camber will accelerate tire wear pretty rapidly.

Have it reset to -2.2 - -2.5 and all will be fine.