Quote:
Originally Posted by int2str
Front/rear camber "balance" doesn't exist - at least as far as I understand. Front/rear camber differential also has nothing to do with tire sizes.
I know I'm being obvious here, but I have to point out that the rear and front tires perform different tasks. The rears have to put the power down as well as possible and provide the best possible contact patch. The rears also don't turn ('doh) and thus there camber range both static and dynamic vary much less throughout the suspension travel, compared to the front.
The fronts don't have to provide the best possible traction in a straight line, they have to provide the best traction and responsiveness in corners - i.e. when the car is loaded asymmetrically and the center of balance is shifting to the outsides.
Long story short, you need different camber settings front->back since the tires perform different tasks.
I'm currently running -3 / -2 btw. with square 255 tires for racing and 235/255 for the street all without problems.
And just for fun, here's a random F1 picture showing the camber differental in F1 cars:
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Thank you for the thorough reply.
Although this makes sense to a certain extent, I would say that an F1 car is not a good example. An F1 car has a tremendous amount of downforce over the rear wheels to keep the contact patch as flat as possible in all conditions. If the car had minimal camber up front, it would be practically impossible to turn.
Also, you mention that the rear is subject to less camber change compared to the front. I disagree with this as well, as this is dependent on the type of suspension--this especially applies here with MacPherson front vs multi link rear.
That being said, your reply got me thinking...since the rear is subject to more camber under compression and the goal is to keep the contact patch as flat as possible to maximize grip (particularly on the driven wheels in a car with short wheelbase), less camber is needed in the rear vs the front, which has practically zero camber change even under load.