Ground Control Camber Plates, Apex Arc 8 and Kumho Ecsta XS Install/Review

[BiscottiGelato]

Talked to my mechanic friend whose doing the alignment for me. He recommended me to not dial it too agressively. Instead of focusing on the final number, to focus on how much change I am dialing in. At the limit, the dynamics of the vehicle can change quite drastically if the alignment is tweaked too much. Only after being comfortable with the new setup, then should I retune it for more or less camber/toe as desired.

This is from the top of my head. I still haven't got my car back yet. Picking it up later along with final alignment numbers. What I had before.

Front -0.5 camber, ~.1 toe in
Back -1.9 camber, ~.2 toe in.

New settings.

Front -1.6 camber, ~0 toe.
Back -1.9 camber, 0.08 toe in.

Apparently, -1.8~-1.9 of rear camber is the default factory spec for the rear camber. So it's actually staying with factory spec here.

[EFI Logics]

Originally Posted by BiscottiGelato

Talked to my mechanic friend whose doing the alignment for me. He recommended me to not dial it too agressively. Instead of focusing on the final number, to focus on how much change I am dialing in. At the limit, the dynamics of the vehicle can change quite drastically if the alignment is tweaked too much. Only after being comfortable with the new setup, then should I retune it for more or less camber/toe as desired.

This is from the top of my head. I still haven't got my car back yet. Picking it up later along with final alignment numbers. What I had before.

Front -0.5 camber, ~.1 toe in
Back -1.9 camber, ~.2 toe in.

New settings.

Front -1.6 camber, ~0 toe.
Back -1.9 camber, 0.08 toe in.

Apparently, -1.8~-1.9 of rear camber is the default factory spec for the rear camber. So it's actually staying with factory spec here.

Nice, that should be a good balanced setup. He gave you good advice. The increased contact patch at the front will help dial out some of that factory understeer and promote even wear. I think you will likely want more camber all around, at least in the front, but if you are willing to go back and tweak it again then you should definitely start off less aggressively. These cars have a ton of adjustability in the rear from the factory which is nice. You'll start to get a feel for what you like/dislike after you experience different alignment settings and compare them to one another.

Enjoy your new plates and alignment.

-Josh

[flinchy]

Just wondering whether your wheels barely cleared front or rear? I have 8.5/9.5 +45 without clearance issued at all personally

[EFI Logics]

Originally Posted by flinchy

Just wondering whether your wheels barely cleared front or rear? I have 8.5/9.5 +45 without clearance issued at all personally

Yes, they just cleared by a hair.

-Josh

[BiscottiGelato]

Lately I'm noticing that there's a small tick sound times when I am turning my steering wheel. Otherwise the presence of the camber plate, aside from handling differences, is hardly discernible.

Any clue why the clicking sound? It's as if the central rod of the strut is being turned. Before with the stock hat, the hat turns fairly freely. The Ground Control Camber plates does not turn on itself as freely. Is it because of that, that the struct rod gets turned instead when I'm steering, leading to the clicking sound? Anybody notice that?

On the handling. It's definitely much better. Turn-in's easier. More cornering grip. At -1.6 up front, on an AutoX I went to this weekend. I'd say it's not enough camber up front. It can definitely use some more. That said there is no excessive shoulder wear despite aggressive AutoXing. So I say -1.6 is good for street and ok for AutoX. But you definitely want more if you want to bias the car more for AutoX than street.

Track day coming up the next Monday. I will report back if I have more thoughts then!

[Blue55]

I'm having the same problem with my GC camber plates, but in my case it's so severe I had to remove them.

[Focusedintntions]

Originally Posted by BiscottiGelato

Lately I'm noticing that there's a small tick sound times when I am turning my steering wheel. Otherwise the precedes of the camber plate, aside from handling differences, is hardly discernible.

Any clue why the clicking sound? It's as if the central rod of the strut is being turned. Before with the stock hat, the hat turns fairly freely. The Ground Control Camber plates does not turn on itself as freely. Is it because of that, that the struct rod gets turned instead when I'm steering, leading to the clicking sound? Anybody notice that?

On the handling. It's definitely much better. Turn-in's easier. More cornering grip. At -1.6 up front, on an AutoX I went to this weekend. I'd say it's not enough camber up front. It can definitely use some more. That said there is no excessive shoulder wear despite aggressive AutoXing. So I say -1.6 is good for street and ok for AutoX. But you definitely want more if you want to bias the car more for AutoX than street.

Track day coming up the next Monday. I will report back if I have more thoughts then!

With 2.6 neg i still get pretty severe outside should wear at track events....going to move it to 3 degrees for my next event.

[EFI Logics]

Originally Posted by BiscottiGelato

Lately I'm noticing that there's a small tick sound times when I am turning my steering wheel. Otherwise the precedes of the camber plate, aside from handling differences, is hardly discernible.

Any clue why the clicking sound? It's as if the central rod of the strut is being turned. Before with the stock hat, the hat turns fairly freely. The Ground Control Camber plates does not turn on itself as freely. Is it because of that, that the struct rod gets turned instead when I'm steering, leading to the clicking sound? Anybody notice that?

On the handling. It's definitely much better. Turn-in's easier. More cornering grip. At -1.6 up front, on an AutoX I went to this weekend. I'd say it's not enough camber up front. It can definitely use some more. That said there is no excessive shoulder wear despite aggressive AutoXing. So I say -1.6 is good for street and ok for AutoX. But you definitely want more if you want to bias the car more for AutoX than street.

Track day coming up the next Monday. I will report back if I have more thoughts then!

I cannot say that I have the same noise as you. The only audible noise I can really notice with my plates is a rotational sound coming from the front end and I attribute that simply to replacing the factory, soft strut tops with hard, metal camber plates.

Have you tried spraying lubricating oil into the plates to possibly allow them to move more freely?

-Josh

[GaryS]

Originally Posted by Focusedintntions

With 2.6 neg i still get pretty severe outside should wear at track events....going to move it to 3 degrees for my next event.

With -2.1 and zero toe, my fronts were chunking on the shoulders while there was still 7/32" tread everywhere else.

So I ordered GC Street plates and will run -3.2 with 1/8" toe-out for track and whatever it adjusts to (around -1.2 and 1/16" toe-in) for street.

From what I've read in other threads, I'm expecting a small amount of clicking or creaking from the GC Street plates.

[Focusedintntions]

Originally Posted by GaryS

With -2.1 and zero toe, my fronts were chunking on the shoulders while there was still 7/32" tread everywhere else.

So I ordered GC Street plates and will run -3.2 with 1/8" toe-out for track and whatever it adjusts to (around -1.2 and 1/16" toe-in) for street.

From what I've read in other threads, I'm expecting a small amount of clicking or creaking from the GC Street plates.

Gary careful running tow settings on the street it'll wear the inside edges way faster than camber will.

[cpt97m3]

Originally Posted by BiscottiGelato

Lately I'm noticing that there's a small tick sound times when I am turning my steering wheel. Otherwise the presence of the camber plate, aside from handling differences, is hardly discernible.

Any clue why the clicking sound? It's as if the central rod of the strut is being turned. Before with the stock hat, the hat turns fairly freely. The Ground Control Camber plates does not turn on itself as freely. Is it because of that, that the struct rod gets turned instead when I'm steering, leading to the clicking sound? Anybody notice that?

On the handling. It's definitely much better. Turn-in's easier. More cornering grip. At -1.6 up front, on an AutoX I went to this weekend. I'd say it's not enough camber up front. It can definitely use some more. That said there is no excessive shoulder wear despite aggressive AutoXing. So I say -1.6 is good for street and ok for AutoX. But you definitely want more if you want to bias the car more for AutoX than street.

Track day coming up the next Monday. I will report back if I have more thoughts then!

I had a scraping sound when turning the wheel with mine, but only sometimes. Turns out the spring hat that came with the plates was too big, and rubbing the inside of the strut tower. GC replaced those with the correct ones, and since then it's been all fine. So check your inside strut tower for any rubbing just in case that's the issue. Otherwise, something may be loose.

[BiscottiGelato]

Originally Posted by cpt97m3

I had a scraping sound when turning the wheel with mine, but only sometimes. Turns out the spring had that came with the plates was too big, and rubbing the inside of the strut tower. GC replaced those with the correct ones, and since then it's been all fine. So check your inside strut tower for any rubbing just in case that's the issue. Otherwise, something may be loose.

What 'spring' that comes with the plates are you talking about?

[cpt97m3]

Sorry, I meant "Spring Hat", the stock part they use to hold the top of the spring. The one that came with mine had a wider flange than the OE BMW part, so it rubbed when I set it to maximum camber. It looked exactly like the OE part, it was just wider, so it probably came off some other BMW. The replacement they sent was exactly the size of the OE part. The box the plates came in had the right part number, so they must have just made a mistake in assembling them.

[gmane]

Originally Posted by EFI Logics

I find it interesting that we all had different installation experiences and we still all like the camber plates.

-Josh

Josh is your suspension stock? Do you have any rubbing issues at all and would this setup work with Konis FSD's and BMW performance springs without rubbing issues or fender rolling?

[EFI Logics]

Originally Posted by gmane

Josh is your suspension stock? Do you have any rubbing issues at all and would this setup work with Konis FSD's and BMW performance springs without rubbing issues or fender rolling?

My suspension is stock other than the GC plates. As it sits, I really don't have any rubbing issues. Any wider of a tire and it would rub on the strut. If you did the FSDs and the performance springs your clearances would be really tight between the strut and the fender. To make it work you may need to run up to a 3mm-5mm spacer and do a little fender work. If you look at one of the pics from my initial post you will see the clearance between the wheel and the strut when I test fitted them.

-Josh