Ideal camber and toe?

[RoadRunner///M]

Those running camber plates on a daily driver also used for occasional track or autoX, what camber/toe have you found optimal?

Thinking:
- Rear: -1*8' camber and 0*03' toe
- Front: -2*0' camber and 0* toe

[Nugget]

Mines a 135i not a M but my settings are pretty close to that and I think it works well.

[sparoz]

It's tyre and suspension setup dependent. Get yourself a pyrometer but what you got there is a good starting point.

[robertm]

Pyrometer is your friend ;-)

You'll want two different setups at the minimum. One for street and one for track. Depending on the track you might want to make small adjustments too. Also, street or track tires will obviously make a difference. For front camber I'd probably start closer to -3 deg on the track. Street will probably be a little less than -2 deg if you do a lot of highway driving.

There are multiple people on here with camber plates and lots of 1m track time that will be more helpful than me. Hopefully they will speak up

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by robertm

Pyrometer is your friend ;-)

You'll want two different setups at the minimum. One for street and one for track. Depending on the track you might want to make small adjustments too. Also, street or track tires will obviously make a difference. For front camber I'd probably start closer to -3 deg on the track. Street will probably be a little less than -2 deg if you do a lot of highway driving.

There are multiple people on here with camber plates and lots of 1m track time that will be more helpful than me. Hopefully they will speak up

I don't recommend 2 set-ups at all.

When you change your camber, you'll thus change your toe. Sure, you can set-up to have -3* at 0 toe, and then reduce your camber for street and run toe-in...but it will never be accurate.

OP - I'd take tire temps right off a hot track to see how your tires are doing. Depending on that I'd vary camber.

This isn't any merit, because it is a different car...but I run -2.3* via camber shims at 0 toe up front and still have an incredible amount of outside shoulder wear.

Typically, depending on what tire you're using (I know you're going to be on RS3s) you need a lot of camber to work best with a tire. The RS3s have such a soft sidewall, it isn't uncommon to see -3 to -3.5 worth of camber to run even wear.


As for the rear, I've always pulled out as much camber as possible. I'm currently at -1/8th of an inch on each wheel, -1/4th of an inch total toe in the rear. It has really helped the car get power down at apex and under braking I get no rear end shimmying at all

[RoadRunner///M]

Originally Posted by sparoz

It's tyre and suspension setup dependent. Get yourself a pyrometer but what you got there is a good starting point.

What camber plates are you running?

Pyrometer?...WTF would I need to measure surface temps for?

[RoadRunner///M]

Originally Posted by Kgolf31

I don't recommend 2 set-ups at all.

When you change your camber, you'll thus change your toe. Sure, you can set-up to have -3* at 0 toe, and then reduce your camber for street and run toe-in...but it will never be accurate.

OP - I'd take tire temps right off a hot track to see how your tires are doing. Depending on that I'd vary camber.

This isn't any merit, because it is a different car...but I run -2.3* via camber shims at 0 toe up front and still have an incredible amount of outside shoulder wear.

Typically, depending on what tire you're using (I know you're going to be on RS3s) you need a lot of camber to work best with a tire. The RS3s have such a soft sidewall, it isn't uncommon to see -3 to -3.5 worth of camber to run even wear.


As for the rear, I've always pulled out as much camber as possible. I'm currently at -1/8th of an inch on each wheel, -1/4th of an inch total toe in the rear. It has really helped the car get power down at apex and under braking I get no rear end shimmying at all

Thanks. Yes, I'd rather set and forget, than adjust between events. Yes to the RS-3's as the rubber I am on, so perhaps start at -2 and see how that goes.

Assuming a full wheel alignment need to be done after fitting camber plates?

[Kgolf31]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

Thanks. Yes, I'd rather set and forget, than adjust between events. Yes to the RS-3's as the rubber I am on, so perhaps start at -2 and see how that goes.

Assuming a full wheel alignment need to be done after fitting camber plates?

Yea, when you install camber plates you'll need an alignment...One because you'll be changing toe regardless and two, if you adjust your plates to the same exact spot...the camber may not match up.

Depending on what tire widths and wheel widths you have on your RS3s, -2 may work just fine, just from my experience they tend to still chew the shoulders more than I would like. I actually had to dismount and flip the tires to the other side to get even wear and 2 years total out of the tires.

You could always get an "unlimited alignment" somewhere that lasts a year or two, and just keep on going back to do small adjustments to front and/or rear camber to really tune your car. Building a good relationship with someone that can do the alignment and offers an unlimited package is golden.

[sparoz]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

What camber plates are you running?

Pyrometer?...WTF would I need to measure surface temps for?

Your setup will be slightly different to everyone's here. You measure the surface temp your tyres, inside, middle and outside and determine if the alignment/pressure is optimal.

No slider for me as the suspension builder prefers to have more room for spring, the camber will be engineered into the revised top plate and have minimal adjustment. It will have track optimised geometry.

[HP Autosport]

Originally Posted by Ian///M

Those running camber plates on a daily driver also used for occasional track or autoX, what camber/toe have you found optimal?

Thinking:
- Rear: -1*8' camber and 0*03' toe
- Front: -2*0' camber and 0* toe

Since your drive more on the street, the settings are good for street use. You will need more camber and perhaps slightly toe out for autocross use. The adjustable camber plates should get you there. Adding negative camber with camber plates the day before the event will also give you toe out automatically.

Depends on how you drive the car, you may want more negative rear camber as well. How is the stability of the vehicle with 0.03 of toe in at each rear wheel?