How much camber adjustment in a 1M

[mattm]

I posted this question in another thread but thought it merited a thread of its own. Has anybody checked how much camber one can get out of a 1M for autocrossing?

[MDORPHN]

Originally Posted by mattm

I posted this question in another thread but thought it merited a thread of its own. Has anybody checked how much camber one can get out of a 1M for autocrossing?

Yes, I have.

At stock ride height, I was only able to get a max of -1.3 degrees on the front end and that included pulling the alignment pins (which may not be fully legal in a stock class).

Don't know what max is at rear, but I'm running -2.0 degrees.

Neil

P.S. I'm now running modified adjustable camber plates in front with -2.7 degrees.

[mattm]

There is a TSB for the pins in earlier cars. I'll have to see if it applies to the 1M. Why does BMW do that? It IS a performance car. Maybe they got stock in tire companies. I guess I'll have to loosen the snot out of the struts, pull 'em out and tighten to get as much camber as possible.

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

Yes, I have.

At stock ride height, I was only able to get a max of -1.3 degrees on the front end and that included pulling the alignment pins (which may not be fully legal in a stock class).

Don't know what max is at rear, but I'm running -2.0 degrees.

Neil

P.S. I'm now running modified adjustable camber plates in front with -2.7 degrees.

When you say.. modified camber plates.,... what was done to modify them? Someone in TX got camber plates with Motons, and I heard from the installer (Brian of AST) that drilling was needed as well as mods to those plates as well..


Are there no camber plates available yet?

[mattm]

mdorphn what are you using for suspension, etc.? Only for track? Any autocross?

[Fundahl]

Originally Posted by M3 Adjuster

When you say.. modified camber plates.,... what was done to modify them? Someone in TX got camber plates with Motons, and I heard from the installer (Brian of AST) that drilling was needed as well as mods to those plates as well..


Are there no camber plates available yet?

I'm curious as well as I am an SCCA member that autocrosses.

[mattm]

Autocrossers are sissies and squat to pee racers. LOL

Fundahl, what class are you going to run it in?

I just got word earlier today that a good autocrosser and his GF picked up their VO at Welt today.

[MDORPHN]

If you go to coilovers, there are lots of quality camber plates available -- Vorshlag, TC Kline, etc.

However, with the stock springs, only Ground Control has adjustable plates available (originally made for E9x M3). Dinan has fixed plates that add 0.7 degrees camber.

RRT Racing installed them on my car and found a number of design problems. Among other things, when the nuts were tightened to the spec stamped on the plate (18 ft-lbs, IIRC), the studs pulled right through the plate and the plate itself deformed. Also, the studs interfered with the mounts for the strut bar, so they had to be shortened. Nothing major, but shouldn't happen on a very pricey ($499) camber plate.

Neil

[mattm]

Neil, where are you running yours?

[Fundahl]

Originally Posted by mattm

Autocrossers are sissies and squat to pee racers. LOL

Fundahl, what class are you going to run it in?

I just got word earlier today that a good autocrosser and his GF picked up their VO at Welt today.

Depends on how it is classed.

My 135i ran in D-Stock and BSP and it dominated those classes down here in Corpus.

But no matter what class or mods, it'll be a blast!

[MDORPHN]

Originally Posted by mattm

Neil, where are you running yours?

Stock suspension with the GC plates.

-2.7 degrees/0 toe front; -2.0 degrees/1/8" total toe-in rear.

Neil

[mattm]

@Fundahl I ran the Strelnieks' 135i at Nationals in 2008 (I trophied). And while seat time would have helped with confidence in going all out, the lack of a real diff hurt. The 1M is A Stock. Competition is C5 non-Z06 Vette, regular 996 Porsche (needs to be the 40th Anniversary edition to be competitive) and Cayman S. Also rans are M3 (E90 '08 to '11), Audi S4, Z4 M Coupe, and some other stuff like the Lexus IS-F.

@Neil, what class is what I meant.

[m3kerry]

I plan to build mine out to make a run in A stock next year, so I have been wondering about the front camber. If an 1m can get 1.3 on a stock setup, that should be enough to keep from eating tires in 20 runs.

If A stock does not work, I will build for stu or bsp.

[mattm]

Guess the cat's out of the bag. Non-stock is too complicated for me. I mean, there's all these rulez an' stuff.

I want to run R tires in stock class. Street tire weenies leave me alone!

[Fundahl]

Originally Posted by mattm

Guess the cat's out of the bag. Non-stock is too complicated for me. I mean, there's all these rulez an' stuff.

I want to run R tires in stock class. Street tire weenies leave me alone!

I will never be satisfied running street tires after running Hoosier A comps in autocross!

The amount of grip is ridiculous! I can bruise my knee in the C5 z06.....


I will likely just run camber plates and different tires + full exhaust/JB4 and meth ready for those highway pulls/strip.

[mattm]

I've been running Hoosiers since 1996 (in a Porsche 968).

I do have a bunch of lightly used Hoosier A6 tires in a 225/45-15 size (they'd be tough to mount on a 19" wheel).

[p66]

I am slightly lowered on AST 4200's with vorshlag camber plates. Max camber for me is -3.22 driver side and -3.79 passenger side. At my last track event I ran -3.0 degrees/1/16" toe-out front; -2.0 degrees/1/16" toe-in rear.

Originally Posted by MDORPHN

Stock suspension with the GC plates.

-2.7 degrees/0 toe front; -2.0 degrees/1/8" total toe-in rear.

Neil

[Pete_vB]

I had my stock 1M aligned today and found it had -1.5 left, -1.4 right from the factory up front. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get more without pulling pins, but the factory range of -1.1 to -1.5 suggests more should be possible up front on some cars.

Not sure what the max is the rear is, but I set -1.9. The factory range is -1.6 to -2.

These cars came from the factory with more camber than I would have expected.

[CarJunkie]

I am finding more understeer than I like on the street, and can imagine it will only be more annoying at autocross. I don't plan on changing parts, so I hope to squeeze out a little more camber up front without changing the rear.

In past cars (STI, RX8) I went with zero toe all around. Anyone think that would be a problem on the 1M?

Do you have to sacrifice caster to get more camber on these cars, or can both be maxed out?

[m3kerry]

Originally Posted by Pete_vB

I had my stock 1M aligned today and found it had -1.5 left, -1.4 right from the factory up front. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get more without pulling pins, but the factory range of -1.1 to -1.5 suggests more should be possible up front on some cars.

Not sure what the max is the rear is, but I set -1.9. The factory range is -1.6 to -2.

These cars came from the factory with more camber than I would have expected.

Wow, that is a lot more than i got. I think i am at about -1.3 in the front.

Read that wrong the 1st time. That is the rear that you got almost -2 out of.

[CarJunkie]

I had a mechanic look at the front of the car this morning and he did not see any adjustability anywhere. We did not take anything apart, other than pulling the dust cap off the top of the strut mounts. Where exactly is the adjustment made? Does the strut tower brace have to come off to get to it?

Are the ground control plates legal in A stock by SCCA rules?

[mattm]

Originally Posted by CarJunkie

Are the ground control plates legal in A stock by SCCA rules?

Sorry, not legal in A Stock. Welcome to my hell.