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      04-13-2012, 11:26 PM   #1
Sleeper519
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Drives: 08 E92 M3 DCT
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Atlanta, GA

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GC camber plate success!

I had my Ground Control camber plates with the revised brackets installed today by my good friend Jeff at Gran Turismo East who has done my alignment work for the past 20 years. I was thinking of DYI this time around but did not have spring compressors or the time to do it and I wanted to get them on before VIR.

First of all, let me give props to the people at Ground Control (Donovan, et al) for their customer service. If you read my earlier thread you know that I had a lot of trouble with the plates and was not a happy camper. Although GC initially hesitated to warranty the brackets, they went out of their way to make this thing right and see that the problem was resolved in a satisfactory manner. They actually re-engineered the brackets after testing and breaking many samples in the "lab" and sent me a new set. This is a sign of a reputable company working to do the right thing and keeping a satisfied and returning client base. Impressive. And, No, I wasn't paid or coerced to say this.

Installation: Easy for them, took about an hour and a half. I watched and learned some things, so with the right tools I can install the coilovers when that time comes.

Alignment: The initial plan was to set up separate street and track settings with regard to camber and toe, and switch back and forth between events. I was hoping to set Street camber at -1.5 with 1/16" toe in, and switch to Track at -3.0 and ~1/16 or 1/8" toe out at the most. This was theoretically based on JM3's post that showed total toe change of 7mm or ~5/16" when swinging through the whole 26mm of camber arc travel on the GC plate. I was only planning on using a part of that arc (1.5 degrees) so I assumed less toe changes. However, it didn't pan out that well. Going from -1.5 to only -2.8 gave me over 1/3" toe out on each side, which was unacceptable. We talked about marking front tie rods for me to separately adjust at the track along with the camber plates to bring toe back to a reasonable # but Jeff thought it would be overly complex for my feable brain and he talked me out of that. Sooo...we compromised and set a static camber of -2.5 with 1/16"toe in. At the track I will turn the driver's side tie rod about 3/4 of a turn to a specific mark to set toe to +1/16" out and be done with it. Maybe after a couple of events we'll revisit the whole thing again.

Driving impressions: When I first drove out on the road it definitely felt different. I thought the steering felt sort of twitchy and nervous but I got used to it quickly and it didn't seem so bad. He had also jacked my tire pressure up a few pounds so that may have contributed a little. But man, the turn-in is absolutely amazing even at only -2.5!! I took it through some twisties near my house and the car felt totally planted in the turns. On a stretch of lonely highway at high speed it was extremely stable (but I recently installed the Performance spoiler, so that helped a little too) I can't wait to get back on the track at VIR in a couple of weeks!! Thank you GC. Stay tuned.
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2008 M3 Coupe / DCT // StopTech BBK 380/355 / Pagid RS29 / Motul / Apex Arc-8 / BFG R1S / Ground Control / MS filter / Performance spoiler / BPM tune // Road Atlanta 1:39.70 / VIR Full 2:10.87 / Barber 1:42.20
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