Camber plates and increased cornering grip

[8600RPM]

Wonder those on stock edc suspension who added camber plates was tgere a significant improvement in cornering grip at the track?

[elim11]

Yes, when I ran the fixed dinan camber plates on my stock suspension, there was slight more grip (increased contact patch) and improvement on tire wear.

Large improvements come when the alignment is set up as a whole (toe, camber, etc).

Camber plates are a must if you will be tracking regularly or even semi regularly. Not just from a performance standpoint but from a tire preservation/cost stand point.

[roastbeef]

Absolutely.

[SYT_Shadow]

I am not sure if there's an actual increase in cornering grip. That said, a plate like the GC street has little downsides and allows you to not rape the tires in one weekend

[macdude357]

Definitely more grip, better turn in and much better tire wear. Not to mention that they are adjustable so you can have one setting for the street and another for the track. My plates are marked with street and track settings so while I'm swapping pads, it's just a couple of minutes more to set the camber as well.

[M.A.R.C.]

Originally Posted by macdude357

Definitely more grip, better turn in and much better tire wear. Not to mention that they are adjustable so you can have one setting for the street and another for the track. My plates are marked with street and track settings so while I'm swapping pads, it's just a couple of minutes more to set the camber as well.

macdude357 which plates do you run?

[PrimeBMW]

Originally Posted by 8600RPM

Wonder those on stock edc suspension who added camber plates was tgere a significant improvement in cornering grip at the track?

Yes. Depending on your experience you could start with a small camber increases taking a couple of steps to reach -2.7 or -3.2. Maybe start with -2, move to -2.5 when ready, then find a happy place between -2.7 and -3.2. The tire you run will also determine where you end up.

[macdude357]

Originally Posted by M.A.R.C.

macdude357 which plates do you run?

Vorshlag.

[Saandiaago]

Originally Posted by macdude357

Definitely more grip, better turn in and much better tire wear. Not to mention that they are adjustable so you can have one setting for the street and another for the track. My plates are marked with street and track settings so while I'm swapping pads, it's just a couple of minutes more to set the camber as well.

This will probably be my next mod. Are these easy to adjust for street versus track and how is alignment affected if at all between the 2 settings?

[brplatz]

Originally Posted by Saandiaago

This will probably be my next mod. Are these easy to adjust for street versus track and how is alignment affected if at all between the 2 settings?

Correct me if I am wrong, but when you chance the settings on the plate, you have to adjust for it in the toe also

[macdude357]

Originally Posted by brplatz

Correct me if I am wrong, but when you chance the settings on the plate, you have to adjust for it in the toe also

As you increase the negative camber, it also increases the toe. Mine are set so that I have neutral toe and -2.5 for track and 1/32 toe-in and -2 for the street. So adjusting the camber also moves the toe in the right direction. Therefore you don't have to mess with them separately.

They are easy to adjust. You just jack up the car and loosen the three bolts at the top of the strut and slide the strut in or out and then tighten. The Vorshlag plates have a little pointer that moves as you adjust the plates so you can have your alignment shop mark the street and track locations to make it easier to switch between the two.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by macdude357

As you increase the negative camber, it also increases the toe. Mine are set so that I have neutral toe and -2.5 for track and 1/32 toe-in and -2 for the street. So adjusting the camber also moves the toe in the right direction. Therefore you don't have to mess with them separately.

They are easy to adjust. You just jack up the car and loosen the three bolts at the top of the strut and slide the strut in or out and then tighten. The Vorshlag plates have a little pointer that moves as you adjust the plates so you can have your alignment shop mark the street and track locations to make it easier to switch between the two.

This is exactly what I do

I have it set a around -1 for street and aligned for 0 toe. When you go to the track and move the plates to -2.5 or whatever, the toe change it does is exactly what you want for the track

You could say this is a positive result of the suspension we have on M3s

[gan1hck]

Watch out for too much toe out.

I initially had my toe set to factory while at factory camber...that resulted in too much toe out (at least for me) when set to -2.7 camber while at track.

My car was way too tail happy in the corners....AND I was wearing out the inside edges of my tires.

[hayes180]

like everyone before, yes noticeably better.

[WhatsADSM]

Originally Posted by gan1hck

Watch out for too much toe out.

I initially had my toe set to factory while at factory camber...that resulted in too much toe out (at least for me) when set to -2.7 camber while at track.

My car was way too tail happy in the corners....AND I was wearing out the inside edges of my tires.

Agreed. With the e9x you can't sweep camber very much before toe gets seriously screwed up. The most I could support was roughly a half degree extra. Anyone who is changing their camber by 1 degree and doesn't adjust toe has their (street and/or track) alignment off

[NOLA_70002]

With the right camber, you could get out of the corner and apply gas so much faster.
Gain 2 sec right a away at my local 2.75 miles track after installed the camber plates.

[Mvez]

Originally Posted by WhatsADSM

Agreed. With the e9x you can't sweep camber very much before toe gets seriously screwed up. The most I could support was roughly a half degree extra. Anyone who is changing their camber by 1 degree and doesn't adjust toe has their (street and/or track) alignment off

+1. No free lunch. If the car isn't a DD, and you drive to the track, then set it for a good track alignment, with aggressive camber and zero toe. The little extra inside tire wear from driving down the highway is the same as toe out scrubbing on the track. I'd rather have a proper handling car on track for the same inside tire wear.

If it's your DD, then it becomes a bit more complicated, and more concessions may be required.

[redpriest]

Originally Posted by Mvez

+1. No free lunch. If the car isn't a DD, and you drive to the track, then set it for a good track alignment, with aggressive camber and zero toe. The little extra inside tire wear from driving down the highway is the same as toe out scrubbing on the track. I'd rather have a proper handling car on track for the same inside tire wear.

If it's your DD, then it becomes a bit more complicated, and more concessions may be required.

My concession is cheap front tires on my street wheels so that my -3.5 camber doesn't hurt my wallet as hard. Just bought my 2nd set of Kumho Ecsta PS91 tires for $700, each front tire is $150. These things are pretty beast for the money I have to say. Wear the inner part of the tire out, not the end of the world!

I was doing 1:54.05 lap times at Auto Club Speedway when my R-comps corded on me and I didn't want to waste the weekend. Fastest lap I've ever done at ACS was 1:52.9 on R-comp so the fact I was able to get to around a second on cheapo tires is great. They were able to hold me on the track through the NASCAR bank at 150 mph.