Curious Alignment Notes
 

I was eaves dropping on the 924/944/968 Technical Forum and noticed whenever they mention suspension setup for DE or AX, all they talk about are springs and sway bars and hardly anything about camber. On the 911 Forum, camber is all they talk about.

Is that because these front engine rear drive Porsches are so idiot proof in the handling dept that no one wants to mess with them?

I can't believe they haven't heard about negative camber!

Joe

They are pretty idiot proof in the handling department, but they definitely benefit from negative camber when tracked or autocrossed hard.

I was following a 944 Turbo at Willow Springs, and was shocked at how many corners he dove into without using the brakes. He just threw the car sideways into turn 2 and scrubbed off the excess speed that way. I stab the brakes and then throw the car in to the same corner under power so the rear doesn't come around. Just part of the rear-engined idiosyncracies.

They are better balanced, but still must follow all the same basic rules. If you can control body roll, and the resultant camber loss that comes with it, then you don't need as much negative camber.

944's have the exact same suspension set-up as 911's. So they are actually quite similar in regards to setting up for the track, with the obvious exception of the weight bias.

But, as a whole, they don't seem to have the same concern about camber issues as in the 911 BB. It wouldn't surprise me if most 944's driven in AX events used stock alignment settings. Not so with 911's.

Joe

None of the fast ones will have stock settings.

There was an M3 that won it's class in the Open Track Challenge that was running 6.25 degrees of negative camber in front. He won by a significant margin. Also very balanced cars.

No question that there are many ways to make a car handle well. But the faster you go, the more grip you need. The more grip you have, the more body roll. The more body roll, the more camber loss and sidewall flex. Negative camber is a very effective way of compensating, and must be adjusted to attain maximum tire contact patch.

It all depends on the car's set-up as far as tire construction and compound, center of gravity, roll center height, roll force distribution, amount of built-in camber gain in the suspension geometry, track surface conditions, tire pressures, it goes on, and on........