O RLY

So I bought some Dunlop 225/35/17s for my '07 Si Coupe. A little too low profile for my liking, but my fault. Anyway, I installed the Ingalls camber kit onto my car and took it to the shop. I told them to set all four wheels to -1.0 degree of camber for better handling. They set it to spec at 0 degree. The guy informed me that I'll get many more miles out of the tires. Although, I'd rather sacrifice 5,000 miles for much better handling.

I also noticed that my car says I'm going faster that I actually am due to the fact that the tire diameter lost about an inch or so when I went low-pro. Is there anyway to adjust and calibrate my speedo, or do I need to just deal with it?

And how much better will the car handle at -1.0 rather than 0? I must say it did feel a little clumsy around tight turns. Should I decide to go with -1.0 degree of camber, how dramatic would my tire wear be?

Thanks,
Bob

O RLY

Bump

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

So long as your toe is set to 0, minimal camber is acceptable.

RICO_

Camber won't eat tires anywhere near as fast as toe will. As long as your toe is set to factory specs then you will be alright for a good while. -1.0 camber is not dramatic enough to cause excessive wear.

Take it back....give them a good slap in the face from me....and tell them to set the camber THE WAY YOU WANTED IT SET TO BEGIN WITH.....not the way they feel is best for you. Geez you'd almost think they were your daddy....telling you what's best for you.

Anyway....the camber adjustment will help in turn-in response and overall handling combined with your lowering springs.....but don't expect a night and day difference unless you really do some work with your suspension. Things like custom spring rates (usually available with coilovers), sway bar sizes, combined with your alignment can balance understeer and oversteer and make your car REALLY handle like it was meant to.

As for the speedo issue.....probably gonna just have to deal with it.

Greg50Lt

my question is how god damn much is it off? I mean you went with 1 series wider(width) and 1 series smaller (Sidewall height) the difference is width should have bulkd the tire up a litle bit if your on the stock rim size. there for the overall difference shouldnt be that big of a deal to make the car say its going faster/slower then what it is.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

Refer to the link in my post above.

You can calculate exactly how far the speedometer is off based on wheel/tire sizes.

vladd

there are calculators online where you can find out how much your speedo will be off by with the different tire size.

as for the camber, i'd demand that they redo it for free, as you specifically told them what you wanted it set to it. fyi: the factory camber is at -1.0 in the back, not 0. also, you should do a little more camber in the front to help with rotation; i'm going with -1.0 in the back and -1.5 in the front when i lower mine.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

To clear it up - someone pm'd me about it

Factory Service Manual for 06 Honda Civic SI Alignment

Camber Front = 0 +/- 0.30 MAX
Camber Rear = -1.30
Caster Front = 7
Toe-in Front = 0 +/- 0.08in

So long as you're within those ranges your car should have minimal wear on tires due to being lowered.

i-VTEC_DOHC

for fwd, optimal setups usually consist of negative camber in the front and positive camber in the rear

vladd

no way man, you need negative camber all around because the tires roll over a little on turns. however, you DO want more negative camber in the front to help reduce understeer.

i-VTEC_DOHC

hmm thats weird. cuz all fwd cars are running setup out here at willow springs. when you have positive camber in the rear, it induces oversteer in tight corners. while negative camber in the front reduces understeer as well.

O RLY

Well thanks for the info everyone. Turns out the speedo is about 4.5 mph off. A nice little tool. So when I go back, should I tell them -1.25 in the rear and -.50 in the front. There seems to be some debate in this thread as to how to set my camber.

vladd

i've never heard of anybody ever running with positive camber. with positive camber you'll be getting less grip on the outside tire in turns, which is where it's needed the most. although having positive camber in the rear might help with rotation, i bet the loss of grip is why people go with negative camber.

here are a couple informative threads: http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/suspe...amber-kit.html and http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/suspe...aster-toe.html . if you're trying to reduce understeer then get more negative camber in the front.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

Personally, I'd just do -1 degree all around. That's what I have in the Accord and it's fine.

Have the toe set to factory standards and you can have the minor camber with no issues.

i-VTEC_DOHC

notice i stated positive camber in the rear and negative camber in the front. its common here when they run the streets of willow. it allows the car to go through tighter turns quicker than it would with stock camber. i've seen hatches with this setup running slightly quicker through the tight sectors than s2k's.

vladd

yeah, i noticed that you said positive camber only in the rear. i'm saying that this is my first time hearing of somebody running any positive camber on their car at all. i'd be interested to read about somebody who has their suspension set up like this. there are a few guys on 8thcivic who reguarly post in the suspension forum and only run with negative camber. if you have any links post them up

i-VTEC_DOHC

ill look around. but my experience is first hand talking to drivers and seeing their setups. the positive camber in the rear helps produce oversteer because only the outside of the tire is making contact in a tight turn, therefore it has less traction and it helps the rear end rotate easier. this setup is also common the gymkhana or however its spelled lol

ajpturbopittsburgh

The overall diameter of that tire(225/35/17) is 23.1". Stock is 24.6" for the 215/45/17. That is a huge difference GREGSTER. If anything he should of went 225/40/17 and even that would've been smaller in diameter than stock but more acceptable. 235/40/17 is 24.4" which is even better but you can't get more than a 225mm wide tire on the stock 17" wheel, HFP or not. 225 is max for a 7" wide wheel.

And gregster I think you mean a plus 1 when you say 1 series bigger. But OP didn't plus 1 or go 1 series bigger(as you would say) on the wheels. So it wouldn't be a true plus 1 anyway.

ATTENTION ALL NOOBS: DON'T listen to the GREGSTERLT50....His **** is whack!

i-VTEC_DOHC

ok there are some things you say and dont say, that was defnitely one of the things you dont say. comments like this is why people dont like you in here. if you want respect you have to earn it, and thats one way of moving down the totem pole so to speak. and if you ever saw greg's posts, you would know he is a knowledgeable member of h-t.