More front camber
 

I want to increase the front camber on my standard MY98 Impreza beyond the 1 degree that the standard setup provides. Are 'cammed' bolts the answer?

Get pillow ball top mounts.

You could get camber bolts that allow more adjustment, whiteline make them and I think they give 1/2Degree more.

hi m8 whiteline do 2 top mounts that fit on to standard struts without any mods road type (gold finish and motorsport type (black finish
suggest the motorsport one //stronger and gives more adjustment caster/camber
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...ermany0028.jpg
also suggest you fit the anti lift kit at the same time ,if not already fitted
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...ermany0020.jpg
http://i99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...ermany0016.jpg
this will give you 0.5 deg static caster extra and cure undeersteer
you can also fit camber bolts if you wish .whiteline now do a range of poly suspension bushes inc the rear front wishbone bush
geo:thumb: :cool:

George, How much are the top mounts from WL please?

Wow; serious looking kit! Thanks for the recommendation. I think I'd like to see what an extra 0.5deg camber does for me, before going further.

I've found some on-line sources for camber bolts e.g.:

CAMSKILL PRODUCTS Camber Adjustment Bolts - 14mm Impreza : £25.00 : Subaru Impreza Turbo Parts, Tuning, Spares & Accessories : 2.0i Turbo GC8/GF8 94 TO 00 UK - Suspension - Misc -
wikkid. Eibach Pro Alignment Kit Subaru Impreza WRX 1993-00 Front Camber Kit EZ Cam XR (14mm - Pair) Adjusts by ±1.75° (5.81260K)

So the cost of the cam bolts is not scary - especially as I can fit them myself . BTW: Am I right in thinking that, if they give 0.5deg max, and my standard camber is already on the max, then I shouldn't need to go for laser setup? I guess the toe-in will be affected...but not sure by how much...

You'll need the camber setting, you can't fit adjustable camber bolts without getting them adjusted! Increasing negative camber, will increase toe in.

The WL camber bolts allow more -ve camber to be dialled in than stock parts, although you can usually get to -1.5ish with stock parts, not sure why your stuck at -1.

The 0.5 degrees is the extra CASTOR from the ALK, not camber!

Simon

I've read that -1deg is the max with the standard setup. This is also what I ended up with when I recently asked a reputable company to set my car up with 'Prodrive' settings. Based on how it drives, I'd be very surprised if Prodrive's best recommendation was only -1deg.

Am I right in thinking that ALK stands for Anti-Lift-Kit? What does that do for the handling? I'm looking to just increase the negative front camber ATM (based on the fact that -1deg was a big improvement from standard, but could be better). Cammed bolts seem to be the cheapest way to do this (am I wrong?). AIUI they would not affect the caster at all.

I simplistically added -1deg max standard camber to a quoted -0.5deg delta for the cammed bolts, and concluded that setting both to 'max' would give the desired -1.5deg. Of course the toe in would be affected, but I would have thought that the car should be more than driveable in this state until the next convenient professional setup.

I'm interested in learning about other changes to the car which reduce understeer. An idea of a sensible upgrade path and approximate cost would be fantastic.

First off, make sure its set up with someone using some proper gauges. Don't assume that if you add 1deg camber bolts and have them set to max already you will have 1.5 on both sides. Unless you have a wrc shell you 4 struts and overall alignment will not be perfectly true. Relly on the instrumentation, not the settings you see on top mounts etc.

A quick aid to understeer is an adjustable rear anti roll bar. these help, but to really get rid of understeer you need to do a fair bit to an impreza. They don't handle all that well straight out of the box. Not compared to what you can change them to anyhow.

How far do you want to go? As a start, I would go for a rear ARB, anti lift kit, adjustable top mounts for castor and camber. that should start you off down the right trak for a few hundred quid.

ALK = Anti Lift Kit, which is a misnomer as it actually increases the lift under acceleration.

It has 2 effects, it moves the lower arm rear pivot out to increase castor, it also moves the rear pivot point down and changes the gemotry from mildly anti-lift to prolift, this has the effect of raising the front suspension under torque, softening the front springs (effectively) which increases traction slightly and will reduce understeer.

Simon

Thanks guys!