Freebs

iTrader: (1)

For a while now my steering has felt extremely light and at highway speeds it is very noticeable. It is almost like the front end is being lifted rather than planted down.

When I made the switch to my winter tires/stock BBS wheels this past week, the feeling got even worse compared to my summers set up. A couple years ago I had my alignment set to -1.5 front camber and -1.0 rear (can't remember what my toe was set to) which I am sure by now it has slipped a bit from these specs but it had always felt like this.

My question is, what alignment specs will give me a heavier steering feel? The car will never see a track (no track here). I have thought about going with 0.0 Camber in the rear and -0.5 Camber in the front. As for toe, I am not sure what I should go with.

Will 0.0 rear camber and -0.5 front camber hurt anything besides cornering performance?

I have been trying to find out what could cause this and a number of sites say that if the caster is too negative, this could cause a light wondering feel to the steering. Is the Caster adjustable on the Evo X?

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

Caster is only adjustable with an upper plate or Whiteline inserts for the lower control arm.

Reducing camber will not make the steering heavier; it will just make the car handle less well.

If you don't have plates (in the front), you have only two options for camber: about -1 and about -2.

You could add a tad of front toe-in to increase the feel, but this will also reduce gas mileage and reduce handling.

You could try to get the amount of power assist reduced, but that would be complicated.

In summary: I would either learn to live with it or prepare to spend major money. I, personally, love the steering on the X.

Good luck.

Freebs

iTrader: (1)

I can live with the lighter steering feel but the front end actually feels like its extremely light and almost gives a floating feeling during acceleration and at speeds over 100km/hr (60mph). It gets scary driving in any kind of water even with brand new tires as it Hydro planes like crazy even at slower speeds like 60-80km/hr. Whereas these exact same tires on our other cars are just unstoppable even in heavy rain with zero hydroplaning issues (Michelin Super Sports and PS2's). This is what made me think taking the camber out might help but maybe its something else. Even my girl friends 09 WRX with nearly bald OEM tires feels more planted at the same speeds while raining.

Would something like These help out by changing the caster?

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

Yes, those are lower LCA caster-adjusters.

As to the problem with a light wheel when grip suddenly drops off, it's funny that you should mention this. I just submitted a grant application to test a proposed "fix" for this issue. I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you what it is, because we haven't filed for the patent yet; we usually try to get the funding first, because the jerks at certain [not-to-be-named university in Texas] would submit their own grant using our patent application if we let it out too soon.

chrisw

iTrader: (2)

something is going on with your alignment. my Evo never hydroplaned more than a single wheel at a time, even when it was raining over an inch an hour.

Adding caster will increase steering wheel feedback, but also create a "dead zone" when the wheels are straight. basically the steering will not feel as sharp with slight turns of the steering wheel input.

Freebs

iTrader: (1)

Yea I understand how it is. Definatly keep me in the loop on this though. I would love to know more about it once you are able to talk more about it.


So than these would fix one problem but possibly leave me with another... Damn haha

I am going to try and get a proper alignment done with the following measurments and see how it feels

Front
Camber -1.0
Toe 0.0

Rear
Camber -1.0
Toe 0.0

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

Actually, zero rear toe can lead to a little wandering, albeit for a different reason than too much rear toe. You want a small amount of rear toe-in.

If you care about why: zero toe allows the bushings to squish almost randomly in the two directions. A small amount of rear toe-in keep the bushings slightly pre-loaded and less likely to shift to the opposite side as you drive straight ahead. (This isn't much of an issue in the front because there are no squishy bushings on the steering arms, so zero in the front is best.)

Add in that some rear toe-in keeps the car straighter under hard braking and I'd say that most people want about +.04 on each side.

Freebs

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the tip Iowa.

I will have them try for these specs

Front
Camber -1.0
Toe 0.0

Rear
Camber -1.0
Toe 0.04

MRWhite

I felt the same way when i first got my X but after giving it time to warm up to me (and me to it) I absolutely love the steering feel. Its flickable, if you understand my meaning. At first I was tense taking it into sharp turns, worried abut the lightness, like you said, but give it some time and ya might just like the stock settings.