Camber by itself doesn't increase wear appreciably, but you have to be careful about lots of camber + toe out of whack. That will kill tires really quick.

Are you thinking about running SCCA events? Because if so, it sounds like you're heading towards an STU setup. You'll need coilovers to be really competitive, but you should be able to trophy at some local events with what you're planning.

The only issue is the Whiteline RC kit. That mod bumps you up to Street Mod, where you'll be running against guys with 2800 lb, 400 hp cars on DOT slicks. If you're serious about autocrossing, skip that one.

 

Thanks for the advice-
Cuz of other power things, I'm already in Street Mod. I'm not concerned in competing nationally, but I am serious about autocrossing; but serious in the sense that the only person I want to beat is myself.
Thanks again!

 

That's good for a DD setup and mild autocross use, but for serious autocross grip you're going to want to run somewhere between -3.5° to -4° camber in front to maximize grip. That's a pretty important mod on track/autocross cars. That's a bit too much negative camber for street use, but it takes about 2 minutes to adjust your camber (and possibly another 5-10 mins to adjust toe) from street to autocross setups with good camber plates.

Cheers,

 

If you buy camber plates, do you get an professional alignment for the street use or the track use? ie: align -1.5 camber and 0 toe for street use, then eyeball the camber plates to move it to -3.5 camber, and adjust toe at the tracks?

 

Not necessarily - it would of course be great in theory to be able to increase your camber for competition events just using the plates but fact is that if you change your camber settings at the camber plates your toe changes too, and is not always uniform from side to side, likely/possibly resulting in a whack setup.

Best bet is to just get a full realignment done before competition.

Personally I just run my competition alignment all the time; 0 toe all around, -3f, -1.3r. But I need to watch out for tire wear and keep the alignment ubder observation.

If you get camber plates, might as well get ones that let you adjust caster as well - the HKS camber plates I have let me dial in -5 caster independently of camber and toe.

 

We recommend trackside camber adjustments on all dual purpose cars, or at least do them at home before heading to your nearby tracks, then change it back for street use. With the EVO you do have to adjust the toe, but that's not the end of the world. Once you've figured out the number of turns on the tie rods to adjust the toe its fairly easy to replicate. A $50 set of toe measuring plates can verify your changes.

The EVO doesn't work with you when it comes to the toe/camber relationship like some other cars. On "front steer" cars (the tie rods are ahead of the steering axle) such as BMWs as you add negative camber the car toes out, which is a benefit as most autocrossers want to run some front toe out for competition use anyway - so the camber adjustment also adjusts the toe in the right direction. On the "rear steer" EVO (and most other FWD/AWD cars) front suspension it works backwards, and the front end toes in significantly when you slide the camber in negative.

Some folks like to pay for $80-120 alignments on a monthly basis, but it really isn't necessary if you have a few hand tools, a little knowledge, and one good professional alignment to start with (its still good to re-check that once or twice each season). Starting with your professional alignment, have them set your street setup to your choice of camber (usually the most positive in the range your plates provide) and front toe (typically zero). Then have them slide your camber plates to full negative and see where it gets to, and adjust it to match side to side in the -3.5 to -4° range (if your plates go that far). Get them to mark the settings on the plates for your street and race camber settings and note the toe change - and count the number of turns (and fractions of turns) for the toe to be altered to your race setup (1/8" to 3/16" front total toe out is a good starting point). Now when you slide the plates between your Street and Race camber settings you just need to adjust the tie rods by the exact amount, equally on both sides, to get the toe right (and keep the steering wheel straight). You can verify the toe in seconds using your Longacre $50 toe plates.

Its really easier than that looks. Once you have the routine down its a 5-10 minute process to go from Street to Race front alignment and back. Again, thank Mitsubishi for the rear steer suspension - on a front steer car this is a 60 second operation, as you don't have to adjust the toe.

Cheers,

 

^ Great post.

 

^ +1