I've read up basic information on how caster affects handling. (ie: more positive is better for high speed stability, dynamic camber, cornering effectiveness, etc). I've heard mixed reviews when it comes to autocrossing, but not sure what's pertinent to actual Evo autocrossers. I understand many people want more caster for high speed tracks like road courses, but what are your thoughts on more caster for a strictly autocrossing Evo, where turns are short and come fast?

 

you will get mixed reviews i love caster. I think it helps with cornering.. check out the perrin Positive response steering kit tht add caster. Plp complain abt how the steering can feel lazy but it doesnt feel like a MACK truck .

 

be careful with the above advice. It puts you straight into SM.

I've played with caster and I think that it's a personal preference. I went back to stock caster simply because I preferred the sharper steering response.

 

The main thing that I noticed while autocrossing after I added caster was the change in steering feel. In slaloms and fast transitions the steering felt normal close to center but once I got away from center the steering got much harder almost like someone shut off the power steering. It didn't slow me down much but was definitely a bit of a distraction at first. Over all though the car had a lot more front grip and was much faster around the course.

 

Do you feel the advantages of dynamic added camber around corners made up for the drawbacks of steering feel? How much caster did you use?

 

The added dynamic camber does greatly increase fron grip while auto-xing. I didnt feel much of a difference in the feel on my car.

 

How much caster did you use?

 

Im at nearly 6 degrees

 

bump I know this thread is relatively old.. Looking for a "good" amount of caster to add without sacrificing too much in steering.. Steering is one of the favorite parts of this car

may try just adding a PSRS or ALK only to add the caster

 

Start with 5½ degrees. I honestly loved it when I had it around that much. At my current 7.3 degrees, I had to grow into it, but it's not as bad as some people say it is (about losing power steering and such--nonsense...far from it!).

 

I once had a conversation with Robi about this. I remember him saying the more caster the better on these cars (CT9A), and how he wished he could add even more than what he can with all the modifications possible.

 

Robi set my car up and told me the same thing. I think it's more beneficial on road courses than autocross though.

 

Increased caster may come into play more in autocross. The larger steering angles used in Autocross allow a higher dynamic neg camber gain that comes with increasing caster.

Quite a few use of the top autocross Evos use our CDR caster/camber plates. We ended up designing them for ourselves, to get the maximum neg camber and caster range, along with being able to change the settings quickly. The CDR plates allow over 6 deg neg camber, or the extra range can be used to provide more tire clearance.

Rick

 

re-mega bump for a good thread - i'm gonna setup my coilovers soon and start adding caster, but i'm really worried about the things people say about steering (as i mentioned above). there's also a matter of the caster adding camber simultaneously, so i'll have to figure out how much camber is added per degree of caster and see if i want to keep my camber bolt at the lower camber setting (not a competitive car). maybe i'll just add 2 degrees of caster and see how much that impacts the steering.. this will be at the top through the plates if that wasn't obvious.

 

The only way I would ever add more caster is by moving the bottom and not the top with plates. Moving the bottom points forward increases caster and wheel base, which adds stability. Just my 2 cents.