Anyone have a geometry set up they're happy with?

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CalMac
Posts: 1747
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:08 pm
Location: Northampton

Anyone have a geometry set up they're happy with?

Post by CalMac »

I've tried countless set ups and never managed to get the car to behave how I want it to! Tried Dino's settings mainly and slight variations, it costs me £96 a pop though so I really want to get it sussed now because I've spent over £500 trying various setups now :lol:

The front end always feels a little wayward, especially over rough surfaces. Have to wrestle the steering to some extent otherwise I'll go into a bush/curb/peasant. Country road driving is tricky - the car feels like it has a lot more grip but I'm having to back off because it's badly affected by ruts and tramlines in the road so mid-corner the steering angle will need to be adjusted or I'll have to come off the power slightly which is obviously a dangerous combination. Butt-clenching stuff :lol: It's not understeer though, I can tell that much. On motorways etc. it's pretty good though, especially at 'higher speeds'.

It's a Rev 3. Koni yellow shocks on lowering springs approx. 10mm arch gap all round (front unknown, rear Apex) with recently changed OEM top mounts. TRD ARB's, 16x7 and 16x8 RPF1's with spacers on AD08R tyres. Still running 25mm RCA's but it's been suggested previously that I should consider removing them?

The rear camber needs to remain the same though as otherwise my tyres will scrub a lot more than they do already :lol:

I've had everything looked over by a mechanic to check that there isn't excessive wear in a bush or ball joint etc. which may be causing the issues.

This is my current geometry:

Image

I think after the previous geometry (before changing springs) I set all camber bolts to max. negative and that actually felt a lot more stable but at the expense of tyre wear. Would it be a good idea to add more neg. camber to the fronts?
SonicSW20
Posts: 3681
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 7:54 pm

Re: Anyone have a geometry set up they're happy with?

Post by SonicSW20 »

I have about 2 degrees camber all round, ~8 minutes total toe in front, 16 minutes total toe in rear. Seems decent for daily / fast road stuff. At some point I'm going to try it with a bit less camber, around 1.5 degrees. Would be nice to get some caster adjustable fronts and add a degree to two caster as well.

RCA's aren't great unless you also correct the geometry of tie rods etc too IMO.
2barGee
Posts: 2409
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 6:13 pm
Location: Pontefract

Re: Anyone have a geometry set up they're happy with?

Post by 2barGee »

Are the dampers all in good order?

Two different types of springs will be effecting it as well.

Also that amount of rear camber is probably your problem...... time for coilovers i think mate
Last edited by 2barGee on Thu Feb 23, 2017 10:07 am, edited 1 time in total.
SonicSW20
Posts: 3681
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2010 7:54 pm

Re: Anyone have a geometry set up they're happy with?

Post by SonicSW20 »

Just a thought - have you tried adjusting tyre pressures? Might be worth having a play with that. AD08R's have pretty stiff sidewalls so their pressure requirements aren't the same as a regular road tyre.
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