Eibach, H&R or FK Springs?
- Thread starter jamiez
- Start date
jrainlay said:
Sure no problem, first I went with the setup you can find in this thread :
http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=41316
This was an improvement over stock and safe for the road but I realised I could have been far more aggressive so I went with the following:
( these are all in degrees)
Front
camber -2.0 (by pulling out strut pins)
Toe 0.00 combined toe. So completely parallel
Rear
Camber -1.8
Toe left 0.02 right 0.02 combined toe of 0.04
I love this setting and wont be changing it, what an improvement! It might be a bit twitchy up front for some but turn in is razor sharp and the ability to properly balance the car on the throttle without having to push through a load of understeer is exactly what I wanted.
Also if you haven't done so yet I would recommend RTAB limiters or poly bushes for the front RTAB as it helps maintain geometry when under load.
I definitely second pulling the camber pins to give maximum negative camber at the front. This really improves turn in although at the expense of straight line stability - if you do this, be careful on rough road surfaces especially with low profile tyres. Mine is twitchy to say the least (although it remains fine at ridiculous speeds on smooth tarmac)! Jamiez, if you ever use the Hog's Back near Guildford you'll find it unbearable with this set up and CSLs :wink:
As for tyre wear, I didn't manage many road miles on this set up before coming to Oz so I can't really comment in normal use. Certainly my track tyres still wore their outer shoulder more than the inner despite the increased negative camber.
As for tyre wear, I didn't manage many road miles on this set up before coming to Oz so I can't really comment in normal use. Certainly my track tyres still wore their outer shoulder more than the inner despite the increased negative camber.
Hi, Having reported a definite improvement on the road with the H&R springs, I can also report improvement on track also. Best money I have spent on springs, and if it didn't improve the ride/feel/performance, I would say so. Usually fitting lowering springs has its trade off, but this is an improvement all ways, which probably shows that the standard set up is maybe not quite right, as people have remarked on before. Just thought I would share my experience. 
DONDP said:
Not anymore! I'm living in Sydney until next year, but I was living in SW London before I left. I've worked at Frimley Park Hospital several times over the last few years, most recently just before coming out to Oz, and had clinics at Fleet Community Hospital once or twice a week until January. I must say, the poor road surface heading west from Guildford saved my licence on more than one occasion when plod was lurking in his camera van
I always enjoyed the slip road joining the Eastbound M3 at junction 4a when heading home to London :evil:
jamiez said:
Didn't I see you posting about track days....Go on pull the pins, you won't look back
If you do find understeer becomes a problem on the track, you'll find small but cumulative benefits from each of Eibachs, a strut brace, front spacers (I use 15mm spacers with my track wheels but not with my CSL road wheels), and more negative camber. You'll find a significant improvement simply by investing in better front tyres such as Michelin PS2s or PSSs. Finally, trail-braking whilst turning in, and too much welly applied too early on the way out of corners will soon make you forget about understeer
BMWZ4MC said:jamiez said:
Didn't I see you posting about track days....Go on pull the pins, you won't look back
If you do find understeer becomes a problem on the track, you'll find small but cumulative benefits from each of Eibachs, a strut brace, front spacers (I use 15mm spacers with my track wheels but not with my CSL road wheels), and more negative camber. You'll find a significant improvement simply by investing in better front tyres such as Michelin PS2s or PSSs. Finally, trail-braking whilst turning in, and too much welly applied too early on the way out of corners will soon make you forget about understeer
- already had the BMW struct brace and CSLs
i dont expect to do many track events - how much tire wear is pulling these pins going to do - versus not pulling them?
jamiez said:BMWZ4MC said:jamiez said:
Didn't I see you posting about track days....Go on pull the pins, you won't look back
If you do find understeer becomes a problem on the track, you'll find small but cumulative benefits from each of Eibachs, a strut brace, front spacers (I use 15mm spacers with my track wheels but not with my CSL road wheels), and more negative camber. You'll find a significant improvement simply by investing in better front tyres such as Michelin PS2s or PSSs. Finally, trail-braking whilst turning in, and too much welly applied too early on the way out of corners will soon make you forget about understeer
i dont expect to do many track events - how much tire wear is pulling these pins going to do - versus not pulling them?
I didn't cover enough road miles after pulling the pins to see any significant change in wear pattern with my CSLs, but I would expect that with mostly road use you would get abnormal and rapid tyre wear on the inside shoulders with that much camber. My track tyres on the stock wheels still tend to wear the outer shoulder more than the inner, but they are only ever used at ten tenths so this won't be representative of road use. I'm planning to fit uprated ARBs and polybushes to maintain geo whilst cornering and hopefully this will reduce the outer shoulder wear on track. I'll likely go for coilovers with adjustable camber plates in due course to allow easy transition between track and road set ups to avoid destroying my road tyres... If you're not tracking it regularly, I'd tend to leave the camber as it is. Exdos is the man to contact about suspension set ups (as well as many other mods).