Running negative camber? (daily driven street car)

[DRP967]

Whats up, I have a 05 EP3 with Ground Control sleeves/Koni Yellow shocks. Its dropped to zero finger gap all around and the wheels/tires are 17X7, +45 Enkei RPF1s wrapped with some Toyos (215/45/17). Currently my car's alignment is set up to stock specs. My question is can I run -1 camber front/rear without eating up my tires? This is a daily driver. Reason I ask is because my friend with a DC2 suggested that the car will sit better in terms of looks aka its stance. Also will doing this make it handle worse in terms of steering response? Last time my car had some negative camber that wasnt stock specs and the steering felt heavy and sluggish. Now I know having my car lowered this much already affected handling but I still need the car to be twitchy and responsive and im wondering if with the -1 camber the handling characteristics will still be the same. Thanks

Cliffs:
1. Will -1 camber cause tires to wear out really fast?
2. Will -1 camber make steering response feel slow and sluggish?

[RHCP0801]

-1 degree of camber will not mess up your tires, the main cause for tire wear is toe, if you toe is out your gonna eat up tires very quickly

[DRP967]

-1 degree of camber will not mess up your tires, the main cause for tire wear is toe, if you toe is out your gonna eat up tires very quickly

Thanks for the input, yeah i heard/read toe eats up tires more than camber does. Do you have a suggestion for my alignment specs? Maybe I can run factory specs with the exception of the camber, ill do -1 front and rear?

[RHCP0801]

i have been running factory specs forever and my tires have been fine ever since i lowered the car over 3 years ago. My oem wheels still have the stock michelins from day 1 in 2004

[civsirmt]

i run a good bit of negative camber front -2.20 and back -3.0 and its my daily, as long as u have a all season tread rating 300 and up they will last a while. but unless ur wheel selection forces u to do negative camber i wouldnt do it.

[27rocks]

You want a little better handling then just put that -1 of camber in the front and leave the rear alone. You want more camber in the front then the rear especially on a FWD car. Your tires will barely even notice any wear at all with that little camber so you should be good. Just make sure your toe is good and that should make your tires last.

Now as far as looks you are already on some narrow wheels with a high offset, so by putting them further in (cambering) it would actually make it look worse (less flush). I think your buddy is just stuck in the 90's with the pizza cutter type of wheels all tucked in behind the fenders. But then again to each his own...

[DRP967]

i have been running factory specs forever and my tires have been fine ever since i lowered the car over 3 years ago. My oem wheels still have the stock michelins from day 1 in 2004

i run a good bit of negative camber front -2.20 and back -3.0 and its my daily, as long as u have a all season tread rating 300 and up they will last a while. but unless ur wheel selection forces u to do negative camber i wouldnt do it.

You want a little better handling then just put that -1 of camber in the front and leave the rear alone. You want more camber in the front then the rear especially on a FWD car. Your tires will barely even notice any wear at all with that little camber so you should be good. Just make sure your toe is good and that should make your tires last.

Now as far as looks you are already on some narrow wheels with a high offset, so by putting them further in (cambering) it would actually make it look worse (less flush). I think your buddy is just stuck in the 90's with the pizza cutter type of wheels all tucked in behind the fenders. But then again to each his own...

1. Cant go wrong with OEM specs, its safe.

2. Thanks for the input.

3. Thanks for much for the information. So I can run factory alignment specs with the exception of the front...just do -1 camber? Everything will be cool? Guess im traumatized cause before when my alighment settings were out of wack the steering response was so sluggish/heavy feeling....wasnt fun at all.

[27rocks]

1. Cant go wrong with OEM specs, its safe.

2. Thanks for the input.

3. Thanks for much for the information. So I can run factory alignment specs with the exception of the front...just do -1 camber? Everything will be cool? Guess im traumatized cause before when my alighment settings were out of wack the steering response was so sluggish/heavy feeling....wasnt fun at all.

Yeah. You will be fine tire wise -1 is hardly anything. And having a little more camber up front then the rear will make the car corner smoother and better. I wouldn't touch the rear because you simply don't have to.

[ep3colin]

running negative 4.5 degrees in the rear and no problems

[27rocks]

running negative 4.5 degrees in the rear and no problems

Yeah the rear is not a problem. It's the front thats mainly the issue. 70% of the cars weight and drivetrain.

[DRP967]

Yeah. You will be fine tire wise -1 is hardly anything. And having a little more camber up front then the rear will make the car corner smoother and better. I wouldn't touch the rear because you simply don't have to.

Thanks!