Marc wrote:For a maximum contact patch you do want the tire to be at zero camber, but that's in relation to the pavement.
right on, i couldn't agree more.
Marc wrote: you'll need some negative camber at rest in order to achieve this, there isn't enough rear camber change to do so automatically as the suspension travels.
i didn't realize this was the case for semi-trailing arm suspension. can you help me understand, marc?
are you saying the positive change in body angle is always greater than then negative change in angle with suspension travel, even with the center of gravity held at the same height? this is something that could be tested on a car at rest.
or are you saying that even on an IRS car the roll center is high enough to get center of gravity jacking? this car is literally lifting and tipping, and this ands enough positive camber to cancel the change from suspension compression. this is of course what's famously bad about swing axle cars.
Marc wrote:By nature, the front suspension has no camber change as it moves through its travel, making it even more important to have some negative (static) camber in order to keep the tire square with the ground when cornering.
absolutely! the front suspension of standard beetles is pure (not semi) trailing arm, and so there is no camber change with suspension compression. this means the angle the wheel makes with the ground is the same as the angle the nose makes with the ground. up front static negative camber seems like an unfortunate reality. you need to get the
extra eccentric bushings that bugpack and others sell. i'd run about 1/2 a degree of negative camber up front for the street. on the track, run as much negative as you can - ususually in the neighborhood of -2.5 deg.
do you concur, marc?