An explanation of negative camber, why it works etc.

www.tirebuyer.com/education/what-is-negative-camber

I was following a VW sports car last week didn't note the reg, below will explain why. & the rear wheels were seriously leaning inwards, excessive negative camber!

Wow! It looked ridiculous, Surely there must be a fault with the car. The tops of both tyres were seriously angled in at the top. Surely it can't be produced like that, we couldn't stop looking at the wheels. The car looked brand new, but unsafe..

Someone please explain.

Cheers.

.

Further along our road a VW Golf's owner has had the suspension lowered so much that the sills are only a couple of inches above the tarmac, the top of the rear wheels are above the wheel arch top, the Lord only knows how he gets over the many speed humps beloved of our anti-car council.

If the VW 'sports car' you saw was a Karmann Ghia they were based on the original Beetle which had swing-axle suspension, lowering that would give negative camber.

No idea why these people lower their suspension. Probably the same mentality as those who fit bean-can extensions on their tailpipe to make more noise.

Many bigger engined modern VAG have independent rear suspension that is designed to have more negative camber as each rear wheel hub pushes into the wheelarch to vastly improve the handling whilst cornering. If suspension is lowered without correcting the camber on each side then it can badly affect handling and tyre wear would be dreadful.

I've also seen some cars where the front has been lowered way too much and you can see where the tyres have been rubbing away at the wheel arches.

Edited by Big John on 30/04/2022 at 21:47