As I continue to fall down the slippery slope I just finished the install of Ohlin R&T coilovers to my Cayman with adjustable toe links. Only a couple of drives so far and the jury is still out. Haven't been able to get to the shop for a proper corner balanced and alignment so I am hoping thus gets better. The first drive had too much toe out and the car wondered. This was corrected but the car still seems to bounce a lot over bumps. This got improved with an increase in dampening from 15 clicks to 12 but the car still bounces over small rises at speed. The most discerning is the twitch from the rear over bumps especially since the car was so well planted before. My quick string alignment has me with about 1 degree of toe in at the rear with close to zero at front. Camber is 2 degrees rear with 2.2 in the front. What am I missing that took away my cars sure footed feel.
What is your current ride height
and alignment
(read the last bit..
)?
I would highly suggest getting a professional alignment, the twitchiness you mention is often toe related.
0.05 deg toe in rear, 0 toe front and -2 all around will produce a very stable setup.
Hi Joshua,
I followed the Ohlin's recommendation which is about 3/4" lower in the front and 7/8" rear. Bringing the car to my local race shop tomorrow so hopefully I will see some improvement then. The change in spring rate is really not noticeable but is may still be under damped at 12 clicks from full stiff. Correcting the front toe definitely helped but will experiment more after corner balance and pro alignment.
NY Were you able to get the adjustable toe links to the correct toe in with the camber you wanted with a reduced ride height? I use 4-5 minutes of toe out in front and 10 minutes of toe in in the rear. These measurements, along with -2.9 degrees of camber f and -2.5 degrees r. Car ride is very stable, over bumpy roads and at high speeds. Currently using my OEM wheels and Michelin PSS4's. I am using 12 clicks f and 15 clicks from stiff r. The car is dropped 36 mm passenger side and 34 mm drivers side due to corner balance with 200 lbs of weight in the drivers seat.
I think you will figure it out. I had my car in the alignment shop a number of times for various reasons. Each time the car's track was true and no wondering, especially at freeway speeds.
4-5 minutes is 0.06-0.08 degrees.
Picked my car up last night and it is worlds better. Apparently, the gadget I made to measure camber was giving erroneous and inconsistent results which left different values at all corners. I also underestimated the toe with the fuzzy string that I used. With the corner balance set and correct alignment the car is back to itself and probably even more comfortable than with the old struts. The damping is 12 clicks and may still be a little soft but is very reasonable despite my concerns over the big increase in spring rate. Of course now I have to do more test drives and experimenting with damper settings! Did get a compliment from the shop manager for doing a good job on the install even though I totally missed on the alignment. Even got a compliment on my Top Gear exhaust from one of the service advisers.
Another surprise is the LN deep sump skid plate. While is does add some general noise to the cabin it did take away most of the drone from my exhaust. The cabin is generally louder but not the obtrusive sound around 2900 rpm when cruising.
It was an expensive project and a lot of work but overall a lot of fun and I think a good upgrade for my car. Thanks to Joshua, Apex1 and all the others for their input.
While I was talking with the service adviser at the shop I was wondering when all of the mods happen to my car!?! Never seemed like so much!
Glad it worked out!
What were your final alignment settings?
NYP- Great job! Yes the alignment is critical, especially when you add camber, toe and widen the wheel track. Hope you enjoy your new modded ride. Let us know your additional thoughts going forward.
2.5 camber and zero toe front with 2.2 camber and a little toe in rear, cross weight 50.6
