excessive tire wear on lowered NSX

[swede]

Have any of you guys noticed increased tire wear in the inside of the front tires when the NSX is dropped? Mine is dropped 1&1/4 inch and the inside of the front tires is almost down to the threads, while the outside looks like new. I couldn't find anything about this on the FAQ, but in the service manual it states that the height of the car is essential when doing the wheel alignment. So, have you guys with dropped NSXs any good ideas or is it just to swap the tires more often?

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Enjoying life at 8.000 RPM

 

[ScienceofSpeed]

Lowering the NSX increases negative camber, which results in more inner tire wear. The alignment process can correct some of this negative camber, however, you'll usually find that lowering the car over an inch results in more negative camber than can be corrected for a street application.

At least it probably handles well!

-- Chris

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[David]

Chris is right about the negative camber. It is important to get the car re-aligned after you change the suspension. The magic distance seems to be about 1.3 - 1.5" inches, depending on the car. If you drop it less than that, you should be able to dial the camber back to the proper specs, both front and rear.

 

[swede]

Thanks Chris and David for you inputs. I will have the alignment checked out, and go with the service manual specs on camber. Having some problem finding anyone who wants to do the job. But the handling is great! you can take corners at "now I will defenetly crash" speeds!

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Enjoying life at 8.000 RPM

[This message has been edited by swede (edited 13 July 2001).]

 

[Electro]

I'm seriously thinking about lowering my NSX...but the tires wear out fast enough as it is without it being lowered....

I only want to lower it enought to make it look lowered, and of course to get the handling improvement...

So david, you say that about 1.3 - 1.5" inches is the limit to how far you can lower it and not be able to align the tires to prevent the abnormal tire wear?

Are there any camber kits available or other modifications that can be done to fix the camber problem?? Anyone??

-Electro

 

[sjs]

On my 93, lowering it ~1.4 inches left me unable to get the rear even close to spec. I'm at negative 3.1 degrees, which is OK with me. The front could be reset pretty close to sec, but I left it at ~-2 since the back had so much. Otherwise I'd need three sets of rears for every front!

If tire wear is important to you, I would not exceed -1 inch unless you can get other corrective measures.