Has anyone tried adding front camber plates to a stock suspension? Seems like it might be a way to get more neutral to overseer handling with out deteriorating ride quality...I am considering the fixed road plates with 1.2 camber increase up front. Do you know also know if these plates include bushings to insulate the chassis from jolts like the stock set up? Thanks for any feedback...

 

I had the IE adjustable plates for about 2 years with -1.6 to -1.8 camber with zero toe. Turn in response is better but still needs a little more, perhaps around -2. It is a fwd so there is still some understeer. There is definately more harshness in the front especially with sports suspension and 17" RFTs. These are considered street plates.

 

I have the IE Ireland Engineering fixed plates on my 2006 MINI. They use a rubber bushing & are absolutely quiet. I'm on stock springs & struts. I ended up with 1.8 & 1.9 degrees of negative camber. I couldn't be happier with the handling. I'm also running a 19mm H-Sport rear bar set to full firmness.

 

The IE fixed plates should meet your requirements and improve the handling. The fixed plates still use rubber for the top mount but are more robust than the stock. The plate is thicker than stock which helps with preventing mushrooming of the strut tower. Also the rubber is different (appearently stronger) to help prevent the rubber from tearing (common on stock bushings). Here is a link:
http://www.waymotorworks.com/ireland...e-r50-r53.html

Increasing the negative camber in the front is a great first step to improving the handling. After the camber plates, if you still need to decrease understeer than a larger rear sway bar would be the next improvement to make.