I have been searching through the forums for feedback for camber plates. I see a lot of good things about Helix and hotchkis, and kind of a 50/50 with Ireland's, not much about Eibach...and how bout those TSW's?

most of the threads I have read were posted a fewyrs ago.

Wanted to ask for current feedback with camber plate products recently purchased. Hopefully the ones that have been complained about in the past couple yrs have been improved. I'm looking for one to go with my R53 and H&R RSS coilovers. The RSS coilovers lowered the front of the car too much for my liking even with the highest setting! I would like it to be close to 0.5 inches higher. I hear that Helix cambers raise the car slightly. Can anyone agree or verify that? I also hear that there are many that do not affect the height of the car at all. Any other method I could do to raise it at 0.25-0.5inch?

I see some complaints about the Ireland cambers...but a lot, again, were written about 2 yrs ago...not much current...If you have the IE's, any advice on what would work best with coilovers?

Seeing a lot of stuff too on the forums about noise that some cambers may make...any out there that you guys have experience with?

Also, last but not least, I would ideally not like the ride to be any stiffer than it is with the coilovers. I know the ride with coilovers is not as comfortably as a stock setup, but I don't want cambers that may make the ride greatly uncomfortable. My ride is just for streets, not racing.

Sorry, I know there's a lot of questions..I'm really not very familiar with all of this so feedback would be awesome. :-)

 

minXjaz
I will try to give you some quick info on this. You basically have a choice of fixed or adjustable camber plates. The most popular fixed plate comes from Ireland Eng. It is an extreemly rugged plate that uses a bearing encased in rubber from a BMW Z4 (much heavier car). This plate will raise your car less than 1/4" and add -1.25 camber to whatever you have currently. Because this bearing is located in rubber it will not induce any NVH and I think many people will tell you they even ride smoother than stock. This is a great street camber plate and the only downside is that you cannot adjust any side to side variation. IMHO I do not think that a disparity of .3 or.4 would even be felt for a street driven car. Just one other note on the Ireland reviews. It is their adjustable plates that get the bad comments not the fixed.
For adjustable plates you have several choices but all seem to be somewhat similair in design. They are a ball and socket style that are metal to metal contact. Because of that contact it is extreemly difficult, if not impossible, to not add some NVH. If this is not a track car you may not like the added vibration. The amount that the plates will raise the car is directly linked to the thickness of the plate that the spring sits on. Helix plates will raise the car as much as any of them. They have been around a long while and are good plates. One of the things you should also be concerned with is the ease of making the adjustments on the plates. On some models you have to alter your strut towers to be able to adjust them.
Good luck on your search, IMHO you should first make a decision as to wether or not you want adjustable or non adjustable style.
Steve

 

Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it. :-)

~Christine

 

I went with the Ireland Engineering fixed camber plates and have finished allowing them to break in. I have been on a road course circuit with them and they appear to be fine. Tomorrow I have a suspension alignment scheduled and will see what the total negative camber is.

 

I really enjoy my IE fixed camber plates in my street auto. No problems to report. The good news is handling is faster and more precise at the apex of a turn. You'll like that, too

 

2+ yrs on my IE adjustables with no issues.

 

I had the car alignment done at the Mini dealership today.

- Ireland Engineering Fixed Camber Plates, front
- everything else is stock Cooper S suspension
- aftermarket wheels, 7" x 17", offset 42 mm (stock is 48 mm) on front
- stock tire size

Front left camber: -1.5 degrees
Front right camber: -2.0 degrees

Note, the stock Cooper S does not have equal front camber.

I recommend that if you buy Ireland Engineering products do so from a good vendor like AutoXCooper, so you can get your questions answered.

 

I have the IE fixed camber plates complementing Koni yellows and their lowering springs (Koni Sports kit). The car is lower between 0.75-1 inch, however the IE plates raised the front between 0.25-0.5 inches. Front camber ended up at -1.6 L/R.
Prior to the Konis, I had h-sport lower springs (~1in lower) with the IE plates which resulted in -1.8 L/R in the front.

 

The IE plates shouldn't raise the front more then an 1/8 to 1/4 inch. If more then that please check the install somethings not right. Also note most new springs will settle a little with miles so while it may "look" like the plates raised the car it may just be the new springs needing to settle in more.

 

Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate the input. Ended up putting the IE fixed plates and am liking them so far. I originally wanted Helix, but to save some money, I tried the IE's, especially since I've been hearing good feedback about them. They raised the car a little bit, and now the height is just right.

Now on to alignment!

Thanks again.

~Christine

 

Any feedback for Eibach camber plates? They are cheaper than the competition and look sturdy. Would love to hear from ppl using them...