Curious on this one. Can the caster affect the feel of the steering? Can too much caster affect anything negatively?

 

I had my tech dial in more caster because it gives me a "heavier" feel to the steering. I ended up sacrificing some camber though to get the caster.

Next time I'm going to give up a bit of caster and go for -2.00 camber instead.

I've come to terms with the fact that the S2000 just doesn't have a very "lively" steering feel. It is very precise though.

I'm not an expert but AFAIK the only thing you give up by dialing in a lot of caster is possibly lower max negative camber.

 

Caster most definately affects steering feel. An overly simplified example is a chopper vs a sport bike. A chopper with the front wheel 3 feet in front of the bars is going to turn much more lazy than a sportbike with the front wheel 6 inches in front of the bar. The chopper however would be pretty stable in a straight line (not that a sportbike isn't but you get the idea) More caster typically will give a more solid but slower feel...less caster will be quicker but twitchy. Once again this is overly simplified but it's a good visual.

 

More caster does minimize how much static camber you can dial but the more caster you dial in the more camber it adds when you turn the wheel.

IIRC 6 degrees caster = 1.5 degrees more camber when the wheel is turned all the way.

I've tried maximizing camber which minimizes caster and found the car to be harder to drive at the limit. For instance, with more caster on an autocross course if I get just a little too sideways with more caster I just let the wheel slide in my hands and it straightens itself up.

By maximizing camber in the same situation I have to row the wheel to straighten the car back up. I'm not as smooth. I guess I'd say I feel a little less in control and more on the ragged edge with less caster.

 

So with this in mind, whats a general overall good caster setting. I dont remember what mine is when i got my alignment done, but I clearly remember telling the guy to max the caster. Reason I asked this question is because recently it feels like my car is not as responsive as it used to be. I did change the alignment settings, but I also added 225 series tires up front and they are no 18 inchers as well. So I am trying to find out if the caster caused more of the numbness, or the new wider wheels and heavier wheels.

 

It ain't the new wider tires. I've got 235/18" (9.2" wide tires) on the front with Kinesis rims and mine feels just as light and nimble as it did with the stock 16" on it.

I always run over 6 degrees caster and it seems that stock specs show up to 6.48 degrees. I can't be sure without looking but that is what I remember.

I run just over 1.5 degrees neg camber on the front and 2 on the rear.

What are your toe settings? Maybe too much toe in?

 

Castor very much affects steering feel. There is no such thing as too much castor on an S2000. You want it set to max or about 6 - 6.5 degrees. More castor means less negative camber. The typical routine is to set the camber and then get as much castor as you can.

 

[QUOTE=Wildncrazy,Jul 6 2006, 10:59 PM] It ain't the new wider tires. I've got 235/18" (9.2" wide tires) on the front with Kinesis rims and mine feels just as light and nimble as it did with the stock 16" on it.

I always run over 6 degrees caster and it seems that stock specs show up to 6.48 degrees. I can't be sure without looking but that is what I remember.

I run just over 1.5 degrees neg camber on the front and 2 on the rear.

What are your toe settings?

 

I already have wider tires. The tires I have are 9.2" not the rims.

The reason I mentioned toe in as a possible culprit is that toe in "stabilizes" the car whereas toe out makes it more darty (quicker initial turn in).

Since my car doesn't feel numb and I have wider tires and more caster than you it would seem that you would need to look elsewhere for the numbness.

 

I see. Nobody quotes the width of tires in inches so I guess I assumed it was wheel width. 235mm is 9.25" FYI.

Dead steering feel may be your tires. If you can swap wheels with someone and see if it makes a difference.