Caster increase

[Kevin85]

Has anyone fitted or researched the caster top mounts Area sell?

 

[RichA]

Yeah I fitted them, transformed the stability of the car, would thoroughly reccomend them

 

[Fez]

Yeah I fitted them, transformed the stability of the car, would thoroughly reccomend them

Did you have to cut the strut tower to fit them?

 

[spooke]

Incase you haven't already you can also swap the coilover top mounts over so they angle inward, not 100% sure how much you gain but you can definitely feel the difference.

 

[spooke]

Did you have to cut the strut tower to fit them?

"How the top mounts work is by lowering the top of the strut to a height where it can slide under the shock tower and in turn a large caster gain is made. If running standard configuration shocks you will need to cut a slot in your tower to allow access to damper adjustment, if running inverted coilovers no cutting is required."

http://areamotorsport.co.uk/area-shop/caster-top-mounts-ep3-civic-type-r-dc5-type-r/

 

[Kevin85]

Yeah I fitted them, transformed the stability of the car, would thoroughly reccomend them

What did you do with the camber after fitting them?

 

[Kevin85]

Incase you haven't already you can also swap the coilover top mounts over so they angle inward, not 100% sure how much you gain but you can definitely feel the difference.

Interesting.. I did think about rotating the top mounts 60*, but the studs aren't equal distance so I stopped thinking about it haha. Just done a measure and two of the studs are equal, so what you're saying could work quite nicely. Do you have a photo of them, I would like to get an idea of where it puts the strut after the swap.

 

[spooke]

Interesting.. I did think about rotating the top mounts 60*, but the studs aren't equal distance so I stopped thinking about it haha. Just done a measure and two of the studs are equal, so what you're saying could work quite nicely. Do you have a photo of them, I would like to get an idea of where it puts the strut after the swap.

Here you go, hope they help. I did this on Mike Williams' advice, definitely a worthwhile thing to do. (need to wash my engine bay!)

 

[Kevin85]

Nice one, I've seen people with this set up. Everyone I asked said they were from Area, so I figured they were selling them as part of their 'track version' Yellospeed's.

I'll be doing this first, as I already have the caster increase lower bushes. With the ones that Area sell, I would have 7deg. Big jump.

Mike, pipe up. What does this amount of caster do to ones dynamic camber?

 

[Kevin85]

Spooke, what are your front geo settings with the top mount like that? I only ask as you're maxed out on the adjustment. Is it just top mount adjustment, or camber bolts as well?

 

[spooke]

Nice one, I've seen people with this set up. Everyone I asked said they were from Area, so I figured they were selling them as part of their 'track version' Yellospeed's.

I'll be doing this first, as I already have the caster increase lower bushes. With the ones that Area sell, I would have 7deg. Big jump.

Mike, pipe up. What does this amount of caster do to ones dynamic camber?

I noticed the difference to the feel and self steer effect, I'd like to know how much it's gained though - at a guess maybe -1.5/-2 degrees?

You can probably tell how much visually by looking at the tyres contact patch when turning, the following wheel will gain negative camber.

Spooke, what are your front geo settings with the top mount like that? I only ask as you're maxed out on the adjustment. Is it just top mount adjustment, or camber bolts as well?

My coilovers are slotted so can control camber/kpi from the strut, overall I'm at -2 camber and 0 toe.

 

[RichA]

What did you do with the camber after fitting them?

I left the camber at zero on top and used camber bolts to achieve desired camber, I didn't want to mess around with camber at the top as it can affect how the track rods move under suspension compression and potentially increasing bump steer.

 

[RichA]

Going from stock caster to using the caster increase top mounts made a huge difference, the car feels so much more stable and positive in the steering, look at clubrsx track chat and see how much everyone rates caster increase for this chassis, if I was keeping the car I'd have fitted the lower bushes too to try and net as much as possible

 

[Kevin85]

I've read the same things re caster, but I would rather go in smaller increments if at all possible. I'm getting some bump steer, but some of that is from my front ride height. I'll be lifting it slightly on these next set of geo changes.

 

[MilanoChris]

Interesting topic, definitely getting added to my wish list.

 

[Crazylegs]

Is it worth getting these if upgrading from an OEM damper and if one doesn't do much track work or are they only beneficial on a track car?