Front Camber

[MikeBirt]

Hi All,
Anyone had any experience from adjusting (adding) some additional front camber to their 6?

Having come from Jap cars from my youth to an RS4 B8 (which I revered for handling) I do struggle with turn in and front end grip on the C7 RS6. Lately I have noticed the Michelins are wearing way too fast on the outside edges of the front tyres, and when I saw that the camber was not adjustable I started to think that we are being lead down the path of the understeer nanny state deliberately.

In the Jap car days the front camber adjustment could make or break the handling, and I am considering putting some adjustable upper suspension mounts on the 6 to correct this;
https://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/ ... -1-50.html

I just wondered if anyone out there has done the same and how it turned out. My only concern is what setting to use, and what effect it may have on the straight line manners.

[MikeBirt]

Update to this thread.

Ive been more and more disillusioned with the RS6 in the handling department - specifically turn in, and way too much understeer. You have to nurse it to an apex and then let the 4wd system pull you out, and even if you get it as good as you can it's underwhelming - all you feel is mass and understeer. It's a very safe but hugely un-involving to drive. If you go in hard you just wash out and it's almost impossible to do the drivetrain and engine justice with that much understeer. Also the fact that Audi don't make the cars with adjustable wishbones means you have no alternative other than like or lump their stock settings, which I believe are made for greenhorns who cant drive.

Having owned an RS4 B8, which had acceptable front end grip, the 6 is, I feel, very poor.
I tried Michelins - better, but not good - I also have the full dynamic pack. I even took the car back to the dealers when it was under warranty to see if they could find out why it understeered so much, and their answer (confidentially from the chief RS mechanic) was "this is not really the car for you".

To add insult to injury I recently noticed the OUTSIDE edge of my front tyres wearing, and that to me was the last straw. Ive never had a car that wore the outside of the front before the inside, and to suffer such bad understeer too, it was disheartening. So - I ordered and fitted some adjustable upper wishbones.

I had the car measured on the geo before swapping over, and to my surprise found that the one side of my car was on a front camber of -.43 and the other side -1.32. These settings are NON ADJUSTABLE. How can Audi warrant not having adjustability? I guess it means all our cars have slightly different settings and it's the luck of the draw who gets the better end of the -.55 to -1.45 stock range. That range alone is colossal.

Anyway - new upper adjustable struts fitted and I now have -1.50 on both fronts and the difference is staggering.
My goodness - the turn in is night and day. I can put the car anywhere I want it and get on the power so much earlier and balance the back end on the throttle (which on this Quattro drivetrain, finally lets you exploit what it's so very good at - scrabbling into and out of the apex.)
There is a slight increase in tramline on well worn road ruts (I found this normal for mitchelin on all my old cars tbh), nothing I have not seen before.

It's transformed the drivability of the car. It has a new lease of life.

Many of you may be close to -1.45 on your stock fronts but I wager many of you are not, and unless you fit adjustable arms, you'll have no way of correcting it.

So my advice is - if understeer is doing your head in - swap out your upper arms for adjustables. You'll not regret it - like buying a brand new car.

[innercry666]

Appreciate you putting your experience down Mike. I knew something was wrong when you mentioned the RS4 handled better than the RS6! I've always found the RS6 to be a better steer than the 4 which was part of the reason why I moved out of the RS4. The handling was always very vague at the front end on the 4. I had it setup by Center of Gravity and it was a different car but the front end had no feel. The RS6 was a massive improvement over that.

When CoG aligned the RS4 they had to adjust the whole subframe at the front to get the camber evened out. I suspect that is the same with the 6. However, sounds like you've cracked it with the adjustable top arms. Whereabouts did you get them from?

[MikeBirt]

Appreciate you putting your experience down Mike. I knew something was wrong when you mentioned the RS4 handled better than the RS6! I've always found the RS6 to be a better steer than the 4 which was part of the reason why I moved out of the RS4. The handling was always very vague at the front end on the 4. I had it setup by Center of Gravity and it was a different car but the front end had no feel. The RS6 was a massive improvement over that.

When CoG aligned the RS4 they had to adjust the whole subframe at the front to get the camber evened out. I suspect that is the same with the 6. However, sounds like you've cracked it with the adjustable top arms. Whereabouts did you get them from?

Very interesting.
I had not considered pulling the subframe apart. Presumably it will take from one side and give to the other. What camber angles did you settle at in the end if I may ask?

It's funny that your 4 was not right - mine was beautiful aside that dsg gearbox that was always looking the wrong way. I bought my 6 on the Harris review largely - he hated the 4 and loved the 6. I was the other way around after owning both.

My arms came from here;
https://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/ ... -1-50.html

Do all RS products have non adjustable suspension do you think?
Is it possible that we all have different views on these cars because of the way the non adjustable suspension is set up and/or settles?
Certainly my experience was the total opposite of the Harris review until I got this 6 sorted. I assume that the the cars they test are fully fettled by the brand before they are handed over.. maybe not..

I'll stay at 1.5 deg negative for now and see how things evolve longer term. Seems like a good balance between manners and grip. Car is reborn.

[innercry666]

Very interesting.
I had not considered pulling the subframe apart. Presumably it will take from one side and give to the other. What camber angles did you settle at in the end if I may ask?

It's funny that your 4 was not right - mine was beautiful aside that dsg gearbox that was always looking the wrong way. I bought my 6 on the Harris review largely - he hated the 4 and loved the 6. I was the other way around after owning both.

My arms came from here;
https://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/ ... -1-50.html

Do all RS products have non adjustable suspension do you think?
Is it possible that we all have different views on these cars because of the way the non adjustable suspension is set up and/or settles?
Certainly my experience was the total opposite of the Harris review until I got this 6 sorted. I assume that the the cars they test are fully fettled by the brand before they are handed over.. maybe not..

I'll stay at 1.5 deg negative for now and see how things evolve longer term. Seems like a good balance between manners and grip. Car is reborn.

I made the mistake of test driving a 6 whilst the 4 was in for work. I was really taken with how well it handled for a big car. Just felt better in my hands as it were. Watching Chris Harris fall in love with the RS6 also didn't hurt!

I still miss the NA V8 though and absolutely loved the RS4. It was a cracking car. I was on the verge of buying and installing a strut brace for the RS4 when I moved into the 6. I'd heard good things about what it did for the steering feel. I had both on the drive for a month before deciding that actually the RS6 was the more complete car overall.

In terms of camber on the 6, at last adjustment camber was at -1.2 each side. I do mostly A road and motorway so works well enough for that.

Appreciate you dropping the link for the arms as well.