# Carbonwurks: Performance Vehicle Geometry Explained

How camber, toe and caster change the tyre contact patch on a performance car's front corner, and how lowering it wears the tyre unevenly\.

By Carbonwurks

Topic: Machines

[Open the interactive Jig](https://ask.jig.com/j/xU2zGKdHL1OL)

## Transcript

### 1. The Carbonwurks Baseline

This is the front corner of a performance car: wheel, drilled brake disc, coilover spring and the arms that hold them\. At standard ride height the tyre stands straight, so its contact patch, the small area of rubber touching the road, glows evenly green\. Even contact means balanced grip and even tyre wear\.

Drag to turn the workshop\. Red sets camber, gold sets toe and the cyan line shows caster\.

### 2. Camber: Tilting the Wheel

Camber is the wheel's tilt seen from the front, set by the red upper arm and top mount\. With the top tipped inward \(negative camber\), a straight road loads only the tyre's inner edge\. In a hard corner the car leans and the tyre rolls flat again, so the whole patch grips\.

Angles are exaggerated so you can see them\. Sporty road cars often run about \-0\.5 to \-1 degree; track cars \-2 to \-3\.

### 3. Toe: Where the Wheels Point

From above, toe is the direction the wheels point, set by the gold tie rods\. Toe\-in angles their fronts slightly together for calm, stable high\-speed running\. Toe\-out angles them apart for sharper turn\-in\. Too much either way drags the tyre sideways and scrubs the rubber away\.

Real toe settings are tiny, often a fraction of a degree for both wheels together\.

### 4. Caster: The Leaning Steering Axis

Seen from the side, the cyan line is the steering axis the wheel turns around\. Positive caster leans its top backward, so it meets the road ahead of the tyre, like a shopping trolley wheel trailing its pivot\. That pulls the steering back to centre, keeps the car straight and leans a turned wheel into negative camber\.

Many sporty cars use about 5 to 7 degrees of caster; here it is drawn larger\.

### 5. Lowering, Then a 4\-Wheel Alignment

Lowering springs or coilovers drop the body closer to the road\. The arms swing to new angles, pulling the wheel into strong negative camber and the toe outward, so the inner edge of the patch turns red: a warning of fast tyre wear\. A Carbonwurks 4\-wheel alignment adjusts the red arm and gold tie rods back into spec, and the patch glows flat and green again\.

After lowering a car, always have the alignment checked against the maker's settings\.