[JimGnitecki]

I really like the relative chassis stiffness, 10-speed auto performance, and instantly available power at any rpm of my Magnuson supercharged 2022 LT1. But I regard the steering response as rather underwhelming in comparison.

I love cars that "twitch" when you twitch the steering wheel, and the Camaro steering seems rather insensitive.

My perception may be still colored by a 30 minute test drive of an Alfa Romeo 5C 6 years ago. Steering that car felt like steering a go cart. It made even mere city lane changes a treat! It was easily the most responsive car I have ever driven in terms of steering response, and it may have spoiled me for any other car.

Although I have Nitto 555R2 street drag radials on the rear (to cure a previous constant traction problem in spirited acceleration), I still have the OEM run flat tires on the front.

Would changing the front tires make a meaningful enough difference in steering response to be worth doing? Or, is the electric steering (practically) impossible to make better?

Jim G

[Hostile_1LE]

If you need to be reminded of how good the Camaro steering feels, go drive a mustang lol. But Supercar 3 tires that the 1le come with are very nice; a very firm tire that provide a lot of instant response, at the cost of being 200 TW.

[Camrochris]

Originally Posted by JimGnitecki

I really like the relative chassis stiffness, 10-speed auto performance, and instantly available power at any rpm of my Magnuson supercharged 2022 LT1. But I regard the steering response as rather underwhelming in comparison.

I love cars that "twitch" when you twitch the steering wheel, and the Camaro steering seems rather insensitive.

My perception may be still colored by a 30 minute test drive of an Alfa Romeo 5C 6 years ago. Steering that car felt like steering a go cart. It made even mere city lane changes a treat! It was easily the most responsive car I have ever driven in terms of steering response, and it may have spoiled me for any other car.

Although I have Nitto 555R2 street drag radials on the rear (to cure a previous constant traction problem in spirited acceleration), I still have the OEM run flat tires on the front.

Would changing the front tires make a meaningful enough difference in steering response to be worth doing? Or, is the electric steering (practically) impossible to make better?

Jim G

I hather you have the FE3 suspension or the stock Camaro "sport suspension" on the LT1 models.
My educated opinion is that if you want that Alfa feel you need the Bilstein B-14 Nordschliffe suspension with lowering springs and BMR adjustable End links. I don't know if ypu can add MRC to that model. I owned a 2020 Camaro V6 6 speed and added the Bilsteins. It made a night and day difference. It costs $1009 from American Muscle or wherever you like. About $900 to install. $$ well spent.

Install a front splitter as Camaro V8's like yours and my 1SS have 38lbs of front end lift at 100mph. Lift at 100mph is doesnt help your wheels feel planted. Conversely, the car has 35lbs of downforce @ 100 mph (2017 2SS model with stock rear spoiler, no dplitter or diffuser).
* source Car and Driver 10 best issue.

[cdb95z28]

Originally Posted by JimGnitecki

I really like the relative chassis stiffness, 10-speed auto performance, and instantly available power at any rpm of my Magnuson supercharged 2022 LT1. But I regard the steering response as rather underwhelming in comparison.

I love cars that "twitch" when you twitch the steering wheel, and the Camaro steering seems rather insensitive.

My perception may be still colored by a 30 minute test drive of an Alfa Romeo 5C 6 years ago. Steering that car felt like steering a go cart. It made even mere city lane changes a treat! It was easily the most responsive car I have ever driven in terms of steering response, and it may have spoiled me for any other car.

Although I have Nitto 555R2 street drag radials on the rear (to cure a previous constant traction problem in spirited acceleration), I still have the OEM run flat tires on the front.

Would changing the front tires make a meaningful enough difference in steering response to be worth doing? Or, is the electric steering (practically) impossible to make better?

Jim G

Yes.
But tires are only part of the combo. The suspension tuning works hand in hand with the tire. The alignment can play a part along with tire pressures.
For example on my SS 1LE, the OE Goodyear 3 is a great tire for that car's setup. I recently installed Michelin Pilot Super Sports and I fell in love with the steering feel and response. Prior to putting those on I would have not believed the PSS' could have had better feel and precision. But they do. It's not a big change vs the 3 but worth it. Also, compared to the typical Michelin 4S that everyone wants to talk up, The PSS' are better, IMHO. I drove my buddy's SS 1LE with the 4S' and the sidewalls were softer than the Goodyear 3 and the steering feel and response had taken a hit.

Keep in mind the weight of the Camaro is alot more than the Alfa's. That also plays a part in steering response.

[CTRifecta]

Short answer is yes, but it depends on what you replace your tires with. If you go with a solid 200TW max performance summer tire, you will gain some of that feel your looking for. I'd go for a nice setup up front and see how it does. Tires are one of the most important pieces of a car and often overlooked.

[JimGnitecki]

Thanks, Guys!

Jim G

[SSEssence]

Good tires, wider offset, and alignment will all make a change at how sensitive the steering is. I just went from 20x9 +29 to 20x10 +20 front wheels and it made a huge difference in how sensitive and responsive the steering is.

[JimGnitecki]

I don't want to spend a LOT of money on this, especially if the improvements achieved turn out to be minor.

New, different frnt tires make sense to me.

A change to the physical front end alignment numbers can also make sense to me.

But I would do one or both ONLY if the improvement would actually be reasonably noticeable.

I do not want to start changing suspension components. If different tires and different alignment settings will not make much difference without doing more, I'll forget the whole thing.

Jim G

[WhiteMale]

Run Flat tires are some of the very worst in any performance category. When I shop tires I like Tire rack reviews and look for how they feel on center, steering feel, and so on as they compare ~3 tires on the same car and conditions. I didn't like the ECS max summer tire, some here love it but it felt soft and rolled over on aggressive turns and took a second to bite, my 1LE had a push on the front that it didn't have with the SC3. It's all relative is the point.

[N Camarolina]

I think you need to re-evaluate your priorities before making any changes to your current set up.

You mention you already use drag tires on the rear, which says you take your car to drag tracks and prioritize straight line speed. But then you mention you want better turn-in, which says you want better handling through the twisties.

I've got news for you. You can't have both. The rear drag tires will compromise performance in corners, even if you put better "handling" tires on the front. Either keep your current set up and be happy with improved grip off the line for drag racing...... OR put on 4 tires that optimize handling for cornering and accept that drag racing performance will be compromised. OR use two different full sets of wheels/tires for drag racing and handling the twisties (I have two sets, one for daily use and another for road course track driving).

[JimGnitecki]

Originally Posted by N Camarolina

I think you need to re-evaluate your priorities before making any changes to your current set up.

You mention you already use drag tires on the rear, which says you take your car to drag tracks and prioritize straight line speed. But then you mention you want better turn-in, which says you want better handling through the twisties.

I've got news for you. You can't have both. The rear drag tires will compromise performance in corners, even if you put better "handling" tires on the front. Either keep your current set up and be happy with improved grip off the line for drag racing...... OR put on 4 tires that optimize handling for cornering and accept that drag racing performance will be compromised. OR use two different full sets of wheels/tires for drag racing and handling the twisties (I have two sets, one for daily use and another for road course track driving).

I do NOT drag race. The only reason I got the Nitto 555R2 rear tires was because with the OEM tires, if WOT (or even anywhere close) was applied, the traction control snapped on and stayed on even to the highest road speeds I have been to.

The LT1 wheels are narrower than the SS wheels, but the 275 width of the Nitto tires provides enough traction to mostly solve the problem - at least when the roads are dry and the temperature is not very cold.

I am slo not doing trackdays nor gymkhanas.

I just like to drive, and would like to have sharper steering response than I currently do, without turning this desire into an expensive mod program.

No way do I want to gety sucked into trying to turn a Camaro into an Alfa 4C. That's a futile mission! I just want to make the steering response a bit better.

Jim G

[N Camarolina]

Originally Posted by JimGnitecki

I do NOT drag race. The only reason I got the Nitto 555R2 rear tires was because with the OEM tires, if WOT (or even anywhere close) was applied, the traction control snapped on and stayed on even to the highest road speeds I have been to.

The LT1 wheels are narrower than the SS wheels, but the 275 width of the Nitto tires provides enough traction to mostly solve the problem - at least when the roads are dry and the temperature is not very cold.

I am slo not doing trackdays nor gymkhanas.

I just like to drive, and would like to have sharper steering response than I currently do, without turning this desire into an expensive mod program.

No way do I want to gety sucked into trying to turn a Camaro into an Alfa 4C. That's a futile mission! I just want to make the steering response a bit better.

Jim G

Thanks for clarifying. In that case, I'd suggest you start by trying Wider, grippier tires that match the rear width if possible. Right now, you likely have more grip in the rear than the front, which promotes understeer (poor turn-in). As a second step, you can check to see if your suspension allows the front camber to be increased. More negative camber will enable better turn in, but can introduce other problems to deal with so probably best not to do this first.

[JimGnitecki]

Originally Posted by N Camarolina

Thanks for clarifying. In that case, I'd suggest you start by trying Wider, grippier tires that match the rear width if possible. Right now, you likely have more grip in the rear than the front, which promotes understeer (poor turn-in). As a second step, you can check to see if your suspension allows the front camber to be increased. More negative camber will enable better turn in, but can introduce other problems to deal with so probably best not to do this first.

Ok, so wider and grippier front tires, whose width matches the rear. That sounds very doable. Plus, I can ask the tire shop manager what he can do via alignment settings. Thank-you.

Jim G

[FarmerFran]

Originally Posted by JimGnitecki

I really like the relative chassis stiffness, 10-speed auto performance, and instantly available power at any rpm of my Magnuson supercharged 2022 LT1. But I regard the steering response as rather underwhelming in comparison.

I love cars that "twitch" when you twitch the steering wheel, and the Camaro steering seems rather insensitive.

My perception may be still colored by a 30 minute test drive of an Alfa Romeo 5C 6 years ago. Steering that car felt like steering a go cart. It made even mere city lane changes a treat! It was easily the most responsive car I have ever driven in terms of steering response, and it may have spoiled me for any other car.

Although I have Nitto 555R2 street drag radials on the rear (to cure a previous constant traction problem in spirited acceleration), I still have the OEM run flat tires on the front.

Would changing the front tires make a meaningful enough difference in steering response to be worth doing? Or, is the electric steering (practically) impossible to make better?

Jim G

You mean 4c??