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View Full Version : Best Alignment for autocross



bdking57
08-10-2005, 04:57 PM
I had my last alignment about 7 months ago at auto innovations... I was running -1.3 front camber -1.0. I decided this wasnt nearly enough camber for me. I took the car over to the local firestone. The ended up letting me in the shop with the tech and I was pretty much telling him exactly how to set it up by watching the specs change with the laser setup. We got the front to -1.9 in the front. The reare is at -1.0 and i had toe adjusted to 0,0. I was pretty happy with this service. The next time i go back.. im going for the lifetime alignment and just plan on abusing the hell out of that program.. especially if they are going to let me watch the screen so i can make sure its perfect. This guy was ready to throw in the towel after a couple minutes of adjustment.. i was riding his ass.. but it performed very nicely at autocross. Am I pretty much maxed out with this setup as far as handling goes? I was thinking of adding camber plates and possible sway bar links because i still seem to be pretty neutral at marina airport.. even with the sway bar set on full stiff w a strut tower bar.

hellz Evo
08-10-2005, 05:08 PM
We have a set up 2500 installed, I will give you the numbers if you bought the set up. Also guaranteed improvement in time with same driver and course.

Sam

vtluu
08-10-2005, 05:22 PM
That's just Marina. The car--any car--will have a preponderance to understeer if you overcook a turn or are not smooth on your inputs.

If you want tail-out action, autocross at Golden Gate Fields--heck that's where they hold drift events. My favourite site is still Candlestick Hills... uh I mean Candlestick Park... uh I mean Monster Park... whatever. ;)

zyounker
08-10-2005, 05:48 PM
Get a set of camber plates.. Zero out your front alignment and use your camber plates from then on to set your front camber. then mark to settings on your plates you want to run.


This makes for an easy switch from street setup to track.


Thats what i did with mine.

vtluu
08-10-2005, 06:12 PM
Get a set of camber plates.. Zero out your front alignment and use your camber plates from then on to set your front camber. then mark to settings on your plates you want to run.

This makes for an easy switch from street setup to track.

Thats what i did with mine.
However, you will change the toe when changing the camber. Specifically increasing negative camber will increase toe-in--something you definitely don't want. This leaves you with something of a problem because you'd generally want to run straight-ish toe and more negative camber at the track/auto-x, and less negative camber on the street. But decreasing negative camber will create toe-out, something you don't want on the street for a couple reasons: nervous handling and heavy inside tread wear.

You can (and some do) get around this by getting toe measurement plates so you can adjust your toe every time you adjust your camber, but as you can well imagine it's something of a hassle.

evo_dadi
08-10-2005, 08:29 PM
hey brian the lifetime alignment only works for stock suspension.once you have the camber plates on theyre not gonna honor it anymore,springs are ok tho.

MitsuMan
08-10-2005, 11:39 PM
yea that depends on the shop policy and lifetime in every so many month or miles you get it checkd up they don't honor it if you have suspension works done else where thats how they keep you s=comin back for more at least thats what we do and you can set toe with a tape measure if you want but I wouldn't rely on it I wouldn't keep adjusting back and forth

zyounker
08-11-2005, 09:56 AM
Get a set of camber plates.. Zero out your front alignment and use your camber plates from then on to set your front camber. then mark to settings on your plates you want to run.

This makes for an easy switch from street setup to track.

Thats what i did with mine.
However, you will change the toe when changing the camber. Specifically increasing negative camber will increase toe-in--something you definitely don't want. This leaves you with something of a problem because you'd generally want to run straight-ish toe and more negative camber at the track/auto-x, and less negative camber on the street. But decreasing negative camber will create toe-out, something you don't want on the street for a couple reasons: nervous handling and heavy inside tread wear.

You can (and some do) get around this by getting toe measurement plates so you can adjust your toe every time you adjust your camber, but as you can well imagine it's something of a hassle.




I still think this is a better situation.. But you are right.. I didn't think about what it would do to my toe...


Guess i will have to get a toe guage as well. (Already have a digital camber guage)


Toe is adjusted on the tie-rod ends correct? At least that should be easier then trying to set the camber on the stock suspension.

vtluu
08-11-2005, 10:51 AM
Yeah, you adjust toe using the nuts on the tie rods; if you're very meticulous about it you can simply keep track of how many turns you turn the adjustment nuts for each camber setting... If it was me, I'd lose track and my alignment would be jacked. :lol:

RSpilot
08-14-2005, 10:43 PM
first off try running some toe out (.15-.30 total) in the rear. This will help to get the rear rotated on turn-in. If you're going with camber plates, why not just put some springs in there while you're at it and cure your balance issue. For autocross stick with a higher rear spring rate than the front.

bdking57
08-15-2005, 04:03 PM
marcel.. good call on the camber plates vs life time alignment. Im going to ask the guys at the salinas firestone if they will have an issue or not. I already have hotchks springs.

Im also debating on moving up to coilovers in the future.. or just buying other peoples low mileage used struts and swaping the springs over. Not sure if it would be pricier to do it that way or not. How often will I need to have coilovers rebuilt?...I definately have been noticing my car with the hotchks springs is a little bouncy at times at autox.