Chain tensioner question
10-01-2018, 09:48 PM
#16
Race Car
Thread Starter
My garage floor is dead level. So I'm good there. But years ago when we used to do this with the race cars when i was a kid, we had a stack of aluminum plates of different thicknesses and an aluminum I beam that was dead straight and we would stack the plates where the tires would sit and level the floor prior to setting up. But this is way back in the showroom stock days with 924s and 944s...
Either way...it's a street car. It drives straight and isn't dog legged...so I'm good to go.
One thing i have to say...is that i had originally set the car up with very minimal settings - because it's a street car and i have a very stiff suspension "for a street car" with heavy sway bars. And i drive around on what are essentially "cold" street compound rubber...so not much grip in relative terms to race compound tires...this car doesn't lean...
So i went with minimal toe settings and very little negative camber - like minus .5 degree or maybe even less...can't remember exactly. And for the most part, in normal street driving it felt great. And handled well. Or at least i had it well balanced.
I moved the camber to 1.4 degrees and added a little toe...so i can say this...the front now under real load - with a little heat in the tires, has ALOT more grip, it's a little unbalanced relative to the rear, so he car points a bit better, which i prefer, but basic driving around town type driving, not really a fan of the camber. So i May dial that back a bit. The car would feel more solid at slower speeds.
When you set up a car for street or "street performance", you have to keep in mind you aren't necessarily going for max grip like you do on a track, you are going for a feel, and that feel is relative balance front to rear, and feedback through the wheel, etc...you aren't ever going anywhere near max adhesion, so max adhesion doesn't matter, it's all about how controllable and how "right" the car feels -to you- at the speeds you tend to drive - on "those" roads.
Nice thing about doing your own alignment, is that you don't have to listen to the idiot in the tuner shop that wants to give you 3 degrees of negative camber on a street car, or the reasonable guy at the shop that tells you to stick with stock settings or to go a little more aggressive and "do an RS alignment"...you get to dial it in to feel right to you, your driving style, and how you like it to feel....
"Car feel"- is totally 100% subjective. So my suggestion to anyone that has the opportunity, is to play with all kinds of different settings and see how changing things just a little transform it from one type of car to another.
And if you don't - talk to someone that can explain what different settings do, that can understand how you drive and your level of experience as a driver, and that can make the right suggestions to get the car set up in a way that will work for you. And if at all possible, someone who understands the difference between setting up a C4 vs a C2....cuz they are completely different.
Either way...it's a street car. It drives straight and isn't dog legged...so I'm good to go.
One thing i have to say...is that i had originally set the car up with very minimal settings - because it's a street car and i have a very stiff suspension "for a street car" with heavy sway bars. And i drive around on what are essentially "cold" street compound rubber...so not much grip in relative terms to race compound tires...this car doesn't lean...
So i went with minimal toe settings and very little negative camber - like minus .5 degree or maybe even less...can't remember exactly. And for the most part, in normal street driving it felt great. And handled well. Or at least i had it well balanced.
I moved the camber to 1.4 degrees and added a little toe...so i can say this...the front now under real load - with a little heat in the tires, has ALOT more grip, it's a little unbalanced relative to the rear, so he car points a bit better, which i prefer, but basic driving around town type driving, not really a fan of the camber. So i May dial that back a bit. The car would feel more solid at slower speeds.
When you set up a car for street or "street performance", you have to keep in mind you aren't necessarily going for max grip like you do on a track, you are going for a feel, and that feel is relative balance front to rear, and feedback through the wheel, etc...you aren't ever going anywhere near max adhesion, so max adhesion doesn't matter, it's all about how controllable and how "right" the car feels -to you- at the speeds you tend to drive - on "those" roads.
Nice thing about doing your own alignment, is that you don't have to listen to the idiot in the tuner shop that wants to give you 3 degrees of negative camber on a street car, or the reasonable guy at the shop that tells you to stick with stock settings or to go a little more aggressive and "do an RS alignment"...you get to dial it in to feel right to you, your driving style, and how you like it to feel....
"Car feel"- is totally 100% subjective. So my suggestion to anyone that has the opportunity, is to play with all kinds of different settings and see how changing things just a little transform it from one type of car to another.
And if you don't - talk to someone that can explain what different settings do, that can understand how you drive and your level of experience as a driver, and that can make the right suggestions to get the car set up in a way that will work for you. And if at all possible, someone who understands the difference between setting up a C4 vs a C2....cuz they are completely different.
