tgilgan

Hi all,

I am getting my lower control arm replaced next week cuz it is squeaking like crazy.. anyway they will be performing an alignment afterwards and I was wondering if I should get them to perform an aggressive (however aggressive the stock setup can get) alignment as I am off to the track the following week. I have had the car for 2 years and have done 6 DE's. I am no pro driver for sure.

I saw a thread or two on alignment, but I am more interested in the setup for a casual DE driver vs. someone trying to be competitive. Should I max it out or leave it stock.

What are the recommended setting to tell my guy?

thanks!
Tom

semicycler

Use the GT3 specs as your targets. But due to limitations in front camber adjustment it will come up short. Also rear toe as low as possible to reduce tire wear. It's a great setup for a daily driver with occasional track usage.

Front:
Max camber with stock components, should land around -1.1 or so. -1.5 is GT3.
Toe in the middle to lower side of spec
Caster is not adjustable so as long as it's in spec you are fine. If it's not in spec then back off camber until caster comes back into spec.

Rear
Camber around -1.5 or so. Should be able to get here with stock components.
Toe on the very low side of spec, almost zero. This reduces rear tire wear.

tgilgan

Thanks!

Tomorrow is the big day for the alignment, I'll let you know how they did, and how it works on the track!

T

bhvrdr

Meursault88

What about an alignment that's more for everyday driving, zero track, just straight line accelerations and tire longevity? I don't think there are any conflicts between those goals.

bhvrdr

for best tire life you could set the rear toe to match the front at around .02 ....BUT you will give up a bit of straight line stability and can get more oversteer. Thats ok for mild street driving but less safe for canyon runs or lap days. Id still go with a bit more toe in the rear. You're going to burn them up fast anyways

Meursault88

I don't want to give up straight line stability especially at high speeds.

bhvrdr

use those specs i posted then. Itll keep the rear end from going wild on you but still give nice turn-in and reasonable wear

tgilgan

ok,

got the car back yesterday - with the same type of sheet as above - they did a pretty good job getting it "as close as they could" to your suggestion. I definitely notice a difference driving it - the car turns in much quicker, although there seems to be a bigger "dead space" in the wheel before it turns in. I won't have it on the track for a few weeks, but I might repost with my experience.

thanks for the advice!

T

tgilgan

Car was at the track Monday - alignment makes the car much more sensitive, and a bit kooky down the back straight..a bit of a handful as the track is pretty bumpy. There rest of it was perfect though. i lost the back end once in a dog leg as I was over driving it, but I (and mostly the traction control) got it back in a straight line very quickly and there was little drama. All in all a success and I appreciate the advice from you guys!

thanks!
T

quickxotica

I think it's great you followed up here with a post on your impressions after the alignment. That will be helpful for others. People often underestimate the impact alignment makes. It is often the biggest bang-for-buck change you can make to a car's handling.

For comparison's sake, I just got new tires and a 4 wheel alignment on my 997.2 C2S, which has stock SPASM suspension w/ 5mm spacers. My current alignment preferences may be more aggressive than you'd like, but for me this is a pretty good setup on a stock car. I have significant track experience, so YMMV, but these aren't too far off what was suggested above.

tgilgan

Nice.

I will say there is one better bang for buck "mod" that I have found at the track in July... clean your air filters! I have fabspeed intake with 2 cones... I hadn't cleaned them in 2 years and I don't think the previous guy did either.. opened up 4000-7000 rpm like crazy and cost me 30 bucks for the cleaning kit!

but yes, the alignment was awesome because it changed the car so much for 100 bucks.. no more plowing through corners.

cheers!

T