bhk1004

All stock mpsc2.

myBailey07

I've aligned so many times, I struggle to remember where I was at -2. That said, I am pretty confident that at -2 and caster still in the 9's with stock wheels/tires, you'll be fine without problems. It's really at -2.5 where you need the caster bushings.

Car handle much better than stock alignment at -2.

bhk1004

Thanks! Car already felt better on my 1 hour drive home. I'll post my before and after when I get home. My geometry was all over the place.

bhk1004

after




before

Left out the offsets but they were a bit off due to the rear and front toe wackiness.

Jgarvish

What a wonderful thread this is! Thanks to myBailey07 for getting this started!

I'm taking my car in to get my Cantrell bar (graciously powdercoated by Forgeline in Translucent Red to match my Forgeline wheels) installed next week and plan to get my alignment checked for the BMW COTA event. Here is my current plan:

Camber: -3 (F) and -2.5 (R)
Caster: hoping ~9 with wheels centered
Toe: Zero (F); Slight In (R)
Ride Height: I haven't adjusted this yet but my plan is to see if I can go back to OEM without messing up the other alignment parameters.
Thanks ShakeNBake! (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...ea0/edit#gid=2)

I have Forgeline 19 in. wheels in Translucent Red; Hoosiers R7 265/35ZR19 (F) and 295/30ZR19 (R); toe links; adjustable thrust arms; camber plates.

I'll post more on the bar once I get it installed and have a chance to check it out at COTA but I would be remiss if I didn't thank Brian from Competition Motorsports, Collin Cantrell, and Steve Schardt from Forgeline for helping me get a great bar in the color I wanted.

If you see me at the COTA event please come up and say hello.

thigos

What are peoples thoughts on running TPMS on track wheels. I use a gauge at the track as it is more accurate. Is there any benefit to running tpms? Will I have a dash light on if I don't? Thoughts?


Ps - your car looks amazing Jgarvish!

myBailey07

I don't find the tpms accurate enough to rely on and rely on manual temp and pressure gauges. Without the tpms you get annoying warnings and lights and that's about the only reason I have them on my track wheels.

Also, I have had two flats on track in other cars and maybe having tpms can help give you a warning if one of your tires start losing pressure on track.

matttheboatman

Now I'm totally confused about suggested toe. Is not the consensus that alignment specs should be a little toe out (1mm) for the front, and same or more (1.50mm) toe in for rear for best track performance?

ShakeNBake

zero or a bit of toe out in the front. Car will be a bit darty, but feel like it wants to turn in faster with a bit of toe out (1mm combined).

Rear, I would run no less than 4mm toe-in combined (2mm each side), for braking stability.

ShakeNBake

When they work, I find it useful to know what the current pressure is when I start to feel the tires behave differently. I've never had a set of TPMS that survived more than a season though.

jphughan

I like having them on track. They're not accurate enough for precision adjustments, but they'll at least tell you if you're significantly under or over your target, and while I haven't encountered this myself, I've heard others that were grateful to have it because they punctured a tire on track and TPMS gave them a much earlier warning than they'd otherwise have had.

jphughan

As was already said, toe-out in front will make the car turn in better bit more darty on the road. It will also wear the tires faster, but considering that with track use these tires go on outside edge wear or heat cycles rather than overall tread wear, that may not be a factor. I have 0 toe in front and 10' per wheel in the rear, both within spec per the manual, and I think it makes sense for my dual-use case. Definitely don't have less toe-in in the rear than the manual specifies unless you know what you're doing though. Someone here had BGB recommend toe-out in front and I think 6' toe-in per wheel in the rear, but that's not typical and I haven't seen any follow-up as to how that setup runs.

jslee225

I agree that having tpms is important regardless if it isn't the most precise for the track. I actually had an experience 2 weeks ago at TWS where my tpms showed that I lost about 12psi in a matter of seconds. I quickly ended my lap and discovered there was a hole caused by a some type sharp point object. I'm glad I found out when I did otherwise I could have done some damage.

Moral of the story, get TPMS!

Jimmy-D

Guys, If I do not track but use my car for weekend spirited drives is there anything I should have adjusted on my car?? Should it be fine just straight out of the box??

Hope not to high jack this thread but a lot has been said about track set-up but any thing needed for the street?

jphughan

I'd get an alignment to factory specs just because so many cars seem to have been delivered out of whack, but I wouldn't feel the need to buy aftermarket parts.