maxcayenne

I just had four new tires installed (conti DWS06) on my 2008 Cayenne Turbo. 21" wheels. The installer also did the alignment.

I love the tires but due to changed alignment it doesn't drive as sure footed as it was before.

Can someone please please post a good alignment spec that will be a good combination of good tire wear but also a bit more sure footed feel.

Once again, its 21" wheels, 295/35/21 size tires.

Many thanks in advance folks.

Petza914

If you post the printout from the alignment shop and describe the lack of sure footedness (wandering when going straight, imprecise initial turn in, etc), we may be able to recommend which settings could use a tweak.

Rossi

Who is doing your alignment ? I took my GTS to a local shop, I don't thing they were able to do much of adjusting, my rear is little off. I am puzzled, I guess it is different with the air suspension. I would hate to take to the stealership.

maxcayenne

It was a local shop and they didn't provide the alignment numbers. So I am going to take it to a reputable Porsche specialist. I was wondering if someone can post their specs that they are happy with one could use it as a baseline. Can someone chip in ?

nodoors

I know it is a bit late to say this, but I never let someone adjust an alignment without providing the numbers pre and post alignment.

Also, you may want to wait a bit. Most tires need about 500 miles on them before they are fully worn in. I can't tell you how many wrecks I have seen over the years on the boards from people in high powered RWD cars crashing them the same day they got new tires installed.

Petza914

+1

Happened to my college roommate in his BMW - wanted to test the grip of his new tires on an off ramp and hit the concrete divider wall. The mold release compound needs to be worn through/off before the tires will have the correct and predictable grip. I don't think that will greatly effect alignment though, will it?

maxcayenne

You are right, I should have asked for alignment print out - My bad. I guess i was too excited and didn't ask for it. I should have asked. You are also right about the compound. I know the compound needs to wear out but (i) I already have about 500 miles and (ii) its not the grip issue rather purely alignment issue. Sometimes the vehicles pulls slightly towards right and sometimes towards left. I suspect/speculate that there might be a bit of a toe-out causing this.

In any case, all I need is someone to post their alignment specs that they're happy with so it can be used as a decent baseline to start with. On some other car forums there are we established alignment specs posted that work very well for many people. Wondering if something like that exists on this forum for the Cayennes.

maxcayenne

I don't think so, should not affect alignment.

My issue is not grip, it's alignment.

nodoors

I am out of town and won't be able to dig mine up for a few weeks. Breaking in the tires after a few hundred miles will not affect the alignment, but it will affect how the handling feels. Until the new tread is fully scrubbed in it is not going feel 100% - especially on the DWS06 which has a deeper tread depth than most tire options for a cayenne. Deeper tread depth is good for things like tire life and inclement weather, but produces more squirm when new.

Also, seeing as you have a 9+ year old CTT... if it still has the original control arm bushings, there isn't much point in trying to get a precise alignment until you replace at least the front LCA bushings. You are wasting your time and money otherwise.

nodoors

Ah, I just saw that you have 500 miles on them already... I think others have posted their alignment specs in the past, but I still stand by what I said about the bushings. If you have not replaced them yet, do that first and then get the alignment.

maxcayenne

nodoors, thank you for comments and I appreciate your help. I am convinced that my issue is nothing to do with new tires OR worn out bushings. It is purely due to the fact that the installer changed the alignment and that's why it pulls slightly to left and sometimes to right. If the bushings were worn out my CTT I should have had issues even with my old tires before I installed the new tires. With my old tires, even though they were worn out, the vehicle felt planted and ran straight. It is definitely alignment issue. Once again thanks for help.

Petza914

You are probably right, but just recently I had an issue with my 928 where the front suspension was so loose and so far toed out that the car was very stable (even did some laps at Road Atlanta close to triple digits), but wore the inside of both front tires down to the threads when the outsides looked fine. Had new tires installed and an alignment done to spec and the car was then dangerously undriveable. The excessive negative toe setting had the loose suspension always under stress with the tires pointing out so it was stable, but once toe was set close to 0, the looseness would make the front wheels change from out to in under load and it would steer immediately left or right - like a "crazy Ivan" from the Red October movie. Anyway, once the upper and lower control arm mounts in the front suspension were properly torqued, and it was realigned, it was perfect, even better than before, so just don't rule out something being worn (or loose). If they aligned it close to within normal Cayenne specs and it's still not driving correctly, you may have something else going on.