jzr

The "best" suspension settings (camber, caster, toe, and in my case, ride height) vary by application - street, autocrossing, racetrack. On the street minimal negative camber to increase tire life; negative camber and lowered ride height for the track; maxed out negative camber and factory ride height for stock-class autocrossing.

Is it possible to bring a car in, give it a "street" alignment, marking (with touch-up paint maybe?) the orientation of the eccentric bolts that dictate alignment, then do the "autocross" alignment, re-mark the bolt orientations (maybe in a different color), and finally lower the car to "racetrack" ride height, realign, and make a third mark?

The objective would be to have the ability to adjust the suspension to known values that are optimized for whatever task is at hand.

Anybody do this, tried this, have thoughts on if it's possible or not? Thanks for the insight!

RandyP

No. There is too much slop in the bolt cams to get a good algnment without measuring tools. Front toe is easily adjustible at the track, though.

jzr

Arrgh, I believe you Randy, but that wasn't the answer I was hoping for. Any suspension doctors willing to offer a second opinion? Any other magical "re-align at the track" solutions that I'm not aware of?

Thanks!
[QUOTE]Originally posted by RandyP
[B]No.

FULLTHROTTLE

Suspension movement and rubber deflection move too much to ensure a correct alignment by just marks.
You can align a car, drive it around the block and your readings will be slightly different. If you move the bolts and
adjusters and move them back to the same spot your alignment will be off but theres no way of knowing if its in spec or where you want it. The only way to use this method is to install solid bushings and race style "click" adjustment rods. Not feesable or practical for street use.

sfphinkterMC

So is the only downside of aggressive negative camber alighnment premature tire wear?? if i want max track performance and i use the car on the street pretty much only for bonzai canyon runs, i can leave my alighnment maxed neg camber if i'm willing to ante up for more frequent new tires? Right now i have a moderately aggressive alighnment and it feels good with street and DOT R tires. I'm going to Laguna Seca for
the 1/14 event.....should i just leave alighnment alone or max it out....what do u think?
also, can u recommend some maxed alighnment specs for Laguna Seca.

thanks, i love u

jzr

You'll get increased tire wear and reduced traction for straight-line acceleration and braking. The former was very noticable last time at the dragstip with my maxed-out alignment. In return the car puts the power down better through and out of corners. In stock form on Kumhos the tires' outer edge still gets hotter than the inside, but only on the side doing the most cornering (left hand tires for courses with lots of right turns). This may change once the sway bar and shocks are dialed in, but in current form max camber still isn't enough.

My front S-02s have about 100 track miles, 50 autocross miles, and 28+ thousand street miles on them, and they're only now due to be replaced. For the last 7k or so I've been running on the maxed alignment and it shows with a band of heavy wear about an inch in from the inside of each front tire (the rears don't seem to care). The 4600 mile jaunt last week from San Diego to South Carolina and back didn't help - cornering wears negatively cambered tires more evenly.

It's your decision to make. IMHO it's only worth it if you're concerned about shaving those last couple tenths seconds off your lap time. Leave it alone.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by sfphinkterMC
[B]So is the only downside of aggressive negative camber alighnment premature tire wear??

FULLTHROTTLE

How "maxed" is your camber? I set mine to -2 degrees in the rear and -1.5 in the front, It does wear the rubber faster than Id like but it does settle the car quite nicley in a twistie road situation. It took care of that pesky snap oversteer problem too.

jzr

It was at -2 5/8 rear and -1 7/8 front until today when I got my shocks put in. Realigned to -2 3/8 rear and -1 1/2 front. It's always a compromise between straight line and cornering traction, and all this does is move it back one click towards straight-line. I may end up going back...
[QUOTE]Originally posted by FULLTHROTTLE
[B]How "maxed" is your camber?

FULLTHROTTLE

IMO more than -2 actually hurts yo more than it helps. My car sticks to the track very well and does a fine job on the street also. i have never experienced problems in straight line accel or braking either.