Unless tire and wheel combo is a different width than your old set up.


I think knowing what you want is a little difficult when many people do not fully get the concept of how specs work together. I agree the vehicle has way too much toe. Even the UK alignment uses .40 toe with -2.0 camber in the rear. .10 less than perfect center spec on the AP1 US. Finding someone to align an S correctly is a challenge as well, much less to do it competently.


Side note, gorgeous FD3

 

It doesn't matter what the tire size or wheel offset is, alignment settings are not altered. That said, you might want different alignment settings on 4x 255/40-17 than on 205/55-16 front w/ 225/50-16 rears.

The UK spec I've seen is actually much MUCH worse, not 0.40 degrees, but 40 minutes (40') or 0.67 degrees "recommended" total. AWFUL!

Yeah, you gotta look around. I've worked with my shop to get the S and the Z set up, they've got a guy who's really good, has a good mechanical understanding of how the adjustments work.


Thanks! I just got it, bought it from a friend of mine who did the LS2 swap and other accompanying mods

 

I don't know too much about specs of the alignment. I want an alignment that will be good on the tires. It's my dd and nothing else. I understand what zdan is saying and it makes me a little worried about going to get an generic alignment. My old tire and wheel setup were ap1 stock wheels and stock size tires. I got an alignment about a year ago. And now my new rims are 17x8 45 and 17x9 40 with 225/45 and 255/40. I have no clue what to ask for in the alignment besides for the generic alignment. I'm afraid it might do more harm than good now.

 

If your car is stock height then you can rock the same conservative alignment I did for over a year. I'll post pics of my tires when it stops raining.

Front -0.5 camber, toe 0.00, caster 6.0
Rear -1.2, toe 0.10

My car was lowered slightly, but if you're really low it will be an issue running so little camber. However, TOE is the tire killer if you're above -3.0 (roughly) camber. Running 0 rear toe is not the best but try to get it around 0.05 to 0.10 for a long tire life.

 

there are two factors to consider

Actual Change - All brands are not the same size even when they say they are, some can be over 1/2 inch different or more same sizes different brands.

Tire spec - Many sport tires recommend higher camber settings and have a shoulder tread designed for that, you'll want to take advantage of it if that is the case.

Otherwise for about 75 bucks it's cheap insurances and money well spent.

Also there may be changes to the handling as a result like additional tracking over separation lines ect that can be addressed with alignment changes.

 

That's good! Too many people pony up good $$$ for what usually amounts to next to nothing in terms of work on the car, and by NO means ensures you're getting a decent alignment.

importkid's recommendations look good for tire life. Like he suggests, it is TOE that is the killer. Anything over about 0.4 degrees total and you will pay a penalty in tire life. Contrariwise, 1.5 degrees of camber is nothing.

For decent tire life and some decent lateral grip I think anything in this ballpark would do you fine:
front toe: zero
front camber: -.5 to -1 degrees
caster: Personally, I wouldn't worry about this too much. Some people insist on max caster (heavier steering), but I actually prefer minimal caster (lighter steering, but IMO better *feel*).

Rear toe: 0.1 to 0.3 degrees total (0.05 to 0.15 degrees per side) Too much of this is the #1 reason for ill-handling S2000's that wear out rear tires in no time! I like ~0.1 to 0.2 total, anything over 0.4 degrees total is IMO excessive.
rear camber: -1 to -1.5 degrees.

 

Tire size DOES NOT AFFECT ALIGNMENT. Unless you measure toe in inches/mm instead of degrees, but it is *degrees* that are more important anyway.

Not that it matters, but even 1/2" difference in diameter (and you'll never find that much difference between tires of the same nominal size and amount of wear), amounts to only a couple/few thousandths of an inch of linear toe change, *WAY* less than the smallest measurement resolution (1/32" is 31 thousandths), and, *again*, zero change in angular toe.

Once more: Tire size does not affect alignment!

*Any* tire will generate more lateral grip with more camber, and most good stiff-sidewalled sport tires don't require more. If tire life is the driving concern, no reason to run more than ~1.5 degrees negative camber.

You're not ensured to get a good alignment if you just plop down your cash for a generic "all green" alignment. The spec ranges are quite generous, and at least for the AP1, the max rear toe spec is way too much.

 

everything has been very helpful. I am lowered on tein springs if that changes anything. thanks for all the helpful info

 

THe being lowered only affects this if you put them on after your last alignment... gotta get an alignment after lowering.

I agree with ZDan for the most part, only differences are personal preferences on exact specs.

 

Tein springs are some of the lower springs available. You might be able to get -2.0 (roughtly) in the rear with no problems. Are your fenders rolled? This will give you ability to run more camber (it's a negative number so more looks like less -1.5 vs -2.0)

In the end, an alignment would be a great idea just as a precaution.





More information that me and a friend discussed last night. No matter what size wheel you put on your car you are not changing the alignment settings or hub plane. if it is like so \ and you raise the car on 20s (without changing anything else) the hub in theory will still be exactly \. However, this is not the case because the car is a unit. I have a friend who works as the front end guy at a local shop and he always told people putting big wheels on their car they needed an alignment. One day he got a car on the alignment rack and measured it, and then he put new rims on it (bigger) and remeasured. Remember, the plane of the hub has not changed. Upon the measurement he found toe was severely out and camber was slightly off from previous measurements.

So, while in theory the alignment is not effected. In the real world it is.


Offset will not change the alignment in any case. Caster does not wear tires (it's actually a brake and suspension ASE question) and it needs to be even for the most part. Caster will make the car pull to the side with the lowest. 6.0 is factory so I just rock with that, but you can experiment since it really doesn't hurt anything if you don't track the car. Some shops recommend running less caster on the left side to account for road crown but I personally find this useless.