Alignment Specs for DD/AutoX
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From: Tempe, Arizona
Alignment Specs for DD/AutoX Going to get my car aligned this saturday.
The car is lowered 1.2" and I'm looking for a good set of specs for a daily driven car that will hopefully see some AutoX.
From research I'm looking at doing:
Camber: -.75
Caster: +5.0
Toe: +1/16 (toe in)
How does this sound? Please Comment
Thanks
Edit: Im running 245's in the front and 285's in the rear, Sumitomo HTR-ZIII. Cheap tires so dont mind a little extra wear.
The car is lowered 1.2" and I'm looking for a good set of specs for a daily driven car that will hopefully see some AutoX.
From research I'm looking at doing:
Camber: -.75
Caster: +5.0
Toe: +1/16 (toe in)
How does this sound? Please Comment
Thanks
Edit: Im running 245's in the front and 285's in the rear, Sumitomo HTR-ZIII. Cheap tires so dont mind a little extra wear.
Last edited by LS1TORQ; Aug 13, 2009 at 02:25 PM.
IMO, leave toe at 0, Toe out will make the steering sensitive and it will trail over uneven streets alot more. You can probably only get max -0.9 camber (if lucky), and even then thats not enough so just max it out. - camber is the best handling advantage anyway. at -0.9 It wont eat up your tires, you would have to be over -2 to really cause uneven inside wear.
caster looks fine if you can even get there...some cars are caster challenged.
good luck.
caster looks fine if you can even get there...some cars are caster challenged.
good luck.
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 381
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From: Oshawa (Home of the 5th-gen)
I drove around for nearly a year with -2.5° camber, +4.5° caster, and maybe ~1/16" toe-in. My front tires are looking worn, but I'm sure that's because of actually running them repeatedly on the track, NOT from driving around on the street!! 
I found that the car was quite prone to pulling and darting in ruts on the road (ie: on the main freeway from all the truck traffic) but it HANDLED incredibly well on-track, and I also ran 1 auto-x event like that 
(took 3rd FTD, at my first event ever!)
I found that the car was quite prone to pulling and darting in ruts on the road (ie: on the main freeway from all the truck traffic) but it HANDLED incredibly well on-track, and I also ran 1 auto-x event like that (took 3rd FTD, at my first event ever!) My alignment specs are as follows:
Camber: -1 L/R
Caster: +4.5 L/R
Toe: +1/32" (IN)
I do not auto-x, but I was doing a lot of hard canyon runs and some track days and worked out great..for better tire wear, probably take the camber down to ~ -.75 and maybe make toe +1/16" (IN)...I am assuming the auto-x courses are predominantly short/tite.
Ideally you would keep changing your alignment with each event and how the setup differs time to time. You want toe out (-) when a track/course has long/fast/sweeping corners. For shorter corners/tracks that have tighter corners you want to go with toe IN (+). Maybe even leave it as +1/32" like mine and go from there after you get the feel for how the car handles/behaves on that alignment..if anything just drop your front tires a pound on both sides and it's a decent temporary fix
I'm sure Sam can/will chime in soon
EDIT: I am running 275/40-17 Nitto NT-01s and carbotech pads on Strano springs, strano f/r sways, Koni 4/4, and some chromoly d/a rod ended LCAs...
Camber: -1 L/R
Caster: +4.5 L/R
Toe: +1/32" (IN)
I do not auto-x, but I was doing a lot of hard canyon runs and some track days and worked out great..for better tire wear, probably take the camber down to ~ -.75 and maybe make toe +1/16" (IN)...I am assuming the auto-x courses are predominantly short/tite.
Ideally you would keep changing your alignment with each event and how the setup differs time to time. You want toe out (-) when a track/course has long/fast/sweeping corners. For shorter corners/tracks that have tighter corners you want to go with toe IN (+). Maybe even leave it as +1/32" like mine and go from there after you get the feel for how the car handles/behaves on that alignment..if anything just drop your front tires a pound on both sides and it's a decent temporary fix
I'm sure Sam can/will chime in soon
EDIT: I am running 275/40-17 Nitto NT-01s and carbotech pads on Strano springs, strano f/r sways, Koni 4/4, and some chromoly d/a rod ended LCAs...
I drove around for nearly a year with -2.5° camber, +4.5° caster, and maybe ~1/16" toe-in. My front tires are looking worn, but I'm sure that's because of actually running them repeatedly on the track, NOT from driving around on the street!! I found that the car was quite prone to pulling and darting in ruts on the road (ie: on the main freeway from all the truck traffic) but it HANDLED incredibly well on-track, and I also ran 1 auto-x event like that (took 3rd FTD, at my first event ever!)
I found that the car was quite prone to pulling and darting in ruts on the road (ie: on the main freeway from all the truck traffic) but it HANDLED incredibly well on-track, and I also ran 1 auto-x event like that (took 3rd FTD, at my first event ever!)
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From: Tempe, Arizona
1. So camber should probably be between .75 and 1 degree depending on how fast I want the tire to wear.
2. 1/16th toe-in will help steering be more quick and tight, correct?
3. The more caster the better, right? max factory a-arms can go is 4.5? or 5.0?
2. 1/16th toe-in will help steering be more quick and tight, correct?
3. The more caster the better, right? max factory a-arms can go is 4.5? or 5.0?
1) & 2) = correct...and everyones preferance is different but toe is something you may find you want to adjust out some if she's real *** end happy. (for what you are doing, you do not want toe-out)
3) again preference...but I think max is like 5 or 5.5
3) again preference...but I think max is like 5 or 5.5
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The more negative camber, the more front end grip you have in corners... Up to about -2. The trade off is increases tire wear on the street, more tramlining, care doesn't stop quite as well (less contact patch).
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www.stranoparts.com --814-849-3450
Results matter. Talk is cheap. We are miles beyond the success anyone else has had with the 4th gens, and C5, C6, C7 Corvettes,
10 SCCA Solo National Championships, 2008 Driver of they Year, 2012 Driver of Eminence
13 SCCA Pro Solo Nationals Championships
2023 UMI King of the Mountain Champion
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 381
Likes: 15
From: Oshawa (Home of the 5th-gen)
I'm not 100% sure about that. I've actually heard that toe-out helps with turn-in?? I thought toe-in was more ideal for street & high-speed (helps with keeping the wheel centered and less prone to wander).
Thread Starter
TECH Apprentice
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From: Tempe, Arizona
Toe in will reduces turn-in response yet increases straightline stability.
Toe out can help cure wandering associated with negative camber adjustments.
Toe in can help cure wandering associated with positive camber.
from a factory standpoint, what adjustments would you make for a DD to have better handling and even tire wear at the same time? Or is there such a thing?
Zero camber, 5 degrees positive caster on the drivers side, 5.5 degrees positive caster on the passengers side, and 1/32-1/16 toe in.
I used to run an oval track car, and we ran about 1/8" toe-out, IIRC, but I'd never run toe out on a street car.
