Alignment Shop in NoVA
08-11-2009, 05:10 PM
#1
Melting Slicks
Thread Starter
Alignment Shop in NoVA
Looking to get an aggressive alignment on my z06 for HPDE and some street duty. If i can get 10k miles from tires i'm happy enough with that. Anyone in the area have any suggestions of places to go, specs i should go with? I'd like to not have to worry about my vette going into a shop, i don't want the local NTB touching it.
Much appreciated
-Steve
Much appreciated
-Steve
08-11-2009, 11:06 PM
#3
Drifting
Specs:
Camber:
You want about 2 degrees negative camber in front, and about -1 to -1.25 degrees in back. The front setting is a little less than optimum for the track, but about all that is possible with the stock suspension. The rear camber setting is a compromise between a perfect in-the-curves setting and a perfect accellerating-in-the-straights setting. Both front and rear setups will result in premature tire wear on the streets, but will improve tire wear (and performance) on the track.
Caster:
You should ask for a little more caster than stock, but not a lot more. One by-product of caster is a thing I call dynamic camber increase. You can see this dynamic camber increase when you turn your steering wheel all the way to full lock, then get out of the car and look at your front wheels. You will notice that the outside wheel is tilted in at the top and the inner wheel is tilted out. This is caused by the caster and it improves performance when turning.
When the alignment shop adjusts the camber, the caster will also change, and vice versa. A good alignment shop that also knows about racing will know how to get the best compromise between the camber and caster settings.
Toe:
Set the toe in at both ends fairly close to 0. How close to 0 is debatable, but it definitely should be less than 1/8 inch. (Some will recommend as little as 1/32".) I still don't understand the subtle ways that toe in affects handling. It has more to do with the way the handling feels than with optimizing the tire grip.
Bob
Camber:
You want about 2 degrees negative camber in front, and about -1 to -1.25 degrees in back. The front setting is a little less than optimum for the track, but about all that is possible with the stock suspension. The rear camber setting is a compromise between a perfect in-the-curves setting and a perfect accellerating-in-the-straights setting. Both front and rear setups will result in premature tire wear on the streets, but will improve tire wear (and performance) on the track.
Caster:
You should ask for a little more caster than stock, but not a lot more. One by-product of caster is a thing I call dynamic camber increase. You can see this dynamic camber increase when you turn your steering wheel all the way to full lock, then get out of the car and look at your front wheels. You will notice that the outside wheel is tilted in at the top and the inner wheel is tilted out. This is caused by the caster and it improves performance when turning.
When the alignment shop adjusts the camber, the caster will also change, and vice versa. A good alignment shop that also knows about racing will know how to get the best compromise between the camber and caster settings.
Toe:
Set the toe in at both ends fairly close to 0. How close to 0 is debatable, but it definitely should be less than 1/8 inch. (Some will recommend as little as 1/32".) I still don't understand the subtle ways that toe in affects handling. It has more to do with the way the handling feels than with optimizing the tire grip.
Bob
08-12-2009, 02:07 AM
#4
08-12-2009, 07:46 AM
#5
Pro
Member Since: Apr 2004
Location: Reston VA
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Looking to get an aggressive alignment on my z06 for HPDE and some street duty. If i can get 10k miles from tires i'm happy enough with that. Anyone in the area have any suggestions of places to go, specs i should go with? I'd like to not have to worry about my vette going into a shop, i don't want the local NTB touching it.
Much appreciated
-Steve
Much appreciated
-Steve
Jim
08-12-2009, 08:24 AM
#6
Race Director
Member Since: Aug 2000
Location: Central Florida
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The best alignment tech I've found in the Capitol area at Tony's Corvette Shop in Gaithersburg.
www.tonyscorvetteshop.com
They work only on Corvettes, have the latest equipment and their alignment tech (only have one) is absolutely meticulous in getting it right.
You will need to give him the race spec you want applied.
Ranger
www.tonyscorvetteshop.com
They work only on Corvettes, have the latest equipment and their alignment tech (only have one) is absolutely meticulous in getting it right.
You will need to give him the race spec you want applied.
Ranger
