I stopped into Vette Brakes and Products today to grab some parts and I picked up their catalog... in it they have some alignment specs for various types of driving.. Daily driver, advance street, autocross, etc... after I lower my car, should I have the place do a slightly more aggressive alignment on it? Anyone with any experience on this that can weigh in?

Thanks,

Jim

 

ttt ^

 

Nobody can say if you should do this. Every driver, car, tire set and suspension is different. The more advenced settings might work for you and/or with your car or they might not.

If you drive the car or the road on daily basis and never autocross/run road tracks, just use the sdt alignment.

If however you do need (or want) better turn in capability then you can use more advanced settings, like the ones in the VB catalogue.

There is negative effects in using advanced street, semirace or true race settings though: there can be more tire wear and there WILL more darty behaviour on uneven road conditions.

So, it is matter of taste and testing...you can use the more advanced settings on the street if you wish and can cope with the negative effects. I am but my suspension is not stock. The more advanced settings work fine for me, cannot say if they work for you. Remember that all components in your suspension have effect in this - not just the aligment specs. The end result is a sum of the whole.

My opinion though: use std settings if the only susp. mod is lowering.

Greets,

ToniH

 

I can agree with Tony on that. It all depends on how you drive the car, and what kind of "feel" you like.

I like a little extra feedback on my car. Also, since I do autocross and road race it, the "on-center" feel of the steering was important. All the adjustments can really change how a car responds. I've had the caster (castor?) set as far as they could get it. The result is if you are turning and release the wheel, the steering snaps back to center very quickly.

Setting the camber at - 3/4 front & rear will give you better cornering capabilities, but will not seriously effect the wear on the tires. Even racing like I do, I've had the tire compound go hard before I've worn them to the point of replacement.

Toe is really where it gets interesting. Factory settings are slightly toe-in and it reduces the tendancy for the car to wander in the ruts. I set mine for 0 deg. toe front & rear, and it does wander a little, but in combination with the castor give me great turn-in. Many who strictly race-only set the car for slight toe-out, which really makes it darty, but turns very quickly.

You'll have to try out some different settings to see what you like. I'd recommend setting the car at about +6 deg castor, -3/4 deg. camber and factory toe-in settings and see how it feels. It takes a little more effort to turn the wheel, but you can release it and the steering snaps back to center. The camber setting will give you a more square contact patch in the corner and the factory toe settings will keep it from wandering on the street.

Use it as a base setting and change something a little bit next time until you get what you like.

 

Thanks guys.. I think i'll have the shop do a little more then stock specs.. I can always go back if I don't like it.

Jim

 

You need to run some toe IN on the rear to really make the car settled, comfortable and fast. Try 3/32" to in, PER SIDE. Make sure your alignment shop understands you want it set in inches, not .0937 degrees in per side. Most of the guys running alignment racks only understand making arrows align on their computer screens, not what it really does to the car.