Finally took it in today to a local shop about 10 min from the house. I was very pleased with them. I told them the specs I wanted. A happy medium between the base C5 and the Z06. They let me hang in the shop while the guy did it. He spent over 2 hours dialing it in to the specs I wanted, checking and rechecking it until it was right. Now it steers a little easier then it did before, handles great and tracks straight as an arrow. Very very pleased. Here's the before and after specs with me sitting in the drivers seat;

Before - Front
Camber .2* .0*
Caster 6.6* 6.6*
Toe .57* -.62*
Cross Camber .1*
Cross Caster .0*
Total Toe -.05*
Before – Rear
Camber .1* .4*
Toe .53* .74*
Total Toe 1.27*
Thrust Angle -.10*


After – Front
Camber -.5* -.5*
Caster 5.5* 5.9*
Toe -.04* -.05*
Cross Camber -.0*
Cross Caster -.4*
Total Toe -.09*

After – Rear
Camber -.4* -.4*
Toe -.01* -.04*
Total Toe -.05*
Trust Angle .02*

 

Well there is... just not any one answer to get you there.

If you drive aggressively a stock alignment will understeer and tend to wear outside edges. Put too aggressive of an alignment in and you will wear insides because you don't push hard enough to stand the tire up in corners and wear it evenly.

There is bone stock. There is full 'race' kind of stuff and anywhere in between. A Z06 is a more performance oriented car than a base one, different use, different tires, etc and specs reflect that. But it's still a street car so it's specs aren't too bad to do what you seem to want. For me and my driving it's still not enough.

Also depends on what tires you run. The softer they are and the less aggressive you drive the more wear you will see on the inside just cruising around.

Be honest with yourself (and us) and think about how you drive the car, really. What tires, and how many miles a year. Where? If you put 20k mostly highway miles on, and live somewhere like Kansas where things are straight and flat, etc. then that would change what I'd run vs. where I live and how I use my car.

I know it's not *an answer* because one doesn't exist for 100% certain. We can try something thought out, and keep an eye on it and adjust it accordingly. Yes, it might take a tweak and you should NOT be upset at the alignment shop if it doesn't work perfect the first time... if you of that mind. Take it and get a bone stock, 100% as per spec from GM for your suspension alignment, period.

BTW, I posted this more for others with the same kind of questions. I see you had yours already done.

 

Glad it all worked out for you

 

so now you have toe in in front and in the back?

 

According to the results he has toe out in both. Not what I would do but he's happy.

 

I use a street/track setup even though I only drive on the street (will eventually do some track days) and it gives much better feel up front with better turn-in. I love it. And my tires last great. (toe kills tires, not camber)

Caster 7.5 degrees on both sides (C6 can take a bit more, C5 will smoke the PS pump and rack with 8 degrees or more)
Front Camber -1.3 to -1.6 on each side
Rear camber 0.2 degree less negative camber than the front (ie. if the front is -1.5 then set the rears at -1.3 degrees
Toe: in 0.05 degrees for each side front and rear

I run -1.3 Front, -1.1 Rear, Caster at 7.6, almost zero toe front & rear.

My '95 M3 runs a tun more camber, but it has less tire also. I've put over 130K on its setup.....

 

It's toe IN, not out.

 

yes

 

With the dash in front of the number that tells me negative. Just like having the dash in front of your camber numbers. Unless those numbers are to be construed as positive as well. Then your caster numbers do not have a dash and that tells me positive.

 

Let me make a small correction here
Toe kills tires much quicker than camber does.

Caster only wears tires in turns
It's called camber roll. Driving straight caster has no effect on tire wear.

 

I told him I wanted toe-IN. On the printout he gave me it has a (-) on the toe #'s, both front and rear. They have a Hunter machine. I'll go back by there tomorrow to double check.

 

I get over 30K on my Tires on my M3 running -2.6 Front, -1.5 Rear Camber, Zero Toe. 225K and growing on that car.

 

I've use hunter machines for the last 14 years. If it has a dash it means negative or outward concerning toe readings. Just like in math.

 

I'm sure if i looked up the original specs for your bmw, they would be high negative camber to begin with. The base c5 wasn't designed to have high negative camber. -0.25 is nominal. So anything past -0.50 will result in inner tire wear. Look at the Grand sport c6. -0.75 and all were having excessive inner tire wear. I corrected many of them myself.

 

I appreciate the info. I'll go back on Monday and get him to correct it.

 

My Vette runs -1.3 Front and -1.1 rear.....and no abnormal inner tire wear. Have NT555's up front the last 25k and NT05's in back the last 18K...both have great tread all across. Repeat after me, TOE kills tires. When I first lowered my Z (stock bolts) I did not get an alignment soon enough and it killed the inside of the original tires...cause it changed the toe.

The Bimmer has less tire (245/40 Front - 255/40 Rear) so it runs more Camber....its an ex NASA instructors car and very modded and perfect at the limit in corners...great fun.

 

let me quote myself AND sam strano a SCCA champion about tire wear. also, your bmw isn't a corvette. narrower tire and lighter car can withstand more negative camber than a heavier car with wider tires.


in your previous statement you said toe kills tires NOT CAMBER. didn't disagree with toe killing tires. just corrected your camber misconception. so repeat after me.

the OP specifically said he wants a little better handling with affecting tire wear minimally. he doesn't race the car like you do. his day to day driving will wear the inside of the tires, if he were to follow your suggestions.

my credentials are 14 years of owning an alignment/suspension. i've aligned your everday car/light truck to SCCA racers, autocross racers, drag racers, heavy duty semis, and things like this:



i know a couple things about alignments.

also as far as corvettes go, you can ask anyone from this thread here about their tire wear before and after coming to see me.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...n-orlando.html

i'm sure you know your cars and what they can do. one day, take a tread depth gauge to your cars and see if the inside tread is less than the outside. maybe, maybe not. you track your cars and just like sam strano said: Put too aggressive of an alignment in and you will wear insides because you don't push hard enough to stand the tire up in corners and wear it evenly.

and for the fun of it, read post #26 and #27 from that thread

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1581708037

 

so if pfadt specifies -1/16, -1/16 for street and -1/16, -1/8 for performance, that is all toe out?

and if factory sais 0.1, 0.0 is that toe in in front? would make sence.

 

When you read pfadt instructions on the top it says Negative toe measurements indicate toe in. By putting the dash they confuse people. Even Sam strano will tell you 1/16 toe in.

 

mrr 23, I am taking my 99 A4 coupe in for alignment tomorrow. I'm running C5 Z06 sway bars and C6 Z06 shocks. This is the wife,s DD, any suggestions on alignment specs? Thanks