Getting my CCW 275 & 335 18's in less than 36 hours (I hope) and was looking for realignment specs that offer good tire wear but optimal handling, breaking, and acceleration.

The car is not a track car, but frequently driven like it was intended (never really more than "8/10ths"

I am guessing factory Z06 specs are the way to go-but would love to hear from you guys.

Car will also have 1/2 tank of gas, and my 200lb dumb @S$ in the car when it is done...

 

The range is so broad that even the stock specs are very close to standard C5 specs, tell them what you want is the best way. Negative camber is the main thing you can feel on the street, it affects how responsive the front steering is to your inputs. Read this thread I started. Here is my recommendation to you, stock Z06 settings except a –1.0 camber front and –0.5 neg camber rear.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=471185

 

I had factory Z06 specs set up on my coupe when I was running 263/35/18 fronts and 295/35/18 rears and didn't notice any abnormal wear or problems. I can't say I noticed a huge increase in performance due to the new alignment specs, but figured every little bit helped. I say go for it.

 

:withstupid:

 

I would say don't do it. Leave the car at the factory specs with the CCW big street package. I ran it on my car for over 2 years, ran the car on Road Courses (turned good times) and never had a problem with the factory settings. I actually ran as good if not better times than the guys that had the Z06 settings.

Keep in mind the wider the tire, the more pronounced the angle of the suspension will be.

ching... ching....

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

Another thing I need to add. With that big street package, you don't have much room at all behind the tire and inside fender well. Tilting that T&W assembly closer to that surface will only bring you lots of trouble... IMO.

vetterdstr :cheers:

 

I have to agree with vetterdstr. Especially with those giant 335's squeezed on to 11.5" rear wheels. :cheers:

 

Putting an aggressive Z06 alignment on a coupe that is only driven at 8/10ths of its capabilities is like buying a 3.5ghz computer to do word processing.
Sorry about the comparison.
This subject comes up often and it just does not make any sense to put expensive wheels and tires on the car and run a lot of negative camber in this case. If you do not drive the car hard enough to put some wear on the outside edges then you run a great chance of abnormal tire wear.
Please, just get the car aligned to the preffered settings for your car.
You will be happy with it. :)
Dave

 

I have recently tried an alignment spec of: Front: -1 deg, 1/16 toe in, 6 deg caster, 29 psi cold ... Rear: -1/2 deg, 1/8 toe in, 33 psi cold.

This did corner better at the limit than the base model setting, although I still am getting some understeer. Unfortunately, the car is now a bear to drive on the freeway because it wants to follow the ruts (studded tire damage). If you have good roads where you live then I'd say go for it. It was a noticeable change. If not then I'd stay away from too much front neg camber (as this makes it want to drive up the ruts)

Does the forum have any other suggestions on an optimum sport/street setting? sj

 

I think I just learned something about alignments :thumbs:

The LS1 specs are set up for a car that will see no track. The Z06 is set up for a more agressive driver.

I thought the specs were special on the LS1 b/c of the runcraps, and special for the Z06's b/c they weren't-not realizing it was from a pure performance POV (based on tire capabilities...)

So consensus is my car should be set up on the high LS1 end, near Z06 territory-but not 'deep Z06 specs (b/c the larger )

 

Hey Corvette Dave,

I'll be getting an alignment soon and from what I've read on the forum, you know a thing or two on the subject... :yesnod:

Would you still recommend the OEM preferred alignment settings for my coupe running the following setup?

18" all around w\Pilot Sports 275/35/18 front and 295/35/18 rear
Z06 Sway bars
Bilstein Sport Shocks
Lowered

Appreciate your input,
Rich

 

Rich,
First let me say this. I am not an expert on alignments/suspensions. I have done my own alignments, road raced cars, etc. for many years but I do not claim to know much about the subject from an engineering standpoint. There are many on this forum with more knowledge. C5stein seems to know quite a bit on the subject. I hope others join in here with opinions.
You did not say what you will be doing with the car. Normal driving, auto-x, drag racing, road courses, etc. This is very important to know to answer your question.
I am a firm believer in keeping the car in the preferred/middle area of the stock specs for your car. You have made some changes to your suspension so I do not know how much that will affect things. I believe GM spent hundreds of hours designing the suspension for each car and the parts work well together. I don't think you should change parts (except maybe shocks) of the suspension unless you change the whole thing, springs, shocks, sway bars. I do not have the ability to prove why that is not good but that is just my opinion.
The springs, shocks, and sway bars are also designed to work with the tires that come on the car so things can change when you change one component.
I am curious why you changed the sway bars and not the springs. Are the Z06 springs the same as yours?
You will find that the so-called Z06 specs are the same as the coupe except you can go another .5 degree negative camber. I do not think most of us could tell the difference in daily driving.
I still would keep your car within stock specs. Add some negative camber if you are going to auto-x or road course the car.
When you start going outside of stock specs, you can have problems such as the car tramlining(following ruts), increased braking distances, oversteer, understeer, etc. Just my opinion. Let us know your intended use.
Dave

 

Thanks for your input Dave... :thumbs:
As far as driving goes... my coupe is my daily driver and I don't race or auto-cross at all... perhaps in the future... For now, I'd like my alignment to give me nice ride without being paranoid about tire wear... So, OEM specs it is... :yesnod:

Your right about my springs... I still have the stock springs that came with the FE1 suspension... They are on my 'to-do' list... :D
Rich