johnneywin

the camber was only adjusted when i did the alignment. the rear has hardrace upper arm and buddyclub balljoints the rest is stock. These are pictures of the rear parts. The front is all stock except for the hardrace roll center balljoints but dose have all new oem arms, links, tierod ends.

johnneywin

thats the alignment sheet of what my specs are. i was just thinking im just going to tell them to do what ever the factory scca s2000 alignment is. or the cr alignment specs. since i have the cr wheels. kinda makes scene in my head.

gptoyz

So you need to do some prep work first when you are doing alignment:
#1 make sure your car is properly corner balanced since you are on coilovers
#2 put a sack of dead weight in your driver seat = to your weight
#3 air up your tires so that they are all even

Now you can begin aligning your car.

Depending on the split of DD vs Track driving really determines what you can live with but keep in mind everything is a compromise:
Greater negative camber - Pro: better corner speed Con: worse stability in a straight line (accelerating & braking)
Greater rear toe: Pro: more stability under cornering and acceleration Con: less agile, scrubs speed

My suggestions:
#1 0 cross toe, 0 cross camber, 0 cross caster
#2 reduce your rear negative camber
#3 increase your front negative camber
#4 increase your toe

Suggested alignment:
Front:
Camber: -1.0
Caster: 6.0
Toe: 0
* I would trade camber for caster

Rear:
Camber: -1.5
Toe: .15 toe in per side; total toe .3

As you get faster on the track you will know what you want for alignment and what suits your driving style.

Also, I suggest if you haven't adjusted your suspension, have a professional or someone knowledgeable help you adjust your suspension. What you want, from a higher order view, is to have a suspension that recovers in 1 cycle over imperfections. Having your car bounce up and down on the freeway might feel sporty, but that's not maximizing traction - so if it feels like a rock skipping over the surface of the road that's not what you want.

johnneywin

those specs are pretty much what stock alignment settings except for the neg camber in the front but i have an alignment scheduled so im gonna give those specs a shot. Also do you suggest i sit in the car during the alignment( because i can do that)? my suspension is all level do you mean to put scales under each tire and balance it that way or to adjust the damper?

s2000Junky

Yes you need to be sitting in the car wile getting aligned. A corner balance is an added expense and though nice to have done for tuning handling, its not absolutely imperative and not something i would consider to be causing your handling issue at speed. But yes you would have scales under each wheel and the weight is checked and then the coilover height adjusted to transfer cross/corner weight to balance the car.

There is nothing in your alignment that points to your handling issue. More front camber however isn't a bad idea in general for more balanced sport alignment. Leaving your rear at -1.9/-2 with another -.5 degree would be the OEM UK alignment spec. Your rear toe is fine as is, no reason to think that is causing your handling cork, i actually run even less at 2 degrees total.

Until I see further evidence, Im banking on your tire construction being the majority of the issue. The S2k is extremely sensitive to tire construction. Stiff 2 ply sidewalls such as what comes on all years OEM Bridgstone spec or equivalent are a priority to get the car to handle right. Basing your tire selection from the experience/rating from another car is a mistake, especially when its not even in the same ballpark of vehicle platforms such as your buddies who inspired you to run these tires. More tire pressure and less rear camber with more front camber is probably the best direction to go with for the tires your on. Generally for a track alignment on this car with a stock size tire stagger, you would be in the -3 to-4 camber up front, and -2.5-3 camber in the rear. But the range is also tire sensitive, as not all tires want to be run at the same camber angle and air pressure to get the most out of them. If you want this car to perform to its higher standards on the street and track, for adhesion as well as handling precision/predictability, you really should be shopping for extreme summer category tires. Z2/Starspec would be a great recommendation.

Bruunz

You want positive caster and not negative. This should be Caster: 6.0 and not -6.0

Just ask for max castor however, your alignment guy (or girl) actually needs to know how to adjust it.

gptoyz

yeah you are correct, I didn't proof read.

You don't necessarily want max caster, beyond 6.5-6.9 there's actually a point of diminishing returns. For example on my offset spoon ball joints I can get in excess of -3.5 camber and 7.4 degrees of castor. I just offered a conservative alignment for him to grow into. Giving someone a super track car alignment ain't going to help him develop as a driver

gptoyz

I'm suggesting those settings as a start point because I have no clue to the following factors:
- driver experience
- types of track you drive
- tires you will be using

If your tracks feature long high speed straights with few high speed transitions, then I would probably go with a more conservative alignment that favors braking. If the course isn't very high speed but features lots of turning complexes than I would put emphasis on lots of corner speed grip and therefore more camber. If the course is very quick, not many straight aways and lots of transitions then perhaps I may add some toe out in the front. All of these factor into your alignment settings, there is no silver bullet alignment panacea.

Depending on how serious of a track driver you are, the 3 essential tools you will need to extract the most out of your setup are:
#1 notebook & paper
#2 a good tire pressure gauge
#3 tire pyrometer

As far as adjusting suspension, again it's per track, per day, per condition that you are adjusting for. That being said - when you are adjusting your suspension (i'm talking about your adjusters for rebound and/or compression, what you are going for is making sure suspension is as close to critically damped as you can get it.

ZDan

Alignment looks legit, I'd only add more negative front camber, anywhere from -1.5 to -3 for street track depending on handling balance and tolerance of inside shoulder wear. Agree w/ Junky that your current alignment is not the cause of your weird handling. Something else is up. FWIW the only time my car ever felt unstable in a straight line it was due to excessive rear toe. Your current rear toe looks good, I wouldn't add any, if anything I'd knock it down to 0.2 degrees total but where it's at should be fine. You should not be having to fight it to stay straight, that's for sure. But it ain't the alignment...

Probably worth at least checking corner weights and adjusting if RF+LR vs. LF+RR are different by more than ~10%, or a lower %age if you're inclined, but 10% difference shouldn't result in straight-line instability.

Is it unstable over bumps? In low-traction conditions? Trying to wrap my head around why the car should feel unstable in a straight line with nothing else going on.

RedCelica

Yeah I'd go at least -2.0 in the front and max out the caster.