Whats up S2ki. Im looking for some help with alignment specs on my s2000.
Im on OEM suspension with ap2v2 tires. 235/45 front and 255/40 rear Federal RSR tires.
No track or autocross for me, my car is my daily driver.
Currently my front tires are wearing faster on the outside; the rears seem to be wearing evenly.

I know this is all based on driving style/preference, but I'd like some opinions from members who have played with different alignment settings.
My goal of course is performance, without sacrificing uneven tire wear.
It would also be helpful if someone can explain the change in driving characteristics with changes in caster/toe.

Thanks!

 

Set your front toe to 0 on each side, it's toe that causes most wear.

 

But toe won't cause the tires to wear on the outside, that's a camber issue. Either your caster or camber is too low relative to spec. Increasing caster gives more dynamic camber while turning, so if both camber and caster are low and you have grippy tires chances are you'll wear the outside. Add more caster, and a little more neg camber up front. You can also add a little tire pressure up front.

 

Thanks for the help! After checking my tires again today, my driver side tire is wearing much quicker than the passenger. Both outside wear; however my rears look almost new! Can you guys give suggestions for alignment specs?

camber
Fr -1.5 rear -2 <Is this too excessive for stock suspension?

Toe
0 front
Rear ?? < Im assuming toe out, but how much?
Ive read that our cars came with excessive toe in the rear which caused snapoversteer or unstable handling. How much toe should I go with in the rear?

Caster
Not too sure exactly what caster is or How it changes handling aspects, some input would be appreciated.

 

You want toe in on the rear. Toe out would be pretty scary!

Some specifications you can use are in this post: https://www.s2ki.com/...ost__p__5798519

Try Googling for an explanation of caster, you'll get a much better understanding than a text response here http://en.wikipedia....ki/Caster_angle
The more caster you have, more effort is required to turn the wheel and the stronger the self centring will be.

The most important thing is to get everything symmetrical.

 

That's fine. It is very surprising that you're wearing the OUTside of the front tires with -1.5 camber. WEIRD...

0 toe front = good
I would go with ~0.2 degrees total rear toe IN for best handling and tire life. 0.15 to 0.30 degrees total would be a good range. I've run big rear toe before (0.6 up to 1 degree total), and all it ever did was give weird nonlinear handling, hurt turn-in responsiveness, and kill tire life.

More caster gives more self-centering force and weight to the steering. IMO, it can also mask feel a bit. Caster also adds more negative camber with steering angle and affects weight jacking, both of which effects will tend to give more oversteer (or less understeer) in slower corners relative to faster corners.
Personally, I like to run caster on the smaller end of the scale, ~5-5.5 degrees. I wouldn't recommend more than ~6.5 degrees, 7 at the outside.


Your camber looks perfectly fine for daily driving. It exceedingly odd that you are wearing fronts faster than rears, and that you're wearing the OUTside of the fronts faster than insides at -1.5 camber and daily-driver usage. Driver side wearing MUCH faster might be a clue. It could be a bad tire with an internal defect causing rapid wear.

Also worth noting that your front tire size is a bit odd. 235/45-17 is a bit taller than OEM, and is also a bit wide for a 7" wheel (AP2V2 fronts). 215/45-17 or 225/45-17 should be your front tire size.

 

Zdan, sorry for the confusion. Those aren't my current alignment specs. I will be getting an alignment this week and those specs are what I'm going to go with. Just wanted to get opinions from other members and make sure everything looked okay.

Camber
-1.5 F -2 R
Caster
6 degrees (stock?)
Toe
0 front .2 total toe in.

How did lower caster feel vs stock at 6 degrees? Excuse my ignorance, but wouldn't a heavier steering + more centering mean better steering feedback? Although I've gotten used to the steering on the S, I've always thought it lacked steering feedback.

 

0 front, 0.2 degrees total toe in rear, right?
Looks good, perfect for your usage IMO.

Feel is a very subjective and personal thing. For me, running caster at the high end feels heavier, but also more vague. To me, the lighter steering you get with less caster can feel more immediate and direct. But others prefer the heavier weighting you get with more caster. IMO, you won't go wrong with anything in the 5.5-6.5 degree range on the S2000. If lighter steering appeals to you, aim for the low end. If you want more "weight" in your steering feel, aim for the high end.

 

Okay heres an update. I got my alignment done and everything came out the way I wanted to except the Caster. The guy doing the alignment pointed the cause to worn bushings in the LCA along with a few suspension pieces that soon need to be replaced. Caster was set at 5 degrees left and 7.3 degrees right
Here's my previous alignment specs.

Front
Caster 4.7 L 6.7 R
Camber -.2 L -.4 R
Toe .95 L .05 R < I was surprised at the amount of front toe I had. Maybe this is the cause of premature tire wear?

Rear
Camber -1.5 L -1.7 R
Toe .25 L .15 R

When traffic cleared late evening, I was finally able take a few on ramps without any traffic. I immediately noticed a difference in cornering grip and feel. Kind of bummed that the right caster wasn't able to adjust though. I probably wouldn't have noticed since I didnt notice it prior to my alignment. I now know the difference in feel from a lower/higher caster and I agree that a lower caster definitely feels better imo. Left turns feel sharper and more connected than right turns, although its not a HUGE difference, right turns now feel a bit more sluggish.

 

See post #2