I thought I'd ask here since a lot of you guys might be running a similar setup. I recently upgraded to a square setup (well almost square - 245 up front and 255 in the rear) and am in the process of installing a few suspension upgrades. I'll obviously be getting a new alignment soon and was hoping to get some insight before I go. The S is my daily so I'm looking at tire life but at the same time don't want to compromise any performance/handling. I might consider doing AutoX in the future but right now it's pretty much just daily / spirited driving type of setup. Not really an expert on this so any help would be great.

Here's a list of the relevant mods:

9+45 RPF1 with 245fr 255rr Dunlop Z2
Challenge Comp+ coilovers with 700lb Hyperco springs all around
Whiteline front sway bar 30mm
Stock 08 rear sway bar (311 lb/ft)
Spoon X-Brace
Spoon zero BSK (steering rack spacer)
J's Racing front S1

Current ride height:

 

ap2?

since you have the +45 you will first need to roll those tabs.

its hard to specifify an alignment for another person since it comes down to preference. but safe bet? -2.5 camber front and rear. caster preference ( i run max caster ). 0 toe for the front. 1/16th total toe in for the rear. if ap1 go 1/8 total. keep in mind toe is what eats up tires. but this should keep the car from being squirrelly.

 

Yeah AP2. I have everything rolled and relocated the tab. Only slight rubbing in the front but that's because I still have about -1.2 camber from my old staggered setup. Should be good when I dial in over -2.

I know non-staggered guys run a bigger front sway but I'm not too sure how the X brace would affect anything. After installing the J's S1 and Spoon BSK my front toe is going to be messed up so I'll have that adjusted back to 0.

 

I would try:

Camber:
F -3.0
R -2.8

You can always try something slightly less aggressive if you are concerned about tire wear, and just use a similar (-0.2) bias in the rear.

6-6.5 caster

1/16th total rear toe-in.

Assuming ride height about 1" lower than stock all around. Also as others mentioned I would consider having the fronts rolled slightly and the fender liner trimmed to make sure there are no rubbing issues.

 

You will need more than a slight roll in front. A slight roll is needed with 63 offset.

X brace does nothing FYI.

 

Thanks for the reply everyone. My fenders are rolled and the fender liner is trimmed. Hopefully rubbing won't be an issue for me after an alignment. I've only been driving on roads I am familiar with and haven't had any issues with rubbing except on full lock and big dips. I've been taking turns a little slower as well just in case. I posted a pic of my current ride height in my first post.

Any reason for the front camber bias? Won't I be more prone to oversteer? I'm going to do some more research on this! Looks like I am pretty much set on caster (max) and toe (0 front, 1/16th rear), any other suggestions?

 

I disagree having tested driving a near stock car with and near stock car without. It won't necessarily do anything that effects the balance front to rear if that's what you mean, but that isn't what it is designed to do.

 

Yeah the bias comes down to personal preference. If you are concerned I would just run the same front to rear, but for auto-x and lower speed corners a slight bias to the front should help with turn in grip. I personally don't like caster maxed out, the steering gets heavier, but at a certain point I feel like it starts to get more numb, but all comes down to personal preference. Camber is more about optimizing use of the tire, and spring and roll bar rate better for tuning balance.

That said, camber will definitely effect balance especially when compared to the unaggressive stock alignment. Honestly I find the stock alignment more prone to snap oversteer than one that makes better use of the front tires. With it more balanced, the car may feel a bit more loose on entry, but the transition into oversteer becomes much more linear. Driving the stock car really fast is much more difficult than driving the car with better tire use balance as fast.

 

^I agree. ~7deg caster is good. If your not doing any auto-x/ HPDE than just do -2 camber as long as your wheels still clear. No reason to run so much for "spirited driving" IMO.

Andew, what was your experience with the x brace? I've always felt the s2k was very rigid and thought there wasn't any tangible benefit to the bracing. But I've never driven with one. Is it worth getting one?

 

Yeah I def won't be competing professionally or anything like that at this point, but just want to get the most out of what I have and learn a thing or two about driving/handling by doing some AutoX.

I think the best thing would be to run -2.5 camber all around, 6.5 caster up front, 0 toe front and 1/16th total toe rear (~0.15 degrees?). I'll start to adjust the specs accordingly as I develop driving preference. I wasn't too sure what to look for in terms of camber bias (since I'm not running a completely square setup) and since this will pretty much be my first time getting an alignment focusing more on performance, so thanks for giving me a starting point guys.

What do you guys think of my suspension mods by the way? (besides the X brace )