AS31

Another noobie question:
What do alignment settings are people using on a bone stock 2004 suspension S2000 for autocross? What about HPDE?
I'm trying to find the optimal settings for my 70% daily, 20% autocross, and 10% HPDE car.

Thanks!

Jub

I think we'd still need more info. What is your experience level? What kind of tires do you run? Do you switch between wheels for daily/autocross/track mode? Do you care about tire wear at all? Do you care about being competitive? If so, at what specifically?

A completely optimized alignment would likely be different for all 3 of those disciplines and still completely subjective. Aside from that, experience and how hard you are truly pushing do matter.

AS31

I'd say "Intermediate" a/k/a NASA HPDE-2, PCA Blue solo. About 4 yrs autocross and 2 yrs HPDE. All my previous experience has been in a 2010 Corvette on 200 Tread Wear tires where the loud pedal can make up for bad technique. I've decided to move to the AP2 as a less powered and less tire-ed car to help me learn to be a better driver. The car came with 560 TW all-season tires on stock staggered wheels and I will not be changing tires for events. This is my daily so tire wear is somewhat important, but not super important. That may change once I burn these tires up and move to a 200 TW set. I do push hard in autocross and on track, always chasing that just-out-of-reach lap time .
I figured if I knew what alignment settings other people are using for autocross and track, then I might be able to come up with something that may work for my purposes.

shind3

I daily drive my car year round while running on RS4s for 7 months per year equating to about 70 miles a day with about 300 miles of track driving every year since I assumed ownership over the last 3 years. That translates to 80% street driving, though I frequently push the limits while cornering in street driving so let's assume 75% zero cornering street driving for me. That only leaves 25% hard cornering miles. Based on what I've seen for my use case, here is my recommendation for minimum accuracy of wheel alignment for the stated conditions (70% street & 30% hard cornering miles). I might tighten the tolerances in the future. But use these as minimum targets for now.


Front Tire Wear (affected by total front toe and thrust angle)

up to -1.5 degrees camber = minimum front toe accuracy 0 +/- 0.10 degrees with thrust angle within OEM spec
up to -3.0 degrees camber = minimum front toe accuracy 0 +/- 0.05 degrees with thrust angle good enough that you can drive 100 yards in a straight line on a non-cambered road without having to adjust the steering.


Rear Tire Wear (affected by rear total toe)

up to -2.0 degrees camber = minimum rear toe accuracy 0 +/- 0.30 degrees
up to -3.0 degrees camber = minimum rear toe accuracy 0 +/- 0.15 degrees

robrob

For a stock suspensioned car I'd go with the maximum negative camber the adjusters will allow front and rear--you should get more in the rear which helps with rear end stability. Leave the caster and toe-in settings stock--if caster is in spec don't even unlock the caster adjuster. Monitor the inside shoulder wear to see if you can deal with it. If not take some out. Call the alignment shop and verify they will set out-of-factory specs because many won't for liability reasons. More alignment info: https://robrobinette.com/S2000Alignment.htm

freq

It's mid-season for me and my TT 4/5 car. The shoulders on my RS4s were starting to get rounded so I had them swapped R>L L>R . With the wheels loose, weights removed and valve stem cored, my total cost of the swap was 6 Snickers Ice Cream Bars and $10. They'll easily last me the rest of the season and I'll still be able to wholesale them on Craigslist to a drifter or some other enthusiast.

Go aggressive, if they start to wear, swap em?

robrob

That's a good point freq. Just to clarify for others, you have to remove the tires from the wheel, flip them around and re-mount. You can keep the rolling direction correct by then swapping the wheels from the left side of the car to the right.

AS31

Thanks for the suggestions.