By the end of the week I'll have my stock tires flipped (7k on stock RE050's) and I wanted to have the car aligned also.

Seeing as I have an AP2, will the UK spec alignment be beneficial for me?

 

I have it on mine and I love it on the street. I've missed the last two track days, so I haven't tried it on track yet.

But I'm sure it will be worth it.

 

Could you please expand on how the feel changed from the stock alignment?

 

With more negative camber at the front (close to -1 degree according to UK-spec) the front bites into a corner much more then it did before.
Btw.. the UK-spec is still within the limits of the OEM allignment, it is at the max of it (front neg. camber)

I like it.

 

When you say it bites more into the corner, do you mean the car is more likely to oversteer or understeer?

 

mugenrsx Posted on Jul 21 2006, 09:42 PM
Its more neutral.
I changed tires as well before doing the UK-spec allignment.
Now I have SO-2's all around.
With the wide thread at the rear and soft compound it has so much more grip at the rear the front wasn't keeping up.
Lots of understeer.
Now with the UK-spec allignment the front goes where I point it.
And the rear follows.
More neutral handeling.
With a slight leftover of understeer (safer then snap oversteer).

 

I wonder how this would affect the AP2, seeing as the 2000 models had the most aggressive suspension setup.

 

Sorry it took so long to reply. I'll preface my comments by saying that I was coming from an AWD Subaru to this car, so some of what I say may be attibuted to the "first time in a RWD car on track" thing. That said:

When I bought the car, I was surprised at how easily early to mid-corner throttle would bring the tail around. It seemed like the slightest nudge of the throttle with the suspension loaded would bring the tail around, though it happenned very predictably and didn't "snap" in a way that concerned me. It did, however, keep me honest at my first track day with the car.

Now, this isn't to say that the cornering limits weren't high in stock form - I could drive all the way through a turn at high speed, and the car stuck quite well (though the stock RE050s tended to get greasy after a third to a half a session). That said, I felt there was room for improvement.

So, I now have the UK alignment. The car can take throttle much earlier than before, and seems to step out slower. I haven't driven the car on track yet, but a couple turns near where I live have shown the improved character of the car. The car also turns in very well now, though that was never really a complaint coming from a WRX. The two warnings I heard regarding the alignment were that the tires would wear quicker (over the last 3K miles, all tires still wear evenly, so no problems there) and that the car would follow grooves in the road more (no issues there either).

The shop I took the car to ballasted it when they did the alignment. IMO, it was a great first mod to the car, and really woke it up. Nothing earth shattering, but it did increase the limits of the car for little money, which is a good thing.