In another thread, I had tried to describe how it felt my stock suspension car was cornering, how it didn't seem correct, with the fronts working very hard on turns and xs front wear (Spoon wheels). When I took the S2000 to West End Alignment, Darrin checked the alignment and said the back was likely being "very lazy". He asked what my driving habits were like and decided to set my car up for agressive street/occasional track alignment. He had initially found 1/8" total toe in in the rear. I forget how much toe in he dialed out with alignment.

After alignment, the car handled delightfully, and felt very good around corners, like being on rails again. I could even take some very tight canyon corners faster; previously, I couldn't use some power because it just went to push the front out of the line. At Streets of Willow, the car felt balanced (instructor also mentioned this, but he didn't drive), even if the back end stepped out twice. I was able to correct steering and catch the back safely each time.

Alignment and alignment preferences have a lot to do with how the car feels.

 

I recently had my car aligned and here is what they ended up with:

Left Front: Caster(5.0); Camber(-.5) Toe(0)
Right Front: Caster(5.5); Camber(-.3) Toe(0)
Left Rear: Camber(-1.0) Toe(.05)
Right Rear: Camber(-1.5) Toe(.05)

The previous settings were:

Left Front: Caster(5.0); Camber (-.5) Toe(.05)
Right Front: Caster(5.5); Camber(-.3) Toe(.05)
Left Rear: Camber(-1.2) Toe(.45)
Right Rear: Camber(.85) Toe(.05)


As you can see, they made some adjusments. I have to say that the rear of the car definitely seems less planted than before and has more play in it around corners and is less than confidence-inspiring. My question is what setting/settings loosened up the rear?

 

That rear toe of .45 was WAY off from the other side, but probably helped keep your tail end in line. If you feel a little more squirrelly, you might want to have the rear toe brought in a little bit, maybe .1 or .2 a side. This should bring back what you felt a little more. With the front toe you have now, that should make a pretty good combination for neutral handling (or at least less oversteer).

 

I have no idea why it is not even side to side.. the rear would be a bit more loose with the reduction in toe-in. Here is a suggested street target..

Left Front: Caster(6); Camber(-.75) Toe(0)
Right Front: Caster(6); Camber(-.75) Toe(0)
Left Rear: Camber(-1.5) Toe-in(.125 inch)
Right Rear: Camber(-1.5) Toe-in(.125 inch)

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by cdelena
[B]

I have no idea why it is not even side to side.. the rear would be a bit more loose with the reduction in toe-in. Here is a suggested street target..

Left Front: Caster(6); Camber(-.75) Toe(0)

 

I always ask for a bit less than that (5-6mm total) but since the readout is degrees rather than linear I have to double check my current alignment..

 

I think 1/8" per side (1/4" total toe ~ 6mm) is 0.29 degrees per side (0.58 degrees total toe).
LOL, doesn't it seem like we go through this conversion every other month or so? Each time I hurt my brain trying to think it through.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RT
[B]
I think 1/8" per side (1/4" total toe ~ 6mm) is 0.29 degrees per side (0.58 degrees total toe).
LOL, doesn't it seem like we go through this conversion every other month or so?

 

So it looks like you are 0.100"R and 0.104"L (0.204" total toe-in). Amazing, the conversions actually sound right