Lime

Has anyone tried changing the alignment and camber adjustments for auto-x? I was just wondering....

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

Absolutely.

Currently running -1.7degL / -2.0degR front camber
-1.2degL / -1.2degR rear camber (not changed)
+3/64"L / +3/64"R front toe
+9/64"L / +16/64"R rear toe (not changed)

Tried as much as -3.2deg camber and +1/8" toe but not even close to streetable. Running -2.0degL camber caused too much inside tire wear on the driver side so I eased up on that.

Lime

Thanks! ^_^ I'm thinking of gettin 17's for my new tires, but I'm not sure if that's really a good idea, given my interest in auto-x....

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

I'd suggest dual set's of rims & tires. 15" or 16" for racing (any kind) and 17"+ for street.

You don't want to melt your expensive street treads either

Lime

bwaaaaaaaaahaha...I can't wait to get rid of these crappy tires...I was so mad the dealership put them on instead of the stock tires when I got my car used.

GRR!

Auto-x this weekend on crappy tires, but with the 2 new mods: Y and FCP midpipe. Oh yeah and AGX hehehe. I will probably tighten them up at the course.

Norm Peterson

All the time. Best auto-X settings will eat tires in normal use, best street setting gives away too much on course. Class rules may limit what you can do to achieve settings different from OE spec/as-delivered.

In my case, running in Prepared or Modified (it really is a legitimate daily driver, just way not Solo II stock), I dial in about one degree more -camber before I run, then reset it before driving home. With only a little practice, it takes me about 5 minutes per side at each end of the event. I imagine that adjusting camber with a strut suspension could be accomplished in somewhat less time, given that you would establish some markings to line up the strut fasteners with for the desired settings.

Keep in mind that changing camber will also affect your static toe setting. Which way the toe will change with more -camber dialed in depends on if you've got front steer (goes toward toe-out with the steering linkage ahead of the front wheel centerline like my RWD Malibu autocross weapon) or rear steer (goes toward toe-in with the rack behind the front wheel centerline). Adding one degree more -camber to each front wheel will probably result in something like 1/4" to 3/8" of total toe change, so this shouldn't be overlooked. That's also why toe should be the last thing set at an alignment shop.

Norm

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

I tried adjusting my camber last year at events. Now I realize what it did to the toe which was more harmful. The Stillen plates are designed to allow easy adjustments but then to leave em that way.

Norm Peterson

You could probably add resetting the toe before and after each event with only a small additional cost in terms of terms of time spent at the lot, provided that you know how many turns of each tie rod end is required (and which way you have adjust each side!!!). Tuning hint: you might eventually want to experiment with other than the factory-stock toe setting (so keep detailed written notes).

Norm

Lime

yikes
I doubt I can go to that much trouble...it IS my daily driver, and I'm small and whimpy.

I haven't even been able to go back to auto-x yet anyway...might never go back at this point (no helmet, no money!).

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

As the other guys said, adjusting the camber/toe isn't THAT difficult once you've got the right equipment- i.e. camber/caster plates.

when I installed my camber plates and had the shop align everything, I paid the guy an extra wad of cash to line it up on "street specs" (-0.5 camber, 0 toe), then to move it to -1 and -2 camber then tell me how many turns the tie rods require to get back into shape. I believe it was 1.5 turns on each side for -1 and 4.5 turns for -2. of course, that will be completely different on a 4th gen (or any other brand of camber plates), and all my notes on that have since dissappeared.

Anyway, changing all that stuff at the track requires about 15 minutes once you've figured out how to do it.

Fortunately for me, this year's Auto X location is only 10 miles from my dad's house, so I can do most of my stuff there before leaving.. changing brake pads, proper air pressure, alignment, etc. that way I don't have to carry ALLL of my tools to the event.

Now if only I had time to go auto X.. haven't been yet this season.