Aaron Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 I just installed my coilovers, and need to get it aligned. I am having a HELL of a time understanding how to read alignment specs. Degrees, inches, minutes, etc... Anyone care to explain? I am getting alignment specs saying 1/16th toe out in the rear, but aren't the specs in degrees? Are they saying 1/16th of a degree from standard oem settings? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Alignment racks can be set-up to show toe in inches, but it's typically done in degrees. It's just two ways to measure the same thing. 1/16th toe out would be the tire pointed out away from the car by 1/16" going down the road. Seems excessive on the rear, most cars are set toed in from the factory for stability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Right, so is that from the standard oem settings? the guys who race the gti say toe is at 0 in the front and slightly out for rotation on throttle lift off. Still trying to find good camber settings. 2.0F and 1.5R is what I have seen so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cordell Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Right, so is that from the standard oem settings? the guys who race the gti say toe is at 0 in the front and slightly out for rotation on throttle lift off. Still trying to find good camber settings. 2.0F and 1.5R is what I have seen so far. No that would be from 0. In my opinion toe is more personal preference as I'd start at zero, but you can try anything you want as I don't know what those cars like. It just seems to me that driving down the road the car would be somewhat unstable and dart around with toe out. Camber has a lot to do with how evenly hot you can get the surface of the tire. If say you set it at -2 degrees, and the inside gets hotter, you would want to try maybe -1.5 degrees, and vice versa. Again there is no set values that work, it'll be set-up specific as to what is optimal, tires, driving, and car weight will all play a role in what is optimal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 I just did some more reading, and it looks like zeroing out toe is a good place to start, and some like a bit of toe out in either front or rear, depending on the person. Stock Caster As far as camber, it looks like -2.0F and -1.5R. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 I have an appointment at NTB downtown at lunch tomorrow. Now, anyone know about corner balancing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POS VETT Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Please realize that "race" settings are not necessarily livable for street driving. Unless you drive the car in a competitive event involving turning, stock specs are all you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 These are daily/occasional autox/track day settings. Dedicated track day settings are far different. Thanks for the info though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickey4271647545519 Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 I just did some more reading, and it looks like zeroing out toe is a good place to start, and some like a bit of toe out in either front or rear, depending on the person. Stock Caster As far as camber, it looks like -2.0F and -1.5R. Some toe out on the front wheels will help with turn-in on a FWD car. Being 0° will lead to some toe out (on the drive wheels) during acceleration. I would also add some caster if that's possible (just preference), will give more feeling but will also make the steering heavier as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POS VETT Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Corner scaling on a street car is splitting hair due to large weight variation. A friend of mine and I are looking to purchase a set of corner scale and may open to taking on projects in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Some toe out on the front wheels will help with turn-in on a FWD car. Being 0° will lead to some toe out (on the drive wheels) during acceleration. I would also add some caster if that's possible (just preference), will give more feeling but will also make the steering heavier as well. Caster is not adjustable, and we have a ton of it supposedly. I read that regarding the toe. Corner scaling on a street car is splitting hair due to large weight variation. A friend of mine and I are looking to purchase a set of corner scale and may open to taking on projects in the near future. So I have heard, but just looking to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 Does the GTI have a factory camber adjustment? Unless something changed on the MKV's and later, you have "shared" front camber, which is increased when you lower your car. Your camber will depend on how low you are, and the best they can do is "share" it equally among the left & right side. In other words, your front camber & caster is not adjustable, other than what you are left with after your lowering efforts. You should be able to pick up some camber plates though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 I haven't read anything that said camber wasn't adjustable. It does yield more when lower, but I think its still adjustable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 People are still able to get over -2deg of camber up front without plates, so I won't be doing that any time soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted April 25, 2012 Report Share Posted April 25, 2012 I haven't read anything that said camber wasn't adjustable. It does yield more when lower, but I think its still adjustable. Negatory. Camber is "adjustable" in that they move the subframe to "balance" the camber. IE: if one side is -1.5 and one is -1.0 they will move the subframe and give both sides -1.25. There is no true "adjustable" camber/caster on these cars. In the case of lowered cars the front axle will get increase camber. All they can do is "balance" it between the sides, but the amount is not adjustable persay. I'll show you pics of the A4's inner front tires for reference some day.:dumb: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 Yep, you are right. All the info online was so ambiguous. Dumb. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruizin01 Posted April 26, 2012 Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 jones is right. you gain "static" camber by lowering it due to McPherson strut design. You wont need more than 2* on your car. I ran closer to 3* but have backed it down due to lack of traction. f 2* r1.5* will be fine. dumb to run more until you get a stickier tire/race more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AJ Posted April 26, 2012 Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 you should toe the rear IN 1/32" to 1/16" to help the car rotate in turns. you want the front towed OUT to correct ackerman angles when turning, 1/16" to 1/8" should be your max. the most important part is that both sides are the same. if your a bigger guy and super anal about being perfect then you should have the car aligned with your body weight in the drivers seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Jones Posted April 26, 2012 Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 have the car aligned with your body weight in the drivers seat. +1 For this. Some shops have ballast they can add to equal your weight, or at least get close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 Sounds good. I think I am going with factory specs besides front camber, which will just be split. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwohio Posted April 26, 2012 Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 you should toe the rear IN 1/32" to 1/16" to help the car rotate in turns. you want the front towed OUT to correct ackerman angles when turning, 1/16" to 1/8" should be your max. the most important part is that both sides are the same. if your a bigger guy and super anal about being perfect then you should have the car aligned with your body weight in the drivers seat. this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave1647545494 Posted April 28, 2012 Report Share Posted April 28, 2012 without getting some pretty serious equipment you can't adjust the camber..... just expect the car to hoe a set of tires out every 20-30k when its lowered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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