Alignment Suggestions

[hank911]

Hi,

Thanks to the help with the BMW caliper conversion I'm ready to put my new tires on and align the car.

I'm looking for suggestions on alignment specs with the following things noted:

Car will be a street driven car with AX & DE time.

Tire's are Kumho 205/50R15's

Car has new ball-joints,tt tie rods, rack spacer, bilstein sports,
poly-bushings & factory front sway bar, factory torsion bars
with 100lbs springs. Car is lowered also.

I will add rear bils with adjustable perches & progressive
springs later this year? I may also go with heavier torsion,
sway bars and add a rear sway.

I don't mind some premature tire wear but would like some
straight-line tractability

It's my first 914 and I'm enjoying working on it but am trying to
budget/drive my way into figuring out the best mods for me.

Thanks for all & any suggestions and experience.

Phil

[John Rogers]

There are several posts concerning what alignmnet specs to use and they differ slightly between street and the track. They are on this site and the other two 914 web sites too. Usually for street use you want slight negative camber and slight toe in, in front, while for racing more neg camber and some toe OUT in front is better. If you are just going to drive a little you could get the home alignment article from the site here and then do a professional alignment after all the parts are in and everything has been finalized. That can also include a good corner balance which will make things really handle better.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Suggestions for a somewhat aggressive street alignment:
Front camber, -1.0 degrees. Front toe, 1/16" in. Front caster, 6 degrees.
Rear camber, -1.5 degrees. Rear toe, 1/16" in.

For a less aggressive street alignment, back off the negative camber F&R by about 1/2 degree.

This assumes a relatively neutral balance in the choice of suspension components. Different suspension setups will "want" different alignment specs. (E.g., those with bigger front sway bars may want more negative camber up front, or less in the back.)

I have found the above setup to work pretty well with stock suspension components, hard-compound tires, and rather aggressive driving (including some autoX).

--DD