914 Alignment for Autocross

nhallman · 07-08-2002, 05:45 AM

I have a 1.8 running Kumho 205/50/15 (street tires - Ecsta 712's) that I autocross frequently, though it is somewhat of a daily driver (20 minute commute 3x per week).

I'm taking it in for an alignment this week, and I want to get it set it up mainly for autocross. I'm not too concerned about tire wear as long as the tires (new in March) last me until next season, at which time I'm planning on buying a set of race tires.

What kind of setup do y'all suggest?

Thanks!

John Rogers · 07-08-2002, 09:36 AM

Stock alignmnet works okay on the rear and same for front with an increase of negative camber to a full 1 degree on each front wheel. track cars car run with 0 toe-in front or even some toe-out but that makes the car really jumpy on the street. Make sure all mods to the suspension have been done such as lowering, shocks, springs, sway bar, etc before the alignmnet gets done. Good luck.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

I suggest:
Max front caster, but keep L & R equal.
~1/16" toe-in at the rear, 0 toe front.
1.5 to 2.0 degrees negative camber in the rear, with the front a half-degree closer to 0 camber.

Sway bars, torsion bars, and springs will change the balance of the car and you may get better results with different camber angles than the above. For instance, if you have a stock front sway bar and no rear, try setting the camber to even all the way around. You may need to tweak from there.

--DD

nhallman · 07-08-2002, 01:34 PM

Oh, I guess I should have specified - all stock suspension and sways - I run in SCCA C-Stock.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Front sway bar is free in SCCA. Get the stock one (if your car doesn't have one) or an aftermarket 19mm adjustable one.

--DD

nhallman · 07-09-2002, 04:36 AM

I have the stock one on the front now.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

Then I'll stick by my first set of recommendations.

You can go for 1/16" toe-out in front. It will help the initial turn-in response a bit, but the car will get somewhat "twitchy" on the street. You will have to actually drive the car every second--you can find yourself changing lanes accidentally when you look down to change radio stations... It gets a bit wearing after a while, but it is still mostly streetable.

0 front toe will mean you still have to pay some attention, and that the car will turn in a little more crisp-ly than one with front toe-in.

Rear toe-out, to quote someone else, "...is evil!!" A good way to swap ends.

--DD