Alright, did some searching and haven't found a whole lot.

I am getting scheduled service on my car, and as part of that they do alignment. I understand that setting the alignment for SOLO II will cause more tire-wear, etc etc, but figure if I'm going to pay to have it done anyways, I may as well have it done for autocrossing.

I run Kumho 700s, 225F 205R. I understand that alignment may be a personal preference thing, but I would like to get an idea of what toe-in everyone else runs. I have heard zero toe in the back, but can't recall what the general front preference is.

What would all of you recommend as a good starting point for future tweaking?

 

I do not run a DS Type R, but my STS Integra liked 1/8" toe-OUT. I've read of a few ITR owners who found this to their liking as well. It does cause notably increased wear on the tires, but is bearable and I liked the steering response with that setting. I do not think toe-in would be desirable. Keep in mind that some shops will not do non-factory alignments, and get a printout of your alignment specs from the computer so you actually know exactly what the car was aligned to.

 

Ahh yes, I am an alignment idiot. I suppose I should have asked what TOE everyone is running.

Thanks. Is the 1/8th toe-out for front and rear? I assume you are talking front only.

 

I am running 1/8" toe-out in front and 0 in the rear.

 

I run max toe out (but still w/in factory spec) and zero in rear

 

1/8 to 3/16

max camber front and rear (not for Stock Class)

then I wonder why I have poor tire wear..

my race tires wear very well


[Modified by Crazydave, 6:20 PM 1/16/2002]


[Modified by Crazydave, 6:45 PM 1/16/2002]

 

You can't adjust the camber for a Stock-class Type R. 1/8" total toe out front, and 0 toe in the rear worked well for my STS car. Granted, I also had -2.25 degrees camber in the front, but the 1/8" toe out in the front is be a good figure for you to start from and will give you pretty quick turn-in regardless of anything else.

 

Good point.. and type R can't compete in sts either.....
hmm..

better make it 3/16 toe out if it's a tight course

 

I've heard "trailered" stock class cars run almost 1/4 toe out front with 1/16th to 1/8th toe out in the back. This makes the car undrivable at anything over 80 mph, so it's only for autox. I was running stock settings last year, but this year I'll get an alignment done on the type r with 1/8th toe out in the front, just as I have on my daily driven part autox Talon.

 

For my first autocross season last year, I ran 0 toe in the front and the rear. The guy at the tire shop convinced me to do that 'cause he didn't want me to scuf up and wear out my new RE730s too quickly. For this season, I'm going to try something like 1/32-1/16" total toe up front and leave the rears alone. That should help with turn in a bit. Adding toe out in the rears is suppose to help with getting the car to rotate, but as was mentioned early in this thread, running toe out in both the fronts and rears is supposed to make the car very twitchy at highway speeds, not to mention the additional wear factor for the tires.

 

I had my car slightly toed-out in the rear two years ago and this past season toed-in slightly. After doing both on a daily driven DS Type R I'd have to say I'd like it somewhere in the middle. The car was very nervous on exit/entrance ramps of the highway with toe out in the rear and made me uncomfortable when driving a little quick. The flip side is, the car rotated wonderfully in auto-x. I'd aim for 0 right on the button and that's your best comprimise.

And for the front I'd run a 1/16" toe out on each side for a total of 1/8 of an inch. Tire wear won't increase too much, but turn-in will improve. It's all a matter of comprimise.

 

Since this car is daily driven at freeway (cough 80 cough 90) speeds, and also must run driver events at road courses once in a while, I am thinking I'll try 1/8" total toe-out in the front and see how that goes.

Thanks for all of your help folks.


[Modified by timberwulf, 10:24 AM 1/17/2002]

 

how many miles you put on while daily driving?????

I would suggest a zero toe front/rear to let street tire live longer.

Give/take issue.

 

I drive around 15K per year and that is which translates to about about 1 set of front tires per year if I leave the alignment toed-out. Well worth the trade off in improved turn in response IMO.

For those who live in colder climates (like Ohio), you can get two alignments per year. One before and one after auto-x season. Usually late April I get my "auto-x" alignment" and then in November I get my normal street alignment. That way you're not tearing up tires all year round.

 

I run as much as 1/4" toe out in front and zero rear. When I get the car aligned, I have it set to the factory spec and make a refernce mark on the tie rods. Then at the track, I bring tools and do about a half turn each side to set the toe. it only takes a couple minutes and saves my street tires.

Tom
-who really likes his new set of Azenis-

 

I run 1/8 total out in the front and 0 in the rear. Tires wear a little unusually but I got 14k out of my first set of RE010s and they were still legal (most other ITR owners report 10-15K). So far I have gotten 10k out of the second set and there is still plenty left. I do rotate the tires front to rear frequently.

Regards,
Alan

 

For autocrossing and street use (limited track use as it can get the rear a little too loose), here is what I ran the last two years and it worked great on either Kumhos or Hoosiers:

F: 1/8" total toe-out
R: 1/8" total toe-out

 

WOW! The stars are out tonight (okay today)! lol. Tom Smith and David Fauth giving ITR setup advice. Talking about getting it from the people who know!!!

 

Thanks Dave and Tom. It is always excellent to get some ideas directly from "the man" themselves.

Just got back from the Acura dealership (they know what I use my car for and don't seem to have a problem with any of my requests) and had them set it to 1/8th total toe-out front and 0 toe rear (as a posted suggested, I verified this from the machine printouts). I'll try this and determine whether I want to out the rear for more rotation.

Another responder asked about my mileage...hehe. The car is a couple months over a year old and I have 22500 on it. That comes from driving it out to LA to run it at ButtonWillow Raceway for last year's ITR Expo, and other side trips (ever taken 250 miles to go home because you felt like driving?).

I decided to go with no-toe in the rear for drivability and trackability. I may consider Tom's suggestion of manually adjusting the toe at the event. We'll see how this setup works for me.

Thanks again folks. It's nice to have a board like this to come to for good advice.

 

There is no magic bullet; it is not as simple as one setting fits all. Dependent on many factors type of tires, ride height, wheel rates, track surface, ambient temperature, anti sway bar settings, damper settings, corner weights, roll coupling ratio, type of course; loose with lots of straight, tight turns, direction of majority of turns, driver preference, tire size, wheel size..........

General guide lines on DOT competition tires Kumho V700, Hoosier radials, Yoko 032, Toyo RA1's

1.75 to 3.5 degrees negative camber front
1.5 to 2.0 degrees negative camber rear
1/16 to 1/8" toe out front
0.0 to 1/8" toe out rear
2.0 to 6.0 degrees positive caster

You need to learn too read tire temps, wear patterns, first run feedback and what appropriate changes to make too get the most out of your tires and suspension for the conditions.




[Modified by DB1-R81, 7:17 PM 1/18/2002]