GR8-LIFE

My Car is a street/track combo. For the street I have 18" wheels/tires all around and for the track I have 17" all around

One of the guys I run with has -1.5 camber front and rear but he's also running 18" tires on track and street (I run 17" on track).

Now it does Sound like I would probably benefit from the -1.5 camber but also want to make sure that I have something of a compromise for street and track considering by different size wheel combination. I also need TOE and CASTOR SPEC Suggestions. Typicaly I drive the vette in the street 1-2 days a week.

Also, I was just curious. I can go to 2 shops that have PITS (I prefer PITS because of the lowered car). One shop wants to charge $150 to do this. Money isnt always an issue with me but that does sound like alot of $$$ to do this. Your opinions? Any other suggestions?

TIA

tigerdrvr

Typically, rear camber is between 50-75% of front camber, so if you can get -1.5r, you would want at least -2.0f. Front toe is a matter of preference, most will suggest somewhere in the 1/8" toe out range, I'm a zero effective front toe kind of guy. Rear toe should be in the 1/8-1/4 toe in range. Caster in front is as much as you can get with the camber specs desired.

GR8-LIFE

Thanks

Bill Dearborn

However when I did my setup on my 97 I added just a little toe in on the front to try and keep the car from wandering on the street. With the run flats the car would wander all over the place with toe out or zero toe. Once I had just a little toe in added it seemed to behave a lot better. With my Z06 I decided to stay with the stock settings (still with a little front toe in) since the high camber settings really caused a lot of tire wear.
Bill

C5GARY

Probably a dumb question, but can you explain what the rear toe in is for? Preferred stock setting is a touch of toe out if I am not mistaken. The theorys I have read say that when the car is under power, the rear wheels will "pull" to a more positive toe, hence, you should have a static negative toe. 1/4 toe sounds like a lot...

Also, does TIGERdrvr by any chance refer to a Sunbeam Tiger? I have 2 of those!
Gary

GR8-LIFE

I have heard 0-1/16 toe out for the rear and
0-1/16 in for the front

tigerdrvr

Yep, rear toe in helps with off corner, forward bite. Depending on course condition (autocrossing), you may want as much as 1/4"...I've known some to run even more (not sure why). I'm at 1/8" and my car hooks well, with -1.0r camber and ride height almost as low as possible (still have 3 threads showing above). Front ride height is set to give right at 3/8" rake, so the front is higher than some might run. It does work very well, with -2.0f camber and zero toe. A little toe in is good for directional stability, but tends to hurt turn in. Also, toe is the killer of tires, more so than camber. I've gotten away with up to -1.5f camber on cars with no real impact on tire wear.

And, yep, tigerdrvr does refer to Sunbeam Tiger. I've had one that I've used for autocross, open track, and other fun uses for the last 15 years. Right now its on a rotisserie in the garage, as I've started the full restoration it deserves...

Too Tall Bob

I just had my Z06 alignment settings set for the track at -2.1 in frt. with as much caster as possible, and quite honsetly, my first comment to the alignment guy was how much more stable the car felt in a straight line than it did before with the OEM settings. I have 1/8" toe-out on the front as well.

glass slipper

I do alignments myself using very simple tools, that way I know it's done right (and exactly what it is) and can change it myself as much as I want even at the track. Once you become familiar with your suspension and how much difference a given adjustment makes, you'll find yourself crawling under it to tweak a little here and a little there. I have done this for other guys DURING an event and watch them go out and take 2+ seconds off their time. Having a C4 gives me the benefit of returning the front camber/toe to "street" specs very quickly (10 minutes) before I leave the track meaning I have zero compromise on my track alignment.
...To get the numbers we're looking for $150 is not really a lot considering the time it takes. Remember their $59.99 alignment for most cars is because most cars don't need adjustment or just a small tweak. So that $59.99 alignment is really a $59.99 alignment CHECK that doesn't require a lot of time.

glass slipper

Excellent suggestions, especially the front toe. Once I set camber for best grip/wear, I use the front toe to tune the car to the track. At low speed events I use more toe out to get the turn-in and help the car rotate (makes the rear-end "loose"). I have the skill level to handle the rear loose at low speeds and it's fun . Of course high speed events get less toe out to add stability on the straights at high speed and prevent the rear-end from being "loose" on those high speed turns. I'm nowhere close to the skill level required to handle a loose rear at high speed. A man has got to know his limitations!