I don't feel that lifting a tire during cornering is a bad thing. Many of the best streetcars on circuit tracks and autocrosses are 3-wheelers. Yes it's true that you don't see Formula 1 cars lifting a wheel, but that has more to due with the fact that real race cars are set up way more firmly than anything you'd drive on the street, so they can't lean or roll very much at all.

When a car is cornering while braking or accelerating, one of the wheels is just skimming across the ground, not doing much anyway. Lifting it at that point doesn't change traction a whole lot. The outer tires are the ones doing most of the work. As an extreme example, look at the shots of the Mueller Evo on TWO wheels. While it's true that he's probably hitting curbing to induce that much inside lift, it clearly wasn't hindering the car's ability to corner with those inside wheels off the ground.

 

Would being dropped on Teins change the effects of OEM specs? Or would the -1 camber and 0 toe like Lud recommened work better dropped? Or does it have no difference? I don't know suspension much

 

wow this afternoon i took a 90 degree turn at 40mph..**** i never have a problem with..but my *** end started to fish tail a little with this new suspension setup...-1.5 front 0 toe and
-1 rear camber...going to try something out again tonight..would a sway bar correct this

 

well a 90° turn at 40mph would cause just about any car to whip around.. your alignment is well within norms. Just a good alignment won't fix bad driving...

edit- no a swaybar would not crrect this unless you put it on the front. which is a huge pita.

 

i dunno man..i probably did little less than 90 degrees...its the turn right before i get to work...and before i changed alignment i never had the rear lose traction like that before...maybe just a freak thing...i was just trying it out

 

I would try somthing less drastic than 90 degree turn.

 

How would changing tires size, like say a 17x9 or a 18x8, effect the suspension setup? Esp, what would it do to the stock set up with a stiffer rear sway bar?

 

Im getting my new wheels/tires put on soon (18x9's) and i need to get an alignment. What would you guys recommend for a car that is going to be a daily driver with the occasional auto-x and track day?

 

Oh yeah, and im on stock suspension.

 

Hm.. If you're only using it for a DD, then I'd say maybe -1° camber at most on all four corners, but watch the treadwear. Every driving style requires slightly different alignment settings depending on aggression. 0° Toe. and don't slack on your tire rotations!

 

what about if im going to auto-x it like once every week or 2

 

hm.. If you're changing to the same size all around, I don't think you'd notice much besides more grip. It will definitely become more sensetive to camber adjustments the wider you go. It'll catch the road crown and tramline more violently so make sure you've got a grip on the wheel. Watch your treadwear and see if the inside or outside edges are wearing unevenly, and as said above, don't skimp on your rotations, thaat will help to achieve consistent treadwear and extend tire-life tremendously.

 

well a good auto-x setup would require a different (more aggressive) setup.. I wouldn't freat about it too bad unless the car handles like poo now. You can adjust tire pressures to accomodate for over/understeer. (or adjust swaybar if you've got an adjustable one).

 

So how does your alignment feel now? I just dropped my car on Teins now so I need an alignment. Trying to figure out how those settings worked for you, let me know.

 

Ok, so i know nothing about alignment settings but i do know that i just got 18x8.5 wheels with 255/40/18 rt615's.......im on tien springs right now, the car is my daily driver but its driven very aggresively.....what do you guru's suggest?