I would like to start this thread as a way to share all info on alignment settings. Post your current alignment, tires you are using, and tire pressures and the perceivable change in handling character.

 

My own settings are:

Front: -2.3 degrees camber, 0 degrees toe
Rear: -1.5 degrees camber, 1/8" toe out

Stock Advan A046 tires with 34 and 38 rear "hot" PSI

The car does not turn in as sharply now versus the stock alignment. It is however more stable mid turn and in accelerating towards the apex. The rear rotates much better in sweepers over 80mph and responds nicely to lift off rotation at slower speeds. The increased front negative camber has really helped even out tire wear, still not enough though, I am going to try 3 to 3.5 degrees at my next track day.

 

Did you drop the car? and is that the reasoning on the negative camber?

 

I did lower the car with the eibachs, the -2.3 is a result of cusco camber plates. The eibach's have retained the stock handling characteristics, but reduced the tendecy of the inside rear wheel to lift under really hard low speed cornering.

 

-1 degree in front 0 toe
-0.5 in rear 0 toe
32 PSI all round
Comments....I am going to put the rears back to -1 degree, my current settings leaves the car a bit too loose

 

A discussion/thread about alignment settings is a good idea. With my settings:

Front: -1.7 camber, 0 toe
Rear: -0.6 camber, 0 toe

the car seems quite neutral on the track. The stock settings have more negative camber in the back and less in the front. This shifts more traction to the back and leads to more understeer.

On the track I run 34/33 front/back. When hot this gives around 38-39 psi. After four track weekends and a couple of autocrosses, the shoulders of the Advans are wearing pretty bad. At the moment, I want to keep the suspension pretty stock. I'm going to put in some Cusco camber plates in the front and try front/rear camber settings of -2.5/-1.5. Hopefully this will reduce the tire roll-over at the front and keep the car neutral.

 

What are the stock alignmnet specs?

 

What are the stock settings, and has anyone tried any toe in in the rear? I think Silver Surfer tried this? no? Silver you there?

 

I'm running between -1.5 to -1.8 degrees camber on all four corners. Zero toe front, 1mm toe-in rear.

For autocrossing on the stock A046 tires, I run 42 PSI all around. For autocrossing on Hoosiers, 45 PSI all around. I've generally been driving the A046 tires on the street at 42 PSI as well -- just too lazy to drop them down between autoX events. The only downside I see to running 42 PSI on the street is that the ride is noticeably stiffer.

I ran Summit Point's main road course last Friday with my stock setup - A046 tires at 42 PSI. The car felt great in the dry, and handled predictably even in light rain. I didn't try any tweaking of the tire pressures.

 

Running more negative camber in the front than the rear seems like a great way to reduce the understeer and get longer tire life. Is this working for people? Do you still feel the need for a stiffer rear sway bar?

Is the max front camber (with out camber plates) around 1.7 to 2.0?

I ran the stock alignment all summer at Pacific Raceways and would destroy the outside tire edge (front right) in a day - (250 miles). The understeer was very mild. I did notice it more freqently in one particular corner at steady throttle.

 

I lowered my car with Tanabe springs and the dealership claims alignment is "right on the money"

Anyways, what's the best settings for 1/4 mile runs?

 

I've been doing some reading about car setup, and some experts make a good case against doing this type of thing...

Their argument is that intentionally reducing grip at one end of the car (through camber or pressure adjustments) in order to achieve balance might work, but it also puts an artificial cap on the car's performance.

Frankly, my car felt extremely balanced last week at Summit Point's road course, with pretty much equal camber on all four corners. But if I had to tweak it, I'd have tweaked it toward understeer. On a road course, understeer is a nuisance and it slows you down; oversteer can end your day quick.

 

I didn't intend to lessen grip, I wanted to increase it! The front appears to have 0 camber - probably for good tire wear. On the track the tire roles on edge and is only using half the tire. With more negative camber the tire will be flatter while turning and increase grip. I'll probably leave the rear camber near stock but add some to the front.

 

Okay, I thought your idea was to run maximum negative camber in the front and less than maximum negative camber in the rear -- thus "reducing" grip at the rear in order to combat understeer.

I guess it depends what you consider to be the baseline camber settings. Many might consider the factory specs to be the baseline settings. For me, maximum achievable negative camber at all four corners is the baseline.

Here's a picture which says a lot about the Evo's rear camber problem:

http://www.brennen.net/images/evolean.jpg

Take a look at that picture; do you still think there is a performance advantage to running less than the maximum rear negative camber?

 

How much negatvie camber will the stock setup allow - front and back?
I'm suprised we get that much body roll with the tight suspension and large roll bars. But you definately feel the roll on the track!