Aggressive alignment ?

[Moostang]

My new( to me ) boxster has the Bilstein Pss9 coilover suspension... my question is... does an aggressive alignment ( caster; toe in ) do any more damage than wear tires out quicker and translate into faster track times ? I plan to have it re-adjusted to stock or near stock measurements. thnx in advance. Pat

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

Why do you call it agressive? Steering and Suspension Geometry is just that - Geometry. This means that if you alter a component, you've altered the Geometry and must compensate by also altering the Stock Factory settings (which were derived using the original components). If you try re-adjusting it back to Factory settings while retaining the AfterMarket components, incl. Tires and Wheels, you may end up with a poor Handling Car which eats your Tires at an accelerated pace.

If you're comfortable with the way it drives, leave it alone. Tire wear is the result of many other things besides suspension settings such as Driver Style, Driving type and mix - Highway/City/Rural, local road conditions, etc. Too little information has been provided to make an accurate diagnosis here...

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

[Moostang]

It drives fine ... i was just observing the wear characteristics of the front tires. The insides are worn down completely, the outer edge have little tread left( need new tires anyway ) ... . I'm obviously no expert here. thanks for the reply Jim.

need alignment ?

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by Moostang

It drives fine ... i was just observing the wear characteristics of the front tires. The insides are worn down completely, the outer edge have little tread left( need new tires anyway ) ... . I'm obviously no expert here. thanks for the reply Jim.

need alignment ?

Hi,

Alignment might be a place to start. But, are the Tires/Wheels OEM spec? Same Offsets, Diameters, etc.? Have the inflation pressures been closely monitored and maintained?

If the answers to these is YES, then I suspect that perhaps the Scuff Radius was not maintained, or perhaps some of the suspension members may have bent or any number of other things.

How is the steering? Return-to-Center? Bump Steer? Over/Understeer?

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

[larez2]

"The Boxster has negative camber on its wheels. This means that the tops of the wheels slant in toward the middle of the car. This negative camber will result in more wear on the inside edges of your tires than on the outside."

As quoted from:
http://www.986faq.com/2-0/default.asp#007

That wear pattern sounds normal, but without seeing your tires, its hard to say if you need an alignment or not. You may not, especially if you aren't having any driveability issues.

HTH,
Larez2