Who has done a custom alignment?

[oversteerdawg]

I'm getting my car aligned and I was thinking of straying from Porsche's specs. Fisrt of all, am I reading it correctly that the factory spec for the front axle actually has 5 minutes of POSITIVE camber? I was thinking of going to about a degree negative (providing I can get there on the stock suspension adjustment) with minimal toe-in.

Also, I noticed the toe settings fr and rr are 5 (plus or minus 5) minutes of toe-in. Does this mean it's safe to run nearly zero toe all around? I want to run nearly zero toe, but I don't want the car to be too twitchy at the limit, nor do I want to KILL my tire life.

I'm trying to reduce low speed understeer a bit w/o making the car too twitchy or killing my tires.

Long story short, has anyone tried a degree of negative camber up front, stock rear camber and minimal toe-in all around?

[racer_d]

I haven't yet, but I plan to get as much negative camber in the front with the stock pieces (need to stay stock for Autocrossing class). I am also looking for a smidge of toe out in the front (to improve turn in response). Rear will be neutral toe in/out...

Sorry I can't offer any concrete numbers for you though

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

@oversteerdawg, your goals are opposed to your proposed changes. Neutralizing the car as you suggest will cause it to be very twitchy and will likely remove any warning at the edge. It'll just break-away w/o notice. This will be especially true in Wet, No Passenger, Low Fuel, and other Nose Light configurations and conditions.

Also, the Boxster eats tires as it is, increase the negative camber, and you might as well buy stock in Michelin, Pirreli, etc. cause your tires won't last long.

I'm not saying you can't, or even that you shouldn't. What I'm saying is that every adjustment in the suspension system is a trade-off. And, what you propose will negatively impact those same qualities you're trying to preserve. You can always try it and reverse it later if you don't like the results. Good Luck!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[insite]

i run -1.9 deg in the rear, -1.6 deg up front, and 1/32" toe in both front and rear. the car is not twitchy at all. the rear tires wear normally. the fronts could actually use a bit more neg camber to suit my driving habits. unfortunately, -1.6 is all i can get without dremelling out the strut mounting points on the chassis.

i've considered running slight toe out up front, but haven't tried it yet. anyone?

[John V]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

Hi,

@oversteerdawg, your goals are opposed to your proposed changes. Neutralizing the car as you suggest will cause it to be very twitchy and will likely remove any warning at the edge. It'll just break-away w/o notice. This will be especially true in Wet, No Passenger, Low Fuel, and other Nose Light configurations and conditions.

Also, the Boxster eats tires as it is, increase the negative camber, and you might as well buy stock in Michelin, Pirreli, etc. cause your tires won't last long.

I'm not saying you can't, or even that you shouldn't. What I'm saying is that every adjustment in the suspension system is a trade-off. And, what you propose will negatively impact those same qualities you're trying to preserve. You can always try it and reverse it later if you don't like the results. Good Luck!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

I disagree with your statement about increased tire wear. In my experience with several cars including the Boxster, tire wear seems to be proportional to toe, not camber. Combine toe with negative camber and you have a recipe for tire wear.

I do agree that removing toe from the car, especially in the rear, is going to make the car twitchier.

[Sammy]

Originally Posted by oversteerdawg

I'm trying to reduce low speed understeer a bit w/o making the car too twitchy or killing my tires.

Long story short, has anyone tried a degree of negative camber up front, stock rear camber and minimal toe-in all around?

I haven't tried different settings because I trust that Porsche did plenty of testing to find a good balance. Where are you trying to obtain less understeer? On the street? Autocrossing? Driving events?

In my case I autocross quite frequently and have found that playing with the air pressures helps as well as getting my head out of my rear and getting slowed down enough to plant the rear before I accelerate through/out of a corner. Personally I believe there is already plenty of "twitch" and wouldn't recommend doing anything to the factory specs.

Unless this is a track car I would stay away from adjustments because of the risk of tire wear.

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by John V

I disagree with your statement about increased tire wear. In my experience with several cars including the Boxster, tire wear seems to be proportional to toe, not camber. Combine toe with negative camber and you have a recipe for tire wear.

I do agree that removing toe from the car, especially in the rear, is going to make the car twitchier.

Hi,

I concede your point about Toe, but negative camber does increase uneven lateral wear of the tires. With directional tires, this can make Tire replacement occur before it's time because the Wet traction properties of the tire are lost...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[John V]

Originally Posted by Sammy

I haven't tried different settings because I trust that Porsche did plenty of testing to find a good balance. Where are you trying to obtain less understeer? On the street? Autocrossing? Driving events?

I generally agree, except the Porsche acceptable alignment specs have enough slop in them that one car could be a bit more "tight" than others. I certainly don't advise folks to blindly go and change their alignment settings but if there's a specific goal in mind I definitely think the stock setup can be improved upon.

I can't speak for oversteerdawg but in my case, my autocross alignment is perfectly fine for me on the street (zero toe front and rear, -.5* front camber and about -1.5* rear); this is a daily driver with no PSM. But I wouldn't send my girlfriend out in the snow with it set up this way.

[NickCats]

Originally Posted by John V

I generally agree, except the Porsche acceptable alignment specs have enough slop in them that one car could be a bit more "tight" than others. I certainly don't advise folks to blindly go and change their alignment settings but if there's a specific goal in mind I definitely think the stock setup can be improved upon.

I can't speak for oversteerdawg but in my case, my autocross alignment is perfectly fine for me on the street (zero toe front and rear, -.5* front camber and about -1.5* rear); this is a daily driver with no PSM. But I wouldn't send my girlfriend out in the snow with it set up this way.

Unless your didn't like her very much !

j/k

Nick