PCA SDR

After having gone to the tech session at Mirage and listening to Jae, I was wondering what an AX alignment would look like. I'm at a loss. With only an AX and a driving school under my belt I'm not sure what to expect in my car ( 82 911SC Targa) I was not unhappy with what I turned but would like to do better. What can I expect from an alignment. I'm not even sure this is the right question but it is a start.

That is a complicated question. At a minimum getting your car aligned and corner balanced (with your weight in the car) will help your car handle and turn better than if it had not been set up. The type of tires you drive also factor into the type of alignment you might get. Mainly around the necessary camber that a tire likes to have to perform best (contact patch under load). Your suspension set up also factors in since car sway also has some affect on tire contact patch. Jae is very good at alignments so he can help you for certain by finding out what you skill level is and what your suspension and tires are.

If you are new to auto-x you might just drive for a while and learn more about auto-x driving lines and car handling before getting into this. If you are more advanced then by all means jump right in there.

Consult with others who own your car type, but a general rule of thumb is - maximum negative camber on all four wheels (2-3 degrees [or more] if possible - make sure it is symmetrical on each axle, of course), zero toe-in on the front wheels and a little bit [very little but more than zero] of toe-in on the rear wheels.

Kim Crosser wrote:Consult with others who own your car type, but a general rule of thumb is - maximum negative camber on all four wheels (2-3 degrees [or more] if possible - make sure it is symmetrical on each axle, of course), zero toe-in on the front wheels and a little bit [very little but more than zero] of toe-in on the rear wheels.

Kary wrote:If you are new to auto-x you might just drive for a while and learn more about auto-x driving lines and car handling before getting into this. If you are more advanced then by all means jump right in there.

Both answers are correct, IMO.

First, ask yourself two questions:
1) Am I really going to get in to this a lot? Is it worth the changes in "street-able" ride comfort and cost to alter my car's set up for track driving/AX driving.

2) Should I spend more time learning driving skills before investing money and altering my car for competitve driving. (Hint: it's cheaper to learn more skills .... at $40.00/per A-X; and a lot more fun in the driver's seat ....... than spending $$ and adjusting your car's street ride, only to get marginal improvements in your timed runs at the AX's. Improved skill level will improve your scores faster than car mod's at your current level of driving experience, in most cases.)
Kary's remarks are right on the money with this logic. I concur. Learn more, spend less, and have fun in the driver's seat. After a year of steady improvements in skills, look to altering your car.

As to camber, toe-in/toe-out, and other specs, talk to the pro's. They can help you gain the best setup configuration, at the best price, and find the best compromise between ride, speed, and learning. Kim's set up configuration sounds pretty good as a "bench-mark" for your set-up, but every car is slightly different. (Bear in mind, with a more agressive set-up, your tires will tend to wear faster, so keep an eye on them. If you run negitive camber and don't do much tracking, the inside half of the tires will wear faster than the outsides. You'll need to 'flip" the tires on the rims annually to offset the wear-affect of negitive camber.)

As an example: my wife spent 3 years improving her skill-level in a 912 that was never "set up" for tracking in regard to the suspension or tires. She used to run 0.0-degrees camber, 1 to 3 mm toe-in front w/ 0.0 toe in/out rear, and street tires. She moved all the way up to 2nd place winnings in her class against other cars that may have had more set-up. Now, we've recently had her car completely set up (Happy Birthday, thanks Jae lee) with a more "agressive" track configuration. It will be interesting to see how she does.

Talk to others about this, but many folks think skill level will enhance overall results faster than spending lots 'o' cash up front.

These are just my opinions.

Thanks to all. I know that skill level is important and am planning on working hard on that. Changing the car right now is probably not the right move, but knowing what needs to be changed helps when the time comes. I appreciate the info and all the help. Can't do this Nov. AX but will be there in Dec. Thanks again. All the comments are a great help.

Ron