Headed to "The Shop" later!
 

Friends,

I finally got around to getting my Swift Springs and SPC Rear Control Arms + Front Camber Bolts installed. Totally expected my alignment to be off, but this time it was exceptionally bad to the point where it frequently triggers my VSC to kick in and it'll start braking for me in low speed turns. Car is horribly "floaty" and unstable right now, so alignment is happening today @ The Shop, in San Bruno.

I'm looking for handling that's at least as tight as it was stock (BRZ) but can take on the twisty canyon roads with greater confidence than before. I believe my SPC front camber gives me (1.75 +/-) of camber, and the rear is (2.00 +/-). I realize it's not too much to work with... though correct me if those SPC specs are wrong.

• Swift Springs BRZ Spec; lowered 1" [Front: 3.8/kg - Rear: 4.5/kg]
• Most of my driving will be on the highway (commuting)
• Spirited weekend driving up in the "twisties"
• Occasional track and AutoX usage (May 9th @ Thunderhill HPDE, for example)
• Seeking handling that is a bit more tame - noob friendly!

Anyway, I appreciate any advice you can provide on a somewhat "all-around" alignment setting given my options. I would appreciate input on how to deal with alignment guys too, to make sure I get what I want.

Many thanks in advance,
David

PS - Taggin' @MyRx @PMok @overlookedx

I can't believe your alignment was that far off after installing those parts.

It sounds like your rear toe got horribly misaligned. It can cause the car to become very very twitchy and make it very easy to kick the back end out, which is what it sounds like your car thinks is happening. I've installed this same/similar set up on a few different cars with no issue, so this is pretty surprising.

Generally speaking, you will want to max out the negative camber on the fronts. As much as -2.0 if you can.
And about the same on the rears, aim for -2.
Zero toe in the front, and only a tiny bit of toe in at the rear.
My caveat is that I do very little highway driving, mostly twisties and track. :)


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Post up a review how it goes.

Tell me about it, try driving in the rain with VSC kicking in, eager to pull you into a wall... Just got to work, was driving with the hazards on the whole time doing 40 max.

What he said ^

Try to get as close to -2.0 up front as you can. That is, until you get wider wheels and you have to worry about the tire rubbing the spring perch, but that's a whole other issue.

Similarly, the SPC camber bolts may only get -1.75 but be more concerned with equal camber rather than "maxed out" camber. The bolts plus your suspensions may not be equal. If this is a proficient shop, they'll know to equalize it rather than letting the customer say "max out".

As for the rears, agree, install may have gone wrong. Get the install checked then recheck it again before dialing it in. The rest people have already mentioned. Good luck.

Thanks Jessie, the install definitely was done properly! Joey and Ben from "Joey's" in South SF double checked and Matt from The Shop happened to be there (w/ his LS RX7, no less) and he also took a look as well. One thing I forgot to mention is that the toe bushing wasn't installed yet. Matt said he'll see if we need to install it today if we can't get toe to where we want it.

I'll try to achieve maximum negative camber in the front, but making sure it can be done so equally.

Thanks again everyone. I think eventually when I upgrade my wheels, I'll go for a better solution (Raceseng caster/camber plates + Racer X upper control arms)

Camber being way off wouldn't do this. You have something seriously fucked up in the caster or toe or something for the system to measure such different rotations in the tires from left to right. I lowered my car 2" on coils and it drove just fine for about a week without alignment.

Also why did you spend so much money on arms and stuff vs. just getting coils?!? That baffles me.

This is just my observation from installing this stuff for people but:

Springs: $300ish
SPC LCA: $200ish
SPC Camber bolts: $20

$520ish + install is maybe $7-$800 vs. decent coil over $1500+ and the average person doesn't know how to properly adjust or use the adjustability of the coil overs.

Again, just my .02

I paid probably 600 total for new parts and install. I considered coils and almost bought V3s but I prefer the ease of springs.

It turns out the toe was completely screwed up in the rear! At The Shop now and they are doing a great job.



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Yeah, good points. After getting springs then coils on my last car I just went straight to coils this time because I knew I'd buy them eventually anyway. I've got almost 50K miles on my V3s now and they still ride great.

Blaine, I'll post the pic of the before alignment specs... the toe was -1.5 Degrees on each rear wheel... LOL not point something.