Performance Alignment impact on DD
 

I have read a lot of posts on alignment and mods. I am curious what the real world impacts are for a daily driver. My 2015 BRZ has stock wheels/tires and suspension. I am thinking of Whiteline camber bolts and getting alignment with negative front camber, 0 toe front and slight rear toein. Will this alignment be noticable on street, or will it really only help when pushing car really hard? Will it be worse on highway?

I'm close to West End alignment, so would probably go to them for thrle alignment

Thanks

Len

If you drive at the top 10% of what this car can do often then do it, if you drive like an old lady then don't do it. If you are somewhere in between well I have no idea because I am not messing with my alignment until this spring time otherwise I would be able to give you a real answer. I also want to know more about the pro and cons of an aggressive alignment on a street car other than tire wear.

The amount of camber you can get with just camber bolts wont be anywhere near enough to cause increased tire wear. Having the toe set to zero might cause a slight increase in tire wear if there's sufficient deflection in the bushings. But I doubt it as the factory spec calls for sufficient toe in to cause it's own tire wear.

I'm presently running -2.5 degrees of camber front, -1.5 degrees of camber rear, 0 toe all around, and a little more caster from some whiteline control arm bushings. The car still tracks really well, and is beautifully predictable at all speeds.

toe is what really messes up your tire wear. you should be fine as long as you're not running some crazy negative camber like -5.

Like ryoma said, toe matters more, but a lot depends on driving habits, surfaces, and tire inflation. Generally, I find that my tires wear on the inside and outside edges much faster than they wear in the middle. My 550i wore the inside rears out faster than anything, but it had a bit of extra toe before I realigned it.

You won't get that much camber from the camber bolts, maybe -1.3ish. You'll be fine with those settings, the front will feel more nimble and the car will be more responsive overall. Talk to (Darren?) at West End about how you drive and he will give you good advice on your specs for the alignment. I would go with whatever they suggest.

Why do you want an alignment? The factory specs are pretty good - if you get aftermarket suspension and need an alignment then get one then

:laughabove:

Factory toe is pretty decent from what I've seen (and rear camber is acceptable but uneven on many cars), but factory front camber is non-existent, tons of grip is hidden away and the car understeers because of it. I started out the year with the exact same setup as OP and it was definitely an improvement on track and autox without any sacrifice to DD.

IMO, camber plates and a good alignment made the car drive better than good tires (Z2 SS) and budget coilovers (B14) has so far, can't wait to get my rear LCA's on in a few weeks.

:happyanim:

The average owner doesn't need any of this, no argument.

djdnz: it's worth checking/doing alignment at least once even on completely stock car anyway. Simply because factory (and thus many dealership's) allowances are too broad, and alignment of completely new stock car can have alignment out of whack vs what is expected from performance car and still be within "factory" specs. You may be in luck and have it little out of shape .. but you can be aswell not as lucky.

I've been running a similar setup the past few years. Stock suspension, Whiteline camber bolts, -1.5 front camber, 0 toe all around. On the street the steering is a bit lighter at low speed and the car feels slightly darty on the highway, but overall it's not too different from stock. I don't notice any additional inner tire wear.

If you track often, you will probably want a more aggressive setup/alignment. I'm still noticing a lot of outer edge tire wear so I probably could use another degree of camber in the front and half degree of camber in the rear.

How is the ride on the b14?

Hi LenA,

I do not know if you have seen this, but this page/thread was very helpful to me when deciding about BRZ Alignment:

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=25001

Although :) I am not sure that I fit into “real world impacts for a daily driver”...

I have had a baseline alignment (without adjustments) done to get OEM alignment numbers,

a quick adjustment alignment to pull my numbers (as close spec) after coilovers install,

and will have a full/complete alignment, in a few weeks, after the suspension settles, and I have my LCAs installed.

I personally believe alignment is very important.

hth, cwpbrz-ji

if youre that close to WestEnd, then it doesnt hurt to just stop by and talk to darrin or chris. theyre both smart as hell and super nice. let them know what your plans are, and even if you dont know, they can help provide advice and direction for you to know and then decide what your plans would be.

to start off, you can get the camber bolts for the front and have westend align it for you to best suit your driving style/needs. you wont get a lot of adjustability with just that, but they can definitely still tidy the alignment up and recommend settings that will meet your needs.

there are a ton of places that have fanbois and hype, but westend is one of the VERY FEW places that honestly lives up to the hype and even beyond. and they dont rip you off.

There are guys claiming they're getting even tire wear in the front with more than -3* camber. Not sure how they are doing this, or if they're measuring the center tread depth. :iono: