Maximum toe-out for road course track days?

[GTP]

What is the maximum reasonable front toe-out for road course events?

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[WItoTX]

I am at no toe on front, and 2.5 total toe-in, in the rear. I actually haven't been out with it yet, April 24 is the next event.

 

[NGOT8R]

Are these track only cars or are you guys running back and forth to the alignment shop?

 

[WItoTX]

90% track, 10% road (to get to the track). And maybe once a month to work.

 

[GTP]

Are these track only cars or are you guys running back and forth to the alignment shop?

It's been reported on the forum that 0.4 toe change can be expected when changing between street and track camber.

So if 0.2 toe out is acceptable for the track, then that puts it back to 0.2 toe in on street.

I want to know if I can avoid the alignment shop by choosing a set toe angle.

 

[Ewheels]

It's been reported on the forum that 0.4 toe change can be expected when changing between street and track camber.

So if 0.2 toe out is acceptable for the track, then that puts it back to 0.2 toe in on street.

I want to know if I can avoid the alignment shop by choosing a set toe angle.

There's really no need for street and track alignments. Camber doesn't hurt tire wear so set it as aggressive as you want for the track and leave it. Zero toe front is perfect for dual purpose cars. If track only car, you can try a little bit of toe out

 

[GTP]

There's really no need for street and track alignments. Camber doesn't hurt tire wear so set it as aggressive as you want for the track and leave it. Zero toe front is perfect for dual purpose cars. If track only car, you can try a little bit of toe out

Thanks but my car is >95% street and I don't want to sacrifice street traction on AS tires either.

 

[boardkat]

Camber doesn't hurt tire wear so set it as aggressive as you want for the track and leave it.

I wanted to believe this years ago, but it’s just not true on heavy, high HP cars driven at/near the limit at very high speeds (and the resultant heavy braking, which I think is the culprit). I run -4.25 up front, 0 toe w/ spherical bearings (no rubber = no movement under heavy load), and ABS. Here’s what my inside fronts looked like (note the usable tread left elsewhere), after excursions at UMC and LVMS (as well as concrete autox/prosolo exposure at Lincoln and Crows Landing):

 

[Ewheels]

I wanted to believe this years ago, but it’s just not true on heavy, high HP cars driven at/near the limit at very high speeds (and the resultant heavy braking, which I think is the culprit). I run -4.25 up front, 0 toe w/ spherical bearings (no rubber = no movement under heavy load), and ABS. Here’s what my inside fronts looked like (note the usable tread left elsewhere), after excursions at UMC and LVMS (as well as concrete autox/prosolo exposure at Lincoln and Crows Landing):

I guess I could've put more detail into my overly-generalized statement.
The point I was trying to make is that track-oriented amounts of camber will not be overly detrimental for street miles. The effort required to switch back and forth between street alignment and track alignment on a mostly street driven car is not worth while, in my opinion. Toe will kill tires much much faster on street miles than camber ever will.

 

[boB]

It's been reported on the forum that 0.4 toe change can be expected when changing between street and track camber.

So if 0.2 toe out is acceptable for the track, then that puts it back to 0.2 toe in on street.

I want to know if I can avoid the alignment shop by choosing a set toe angle.

Have the alignment shop set it for 0.2 toe-in, mark the tie rods, then set for 0.2 toe-out and get them to check how many turns it takes on the tie rods. This should be something we can then adjust at home with good repeatability.

 

[shogun32]

you don't want >0.1 toe (front) on each side (0.2 total) and frankly a darty car (toe-out) isn't helpful unless you are prepared for that.

 

[GTP]

Have the alignment shop set it for 0.2 toe-in, mark the tie rods, then set for 0.2 toe-out and get them to check how many turns it takes on the tie rods. This should be something we can then adjust at home with good repeatability.

Yeah this is what I want to do the most. If the delta is really as high as 0.4 then I would probably take the trouble to do this. But it is pretty easy to get confused and mess it up too.

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