Suspension Settings?

[S13wanabe]

I know some guys here race autocross and in other race series. I was just wondering if you are using any negative camber or really what your suspension settings are. I have adjustable control arms, RS*R Race Springs and KYB AGX shocks. I just want to maximize handling but have no real idea what to set my suspension at. Also it seems really hard to find people competant enough to align a car to specific settings. Do anyone know of a place is Orange County, CA that does performance alignment. Thanks a lot for your help guys.

[CivicSiRacer]

It really depends on the sport. Autocrossing the turns are quicker so you are really getting onto the tires quicker than road racing.

For my settings I use (2000 Honda Civic Si):
0 toe front. You can add about 1/8 toe out to get a quicker turn in but your tires will wear quicker.
0 toe rear.
-3.0 front camber. This might be a little extreme for daily driving.
-1.5 rear camber. You want less camber in the rear to get the rear to rotate (and take out understeer).

I also run Skunk2 front camber kit, Ingalls rear camber kit, Comptech Rear sway bar/strut bar, Koni Yellows, custom rate Ground Controls, Neuspeed front upper and rear upper strut bars. And of course Falken Azenis 205/50x15" tires on Kosei K1 rims.

The biggest improvement for the money was the rear sway bar and of course tires, since that's' what's connecting you to the road.

My 1991 is setup almost the same with better products:
Koni SPSS shocks, 400/450 springs, Suspension Techniques rear sway bar, -3.5 front, -2.0 rear camber, 1/8 toe out front, 0 toe rear. Car is dropped pretty low.

[S13wanabe]

Thanks. That helps a bunch. Is that what a lot of people run in autocross?

[CivicSiRacer]

Originally Posted by S13wanabe

Thanks. That helps a bunch. Is that what a lot of people run in autocross?

Depends on what class you run. IN stock class you are limited on what you can do. So with most cars you can set toe to an extreme setting to get better turnin and cornering, but that's about it.

[SilverY2KCivic]

Originally Posted by S13wanabe

Do anyone know of a place is Orange County, CA that does performance alignment. Thanks a lot for your help guys.

West End in Gardena, talk to Darren there. They set up most of the local national SCCA participants there as well as local road racers. They can even corner weight for you as well.

As for you other question, CivicSiRacer pretty much answered it. Especially in auto-X, tire pressure is also a very big key factor. Just a couple pounds difference, can mean a night and day differance in the handling characterists of your car.

I run on Tein SS coilovers with higher rate than standard springs (10kg front and 6kg rear currently), so what I do would be different than what you might want to do for a setup.