Miata alignment question

I have FM Vmaxx Track Pack on my '96 Miata and about to have an alignment done. FM suggested setup is:

Front: Caster:5.0 degrees, Camber: -1.0 degree, Toe-in: 1/16" or 9 minutest total (1/32" or 4.5 mins per side)

Rear: Camber: -1.5 degrees, Toe-in: 1/16" or 9 minutest total (1/32" or 4.5 mins per side)

The main use is strictly weekend driver and mainly for autocross with hopefully a couple of track days thrown in there. Since it's not a DD and I am not worried about tire wear, should I stick with FM recommended setting or is there another set-up that I can use. I tried to use the search button since I know this had been brought up before but somehow couldn't find the right thread. Thanks all.

Changing the front toe to total toe-out of 1/16" will improve turn in response without effecting tire wear.

Most people I know (myself included) prefer as much camber from the front as possible, with a touch less in the rear. Stock 99' can usually swing -1.5 degrees front and I'd put the rears at -1. I'm a big fan of zero toe in front to balance wear with crisp turn-in.

Keep an eye on your camber wear and don't be afraid of remounting your tires when they're getting too worn on the inside (too much street driving) or outside (too much autocross) shoulders. Most Miata tires can handle the outside side being on the inside.

Yeah Miatas have pretty quick steering racks already, they don't need help jumping into a corner quickly, I'd go with zero front toe. It might not make much difference in tire wear vs. 1/16" toe-out but it will help road manners a lot.

+1 for more front negative camber. For autocross, you might also want to try zero rear toe.

trucke wrote: Changing the front toe to total toe-out of 1/16" will improve turn in response without effecting tire wear.

Yup, and as much camber as you can get.

Got it, so as much negative camber as I can in the front. Should I get zero toe from front and back?

If you are going to be using it mostly for DD, go with the specs as listed. Your tire wear will be normal. The camber and toe out as suggested is ok for driving in anger but not cruising.

Your choice.

I ran my 96 with the VMAXX pack at:

Front: -2.3 degree camber zero toe and as much caster as possible

Rear: -1.7 camber zero toe and again with the caster

I daily drove it and autocrossed it.

It's mainly for weekend drive and autocross so I'm not too concerned about tire wear. From theoretical standpoint, what will happen if I have small (say 1/16) toe out for the front and either 0 or small (say 1/16) toe in for the rear?

If you go for max camber, you'll be trading it off vs caster.

What kind of tires are you running, 200tw street tires, or Hoosiers? The Hoosiers like a lot of camber, I have 3.5 degrees on mine. That required using offset upper bushings, and has a significant impact on street tire wear. OTOH, it's something like 1.4 gees of lateral grip with the Hoosiers on. :)

ea_sport wrote: It's mainly for weekend drive and autocross so I'm not too concerned about tire wear. From theoretical standpoint, what will happen if I have small (say 1/16) toe out for the front and either 0 or small (say 1/16) toe in for the rear?

Slight toe in for the rear will help your car hook better and push in a straight line when you lay down the throttle, especially if you're open-diff.

The more out you are in the front, the twitchier your car will be.

0 to 1/16 out on front and 1/16 in on rear is pretty sweet.

There is lots of good info here: http://949racing.com/miata-race-alignment-info.aspx

I think their "dual duty" alignment should be close to what you want. That's pretty much what I run on a similar car to yours. My use of the car is also similar to yours.

Yeah their "dual duty" alignment is pretty close to what I had in mind, give that a try.

Subscribed!

Nice thing about caster is that it adds negative camber to the outside wheel and positive to the inside. Albeit in small amounts.

I made a world of difference on my ZX2SR when I nearly doubled it. It even let me run a little less camber. All checked with tire temps.

Thanks guys, here is what I think I'll have:

Front: -2.3 degree camber zero toe and caster >4

Rear: -1.7 camber, 1/8 toe in total (1/16 on each side).

ea_sport wrote: Thanks guys, here is what I think I'll have: Front: -2.3 degree camber zero toe and caster >4 Rear: -1.7 camber, 1/8 toe in total (1/16 on each side).

Probably should do more rear camber, and less toe. I like Front max camber at least 3.5° caster 1/16th total toe out

Rear same camber as the front but not more than 2.5° zero toe

Dont forget to remove that rear sway bar if your rear spring rates are higher than 300lbish so you dont 1 tire fire every corner exit.

Thanks guys. I guess I forgot to mention that I am running in STS so I have open diff and I am still trying to wear out my 140tw R1R, which is allowed for one more season at the local level.

I used the Icehawk (I think that's what it's called) alignment when I had my Miata. IIRC it was fairly aggressive but I had good wear across the tread. It has some toe-out in the front so turn-in was super sharp but grooved highways were, uh, "exciting." I found it on Miata.net.

So I was able to get -2.3/-2.0 camber F/R and 0 and 1/16" toe F and R. The thing is apparently I had rusted out front caster and camber bolts so they were not able to get the 4 degree caster that I asked for. It was set at 6.8 degree on either side. I am not an expert in this space so what does a higher degree of caster mean, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Thanks guys.

More caster is good for performance use (up to a point). It means the steering will be a bit heavier, but you'll get more favorable camber changes with steering and the car will "self-countersteer" more.