I am getting into tracks days more and more with my 08 IS350 and I am having a huge problem with excessive ware on the outside of my front tires. I seem to be getting 3 days in before the tread is gone on the outer edge of my front tires. Rears are wearing nominally. I have been working with an alignment shop which has very good knowledge of track cars and they basically say all the can adjust is the toe and everything else is non-adjustable. All in all they recommend much more negative camber which they can’t achieve. For those our you tracking your car what alignment are you running. Do you need to modify either the ball joints or upper control arms to get this. Any help would be great as tires are killing me.

 

Why are you tracking the car on stock suspension?

 

What's wrong with the stock suspension? In stock form it is perfectly capable on the track and a great deal of fun. I just put some swaybars in a upgraded the brakes and I have no issues with the stock suspension. I think the real question is why more people arn't tracking their cars. All in all I could throw a few thousand in upgrading the suspension to improve its track performance but then it would ride like crap on the street which I don't want. Plus it is still an IS and will never be a great track car no matter what you do to it. I would rather save some money and look into a more track specific car (ie M3, Porsch, ect) some time in the future.

 

Also probably should have put this in the suspension threads. Can it be moved?

 

Mods can/will move it eventually.

I was not responding to your post negatively, just asking a question based on what you were trying to achieve, the negative camber. A couple of us actually track the 350, even some 250s go out. I guess the question came from the fact you were willing to hit an alignment shop to make adjustments. Why not spend the extra few and have some dedicated coils for the track. I'm sure you have tires and brakes for them.

To answer your question (as I guess I should have seeing as the 90 some odd views were unable to), you should have them Toe In. I have them at both (fronts) at .1, or atleast as close to as possible because on stock suspension you're always going to have that uneven tire wear on your driver side front wheel.

I'm sure someone will have a more technical answer for you as I'm just throwing what I looked into about a year ago when I tracked mine. I'm just saving for a good set of coils, which btw if you got good ones, you'd be able to adjust them to behave just as stock if not better. Thats how I had them on my IS300..

 

Thanks for the heads up. I was hoping to solve the problem correctly with camber but I know adding a bit of toe would help out. It has its negatives but I guess it is better than what I have now with zero toe. I have thought of getting a good set of coilovers but really can't justify spending the 1500-2K for a quality set as I will probably only have the car for another year or two. I am hoping to save up and get a M3 but we will see how that goes. Just trying to get the best I can get out of the more or less stock car without spending a lot of money.

 

You do realize that getting a set of $1k coilovers can offer you a very similar ride quality as does your OEM suspension pkg? If you are deadset on by-passing the coilovers, which can do two track-worthy things for you :

1) lower center of gravity (height adjustments)
2) once lowered, natural negitive camber is added

...then you can get for the front :

1) Figs adjustable (1 degree) UCA bushings
2) SPC adjustable (1.5 degrees) ball joint
3) Brand new Megan adjustable ( degrees unknown) UCA

...or you can get for the rear :

1) Figs or Megan LCA
2) Megan or Cusco camber arms

 

Good info Gville350 .

If you're not looking at all that fun then just focus on Autocross Tires like Hoosier R6. The Set of 4 is $1,312.00
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....0&autoModClar=

 

For something for budget-friendly, check out these BFG R1s : http://www.ebay.com/itm/BFGoodrich-G-Force-R1-225-40R18-Tire-225-40-18-RACE-ROAD-COURSE-/151000833950?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item232859df9e&vxp=mtr

 

Just bought a new set of tires so I will be good on that front for a while but thanks for the sugestions.

If I were to go the coil rout what suggestions would you have. Obviously want something that will improve my track performance and can with stand the abuse but not kill my street performance as I have to truck my 2 and 3 year old around. What spring rates would be a good compermise. If I go this rought I would probably get some adjustable ball joints as well just so I don't have to deal with that down the line as they are pretty cheap. If I only lower it an in inch or so would rear camber arms be required if I am aiming for about -1.5deg of camber? Thanks for all the help on this.

 

I have BC Racing coilovers with a 12k/8k spring rate. I wish I had gone with a 14k/10k rate, especially if I was gonna be tracking my car. I DD my 350 now and have my settings dialed in to something similar to the stock sport suspension that came with the car originally.

Yes, lowering the ride height will add natural negative camber. I'm not sure what drop with net you what additional negative camber. I can tell you I lowered my 350 around 2" lower than stock (measurement for top of fender arch to ground) all around and got 2.3 degrees - camber up front and 2.8 degrees - camber in the rear. Got myself an alignment after the install and my tires worn evenly (though I did have to dismount the tires and do a rotation once...uni-directional tires).

No, you won't need the SPC ball joints or rear camber arms if you just lower your ride height using the coilovers.

 

Free bump from the new guy who wants to hear more discussion on this...

I've been driving my (new to me) '08 IS350 for a few days, I've planned on taking it to the track since long before buying it. I found this thread searching for some alignment advice.

Keep in mind even small amounts of toe are going to eat your tires for lunch, it absolutely can change your handling characteristics, but unless you are going after the last tenth of a second I don't think it is worth it. Just my humble opinion.

Take it for what it is worth from the new guy, but I really think you are going to want more camber in the front than in the back. Especially with the stock staggered setup, I think you will want ~ -2.5* in the front and ~ -1.5* in the back. Theoretically that should help the smaller front tires bite a little better and reduce understeer.

Any more alignment tips for those who take their cars to the track?

 

^I don't think we have any on here that seriously tracks their 2ISs and knows the "perfect" setup; we all have different setups and different ways we drive, so one camber setup on one person's car might not work for another's.

All I say is take notes of what you do and run at the track and try didn't things that work out best for you.

Do you plan to have a dedicated set of track wheels/slicks?

 

Not planning on a dedicated track setup, but, I don't drive a-lot of miles, so during the summer I will run an "autocross" class tire. I'm thinking a Kuhmo ECSTA XS because it comes in the sizes I think I want, I'll probably run a 17" rim too. I'm not in a huge hurry though, I'll wait until the current tires are worn out.

 

[QUOTE=WylieKylie;7942166]Take it for what it is worth from the new guy, but I really think you are going to want more camber in the front than in the back. Especially with the stock staggered setup, I think you will want ~ -2.5* in the front and ~ -1.5* in the back. Theoretically that should help the smaller front tires bite a little better and reduce understeer.
QUOTE]

This is the exact setup I was going for with zero toe one either end. Shop said they couldn't even get -1deg of camber on either end due to the lack of adjustments. Kind of sucks that the cars don't come with any kind of camber adjustemnts. I guess now the options are to either invest in aftermarket parts which allow for camber adjustments or just to eat through tires quicker. Agreet that lowering the car on coils will help get close to what I want but will still not allow for any adjustments to get it exactly where I want it.