Correct Alignment on an S2k?

[Elusive8S2k]

I've heard that the S2000 does not have a "perfect" alignment because of the way its tuned for handling. Is this true? and if so, when I get my new wheels/tires put on I wanna get everything set to go. I'd like to print out a sheet that has the recommended front and rear settings for aligning the S2000. Thanks for the help!

[bjurasz]

"Perfect" alignment? By what way do you mean? "Perfect" for tire wear? "Perfect" for handling? "Perfect" for straight-line stability? I think you get the idea of what I am getting at.

[gomarlins3]

^Good questions. You need to be a little more specific.

If you just want some general alignment specs, many people go with the UK recommended specs:

Front
Caster Left 6° 45"
Caster Right 6° 45"
Camber Left -1° 00"
Camber Right -1° 00"
Toe Left 0° 0"
Toe Right 0° 0"
Total Toe 0° 0"

Rear
Camber Left -2° 00"
Camber Right -2° 00"
Toe Left 0° 20"
Toe Right 0° 20"
Total Toe 0° 40"

[Elusive8S2k]

Thanks for the reply. I was trying to specify "perfect" as meaning what the manufacturer recommends. And gomarlins, the camber/toe you just specified, is there a lot of tire wear? I'm in the US. Thanks

[Java Junky]

Hi El, I can understand about not wantin' to prematurely do your tires in, but tires're meant to wear. Their wear's what gives us our traction n' more than bein' concerned about stock settin's causin' tire wear, I think your base question should be do they give me the traction that I'll need when I push the car.
Tires, brakes n' clutches wear. You don't wanna waste 'em, but you wannem to do what they were designed to do as best (efficiently as) they can.
N' the numbers that I have match what Go gave you.
Be well.
Java

[Elusive8S2k]

Alright, thanks Java. Ya, you're right. Although I am a little bit more friendly on my car then alotta peeps would be with their S2000's lol. My main drive is to work and back and it's a fairly straight shot. It's just every now and then that I take my car through Deals Gap TN on weekends and really push it. So I guess what I wanted was to know the ideal settings to have a good efficient alignment setting that will not wear too premature on my daily driving but also give me the confidence I need to push the car when need be.

Thanks again

[Java Junky]

Deal's Gap? If that's the same Deal's Gap that I remember from . . well, let's be polite n' jus' say alodda years ago, you're talkin' about really pushin' it through some serious twistys.
The UK settings that Go recommended will serve you well through the Gap and get you back n' forth to the job without any muss, fuss r' bother. That's not to say that there aren't better settin's that'll do a better job at either end of this spectrum, but, I don't believe that there's a better setting that'll allow you to do both as well as these settings will.
Spend some real time on the selection of your new rubber. That's gonna yield you the biggest results in extra traction.
Deal's Gap eh? Damn El . . you sure disturbed the brain-cobwebs with that one! 'Got me thinkin' of takin' a trip. (The thinkin' part's easy. We'll see)
Be well.
Java

[Elusive8S2k]

Hahah Java. Yes, you are thinking of the same deals gap. 11 miles or something of that nature of nothing but twists and turns. I also have a ninja 636 I take through there every summer. It's a beast. But it's so beautiful. There are a lot of people with S2k's that come thru there as well. Maybe I'll see you up there again one day haha. Thanks again for the info.

[carguy123]

I use a modified UK alignment.

I generally get all the caster I can get up front which may or may not be as much as 6.45.

During the off season I use the UK alignment except I eliminate almost all the rear toe to minimize tire wear.

During the season I add the rear toe back in, but I use a little more than the UK. Too little toe makes the back slide happy.

I run about 1.25 camber in the front.

This makes my car a little more neutral. I am running 18" Kinesis rims and BMW spec S02s on the front and Porsche spec S02s on the rear. (9+" on the front and 11+" on the rear.)

[bjurasz]

Good info on the UK alignment. Two questions. On the rear toe, what is 0 degrees 20 minutes in terms of inches? I'm going to assume its 1/16" toe in (for 1/8" total toe in, rear suspension). Second question, what is the factory alignment setting? Thanks.

[gomarlins3]

From what I can find, the factory specs are:

Front
Camber -0.5d +/- 0.17d
Caster +6.0d +/- 0.25d
Total Toe In 0+/- 2mm

Rear
Camber -1.5d +/- 0.17d
Total Toe In 6mm

[gomarlins3]

Honda UK settings are published in degree/minutes and the Hunter machine take inputs in decimal degree so we have to do some translation. Here is the translated nominal:

Front Caster 6°45" = 6.75°
Front Camber -1.0°
Front Toe 0.0°

Rear Camber -2.0°
Rear Toe 0°20" = +0.16°
Total Toe 0°40" = +0.32°

[Max_Spd]

In regards to this thread and the camber angles...

I got brand new tires and a factory alignment in jan of 09 and now in June of 09 and 7000 daily driving miles later i have belts showing on my rear inner tire, now when i had the alignment done the rear showed -1.4 for both rears!!! my outside thread is is @ 80% or so, and i drive the car spirited dont do donuts or burnouts...7000 on new tires doest not seem right...I did drop the car and i have 255-35-18 on the rears but this was before the alignment!!! now I have to spend $300 on a new pair or rears with only 5months and 7000miles... Ideas as to what went wrong?

[wgrandmont]

Gomarlins3 is correct on the factory specs. My owners manual says the OEM tires will wear out in 10k miles.
The Bridgestones wear out fast. I put a nail in one of my rear tires at about 7k and ruined the tire. I replaced the rears with Kumo All season ASX tires with a wear rating of 420 and the same speed and load rating as OEM. I find the tires quiter and they hold better in the rain and are at least as good in the dry. Also cost less.

Performabnce alignment:
Front -1.75 degrees camber
toe 0 to 1/16" out
caster as close to 4 degrees as you can get

Rear: -2 degrees camber
Toe 1/4" in

FYI, This setting makes the inside edges wear even more.

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by Max_Spd

7000 on new tires doest not seem right...

What are you basing that assessment on? What brand/model of tires? What did you have before and how did they wear? Some tires will wear out faster than 7,000, some slower. "7,000 miles" by itself doesn't mean anything.

IIRC my mechanic recommends alignments 2x a year as a rule of thumb for the S. Of course, a number of variables can affect that recommendation.

[Kalm_Traveler]

Originally Posted by takeshi

IIRC my mechanic recommends alignments 2x a year as a rule of thumb for the S. Of course, a number of variables can affect that recommendation.

I'd recommend that too if you payed me for alignments

[jagg]

I'd recommend that too if you payed me for alignments

Hells yeah!

Although, my personal belief is that Stewie isn't that prone to chronic suspension misalignment issues. (unless you're prone to screwin' with perfection.) I run some rough roads, not lots of problems.

jagg

[Max_Spd]

Im not sure about the previous owner... He had 17" wheels with tires showing wear almost equally...

But I got a brand new set of NANKANG NS-2 255/35/18 with -1.4 rear camber...

Again only the inside edge was worn down to the belt/polyester lining the rest of the tire had 80% life left