2redgerm6

so i just thought i would post my experience with having my car corner balanced. it cost me $130 here in orlando at irish mike's (which works with titan motorsports). they were able to get the car to 50\50 weight distribution, the specs are as follows:

car actual weight was 2855 pounds without me
weight with me is 3008 pounds


927l882
----l----
626l576

let me start by explaining how i drive. fast and stupid. just kidding, but i do drive fast at times. i have some turns here that i am very familiar with and regularly take them at 100 mph and have been up to 115 mph on them with complete control no tire slipping or anything. (lee vista blvd for those locals wondering).

anyhow so some things i noticed before being balanced were under hard braking entering turns the rear of the car would start to swing out very quickly and even in a straight line it almost felt like the back of the car was trying to pass the front. that was remedied overall braking distance was decreased substancially. car is much more stable at high speeds, all the way to 127 or 128 whatever its limited too. as far as cornering under acceleration, i need an LSD haha. but the car is just a competely different car in corners it actually fells like a performance oriented car instead of an econo car with performance parts bolted on. i hope this helps, any questions feel free to ask. oh and i have never been on a track altough i am dying too. and check profile for parts.

O5_TRD_tC

what did they do to make it 50/50?

2redgerm6

adjusted the coilovers

engifineer

Not bad.. only 5 lbs off on the corner totals.

I am not running coilovers (yet) or I would do the same for autox. Actually for autox, I want the back to be much looser than it is (typical of a fwd). But I will do that further (already have a trd rear sway) through alignment for now.

How did you set your alignment up? I am most likely going 2 degrees negative camber in front, oem camber in back, 0 toe in back and a little toe out in front. Should make it turn in and rotate a bit better than it is now.

O5_TRD_tC

so the heights r uneven?

engifineer

They are to start When you have a car on a set of evenly adjusted coilovers, the weight will be uneven on each wheel depending on where the CG of the car is. The idea is to have the sum of the weight distributed corner to corner equal. So LF + RR = RF + LR . Then you can play around to get the front/back distribution better as well. In the end, your car is then set up for where the weight is distributed. You do it using scales under each wheel.

Did they corner balance it with you in the car, or with a ballast the same weight as you? If not, have it done that way next time and it will be even better. Even when I have my alignment done soon, I will have him put 170 or so lbs of weight in the drivers seat just to get it that much more accurate.

2redgerm6

ballast was used for weight. alignment specs are as follows:

1 degree negative camber front and rear.
toe zero all around
caster 3.9 for the fronts


thank you, come again.

asthmatic

iTrader: (1)

hey man whats your defanition of coilovers again?

The_Instigator

Sounds good man...I just installed my coilovers and am about to get a corner-balance before my next track day in early sept. Are you planning on hitting the track and giving the car a workout?

engifineer

Very true.. I should have specified adjustable coilovers

Dr_Isotope

iTrader: (1)

I think you misheard the guy at the shop-- he got you to 50% cross (which is very good), but you're nowhere near 50/50 weight distribution. You're at 1809F and 1202R, which is almost a perfect 60/40 split, a 1% shift from stock.

The 52% leftside weight is also quite good for a car in essentially stock configuration. Relocating the battery to the far righthand corner of the hatch area would net you spectacular numbers (rough numbers, of course)...

887--|--882
--------------
626--|--616

With a little tweaking, you'd be as neutral as humanly possible.

2redgerm6

thank you for the info dr. from what i'm understanding 50\50 may not be the best for front wheel and 4 wheel drive cars. i've been reading a little about track set up and even some of the time attack evos are running a 60\40 split, so i'm happy with that. i was in a rush when i typed that and new i wasn't 50\50, so excuse that incorrect statement please.

and as far as relocating the battery i am going to do a rediculous custom stereo install eventually and will relocate the battery then, along with a fresh corner balance.

oh and 300 on blue ray rocks!!

Tamago

lol sounds like you spent a ton of money for pretty much nothing, but congrats nonetheless.. with an alignment like that your car must handle like utter crap.. the tC needs more front camber to shove that heavy ___ motor around corners.. i've set up a tC that worked out OK, but still nothing in comparison to my car hehe.. i guess 2100 lbs > piggy

2redgerm6

you sound very stuck up for someone with a car very low on the totum. i am not bragging to anybody, i am posting info for people who are interested. if you aren't interested in a street car driven for fun then stay off my post. coming on my post and insulting a purpose built fun daily driver doesn't make your tiny ***** any bigger although it may make your tiny ego a little bigger.

both of our cars are slow on the track and on the streets. and my car handles very well and goes very fast for the very small amount of money i have put in it.

compare your your panda terd car to my purpose built track when i have the extra cash to do that (and no it won't be front wheel drive dunb ___). i am done posting in response to ignorance so don't bother responding unless its an apology for your ignorant statements.

FluidMotorsports

You should check out the August 2007 issue of Grassroots Motorsports. They use a pyrometer to check the temperature of the tires on a MINI Cooper to determine what the proper camber angle should be. I am also located in Orlando Florida not too far from Irish Mikes actually. You should come out to a car meet that occurs every Tuesday at 9:30pm across from Waterford Lakes by the Sports Authority and the Post Office. I would really like to check out your ride. I do a lot of auto-x events so I am always interested in finding other enthusiasts. If you do go to the meet, look for me in a black VW R32 with my company logo on the side. Oh and if you need parts let me know and I can save you on shipping fees since you are local .

Cheers mate!

Dr_Isotope

iTrader: (1)

Tire temps with a pyrometer is also very helpful in determining proper tire pressures.

engifineer

And this from a guy that bragged about geting his xA corner balanced and wanted to know if any tCs have yet. But now it is a waste of money Sounds like you just wanted to talk smack to me.

piggy or not, I am running mid pack in a pack of older modded civic hatches (which will make that xA cry.. and tons of other cars as well on an autox track), imprezza rs's, rsx, etc on all season street tires in my tC.. with stock alignment. While heavy, the tC is absolutely no slouch on the autox track with the right setup. Plenty of people have shown that.

And the car needs more NEGATIVE camber in the front, less in the back. The negative camber in front will allow the front to bite more in the corners, but you actually want the back to slip more, so stick with less negative camber in the rear if you can. A slight bit of toe out on the front should make the car a bit more twitchy (that is a good thing if you know how to drive) and make it turn in better. Zero toe on the rear again, to allow the car to rotate. The slight bit of toe out will also actually provide a bit better tire wear with the increased camber.

engifineer

And I am assuming you are autoxing the car. Obviously if you plan on 1/4 mile racing only, you dont want to start running toe out, or even more negative camber.

Tamago

hehe this thread is hilarious

engifineer

care to elaborate? If you think anything I said above is incorrect.. i am all ears :D