Wheel alignment specifications

[Cruise98]

I know what the factory recommends, but what are people running on street cars? There seem to be two schools of thought on the rear toe. Some swear by toe out, others zero and still others toe in. My tires tend to age out before I wear them out so tread wear is not a huge concern.

I have been running +.5mm toe out on each side in the rear, and liked the way it handled. Looking for experience and opinions. Thanks.

[cda951]

I always recommend a bit of toe-in for rear stability. The factory rubber trailing arm bushings deflect during hard cornering , which causes the outer rear wheel to toe out, which can cause "rear steer" in extreme cases. Way back when I was first doing track events and time trials in my '86 951, I was running in an "improved" class, which allowed for upgraded dampers and sway bars, but not springs or bushings, so while I wanted a car that could rotate at will (a lot of static negative front camber goes a long way here), rear traction was also of paramount importance . . . . I had to run almost a third of a degree of rear toe-in per side to counter the deflection of the original rear bushings! If you aren't doing track work, this would be excessive. I now have all solid bushings/bearings in the suspension and run a minimal amount of rear toe-in.

Your 0.5mm toe-out is minimal and is actually close to being within factory tolerances, which are measured in degrees per wheel----is your 0.5mm toe being measured at the wheel rim? If you like the way it handles and tire wear is minimal, leave it as is.

[Cruise98]

Chris:

Thanks for the feedback. I am leaning towards leaving it alone. Don't fix what ain't broken.