Autocross/Street Alignments

[Grey 65]

I purchased #888 used 3 months ago and will be autocrossing it and plan on corner weighing the car and then setting the alignment. I do not know anyone who autocrosses a Cobra much less a BDR and am looking for recommended settings to use as a starting point.

Most of the E36 BMW guys around here are running -2.5 camber with 1/8 toe in for the front and -2.0 camber with 1/4 toe in for the rear.

I am hoping somone here can give me a little guidance.

Note I am using street tires with a treadwear rating of 200. I am not using Hoosiers.

Thanks,
Kevin.....

[MOTORHEAD]

I seem to recall they had race settings in the owners manual. Did you get that with the car ? If not, call Backdraft in Florida and ask for Reg. They race those things seriously and have all-out race options available.

[vatdevil]

I autocross with -2 camber front and rear, 0 toe front and 1/8 toe rear. You will wear tires fairly quick with this much camber. I also run these settings on the street. I also run max sway bar setting on the front and minimum on rear and reset when back on street. Tire pressure seems best from 28-30 psig for autocross. Tires are Nitto NT01s.

[bobcowan]

Aligment is fairly dependent on tire choice. A Hoosier likes a lot of camber, around 2.0-2.5*. But a Kumho V710 works best with a lot less camber, like 0.75-1.0*. I suspect a street tire would be similar to the Kumho.

Without tire temps, you really won't know until you can see a wear pattern.

[Grey 65]

Motorhead: Yes I have the manual. It pretty much says run less than -1 camber for the front and -.5 for the rear for the street. For race settings call Reg. (The manual was written in 2006, even talks about lugnuts)

Vatdevil: Thanks.... I'm running Nitto 555's...

Bobcowan: You are correct.... I was just looking for a starting point. I have a temp gauge....

I've decided I will start out with -1.75 camber and 1/16 toe in for the front and -1.5 camber and 1/8 toe in for the rear and will work from there...

Kevin.....