Need alignment advice.

[Turbo6Smackdown]

I'm wanting the old boat to handle a little bit better, and by better I mean turning. Turning response, turning ratio, and overall tightness. I feel I have the latter two down, but I know alignment can affect how your car responds overall, and that's something I haven't experimented with yet. I'm assuming (for now) that my car has a factory alignment on it, and that's probably faded a little over the years. (I rarely drive my car though)
But when I do experiments on this car, I do them incrementally so I know what changed what. For my first experiment I'm going to keep everything stock and throw a different alignment on it. I hear from some experts on this board that's been through it that it can make a noticeable improvement, but I can't find any advice on here. I'm looking for (if it exists) any suggested alignment angles (on an all factory car) that might improve cornering or steering response. This is not for any sort of autocross or similar events - just spirited street driving. I don't "cruise" my car like a grandpa but I don't get all Colin McRae either.
I'm going to screw with both the control arms, the steering box/shaft & the front suspension maybe next year - so for now I'm looking to see what just alignment angles do. Anyone?

 

[charlief1]

It's on here because I wrote it. If I remember right, it's called drag alignment and was started by AlkyV6 (Donnie). There's a thread in the stickys that has links to other threads about alignment, brakes, and handling, If the links are working then it might be easier to do it that way.

 

[dynoman]

http://www.turbobuick.com/threads/g-body-drag-car-alignment-settings.290592/

I think this is what Charlie was talking about .

 

[charlief1]

That's the one Sam, thanks.

 

[charlief1]

That's the one Sam, thanks.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

Ok, read it. Now, this camber and caster stuff is starting to sound like things that affect your understeer/oversteer, and the whole loaded tire on the outside of the turn while going 70, which I will never do in this car. Do your suggested measurements have anything to do with how quickly the car reacts to steering input at say 30 mph? And how fast do these angles wear your front tires? I drive my car maybe 300 miles a year.

 

[charlief1]

Understeer is when you go into a corner and the car seems to nose dive and slide the original direction. Understeer is when you go into a corner and the back end slides to the side as you're turning. Not 100% a perfect answer but for a beginner it should make sense.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

Oh no, I fully understand the differences, I just want to figure out if we're on the same page when it comes to the end result, which is a quicker more responsive turning car at normal speeds, like say 30 mph. I think I just answered my own question on your original thread though now that I think about it... (I've had alignment class too and most of it escapes me now lol) When I go back to the days of road bikes (racing ten speeds) I remember the really steep head tube angles (the tube where your fork and stem go into) made for a really quick and sharp turning bike, while the really relaxed head tube angles made for a bike that was easier to ride with no hands, but turned really lazily. Same thing for our cars? Or no...

 

[charlief1]

You've got a good grasp of it I think. The biggest issue with high caster on a street car can be edge wear. As the wheel turns it changes camber and rides either on the inside or outside of the tread. If you take a lot of turns then the edges of the tires will wear faster than the center.

 

[No disintegrations]

It's not worth it if you're only driving it 300 miles a year. Almost imperceptible differences. Real handling improvement can be had with rims tires lowering the car, poly bushings, etc.

Tires of different brands will handle better or worse sometimes.

 

[Turbo6Smackdown]

Ahh ok. So a mediocre alignment wouldn't make the car turn lazy? That's good to know. I didn't want to spend more time and money trying to fix something that wasn't wrong. So I'm guessing a solid steering shaft and upgraded steering box would give more bang for the buck?