Norm Peterson

You can always align it to Ford's preferred numbers (or as close as reasonably achievable), but you'll be leaving something on the table once you start driving to use some of that extra performance and composure.

That guy more or less understands that a different set of specs would be required if you wanted to take full advantage of all your suspension mods and were going to drive it that hard most of the time. Which would be how you'd set it if that car was to suddenly become a dedicated HPDE track day or autocross car.

Most people who drive with some enthusiasm but don't get involved in autocross or HPDE need something a bit more aggressive than the OE settings (which are intended for "Joe and Jill Average Driver"). But they need less than what would be part of a fully optimized track setup, so your alignment guy really needs to understand that settings in between those extremes are actually good places for most people in your situation. An in-between setting is still the hot tip for a dual purpose street/auto-X or street/HPDE car, just a little closer to a track setting. In either case, if you never expect to corner up toward a full lateral g, it would be a poor idea to set your cambers at or above the -2° or more that you'd want if you frequently did.

That doesn't mean that your choice of suspension parts was poor or ill-advised. You still get the benefit of sharper response and presumably a little less understeer even when you aren't using 100% of the performance potential of those parts.

IOW, as modded with the parts, the car hopefully fits you a little better than it did when it was bone-stock. Now what you have to do is get the alignment to fit you at your level of driving intensity.


Norm

yourmove

Okay - fair enough.

I am now going to take your advise and not use the bolts in favor of camber plates.

I can wait a little longer for them to arrive; however, I haven't even put a tank of gas through the car.

yourmove

. . . . Just ordered the MM camber plates.

JThor

The reason why Norm is steering you away from the more aggressive settings is that there is a trade off between maximum cornering capabilities and general driveability. While more negative camber will get you around the corners better, the car will be more twitchy and a little more difficult to drive on the street. They tend not to stay in a straight line without regular input and minor defects in the road will make the car dart around more.

If you are just doing spirited driving on the street, you may want to stay close to stock specs.

I read where you were having problems with a shop aligning your car. Look for a reputable shop in your area which specializes in high performance/racing work for mustangs. They will know just how to dial in your setup. General alignment places won't have a clue what to do. Also, the general shops will totally muck up the work. Unfortunately, I'm speaking from experience. Check with the manufacturer of your hi perf parts. They will know the good shops in your area.

yourmove

I did find a local shop that has experience in this area who are in tune with stock specs and adjustment for performance handling.

We are going to target -0.1 camber, +7.1 caster & +0.1 toe.

Norm Peterson

Hopefully that's a typo.


Norm

yourmove

Yup - thanks

-1.0