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It makes me crazy /laugh when I read the first comment on this thread! So many tyre places and so called alignment guys are full of crap. Tyre guys give uneducated opinions based on NOTHING. just personal opinion. The front and rear are FULLY ADJUSTABLE so you can set them up perfectly for "australian"roads.

I have an educated opinion at least (15 years as tech engineer for Bridgestone and an engineering qualification) and we know our cars. Firstly if you can find the specs, use them. SOme vehcicles are a little different due to design (eg 350Z need more toe in because they have toe out issue under braking) or F/R balance - some FWD run more rear neg camber to give rear bite... but as a general rule: Set them up to suit your dirving needs and roads. eg i drive flat freeway but still want a bit of neg camber for cornering - so half to 1 degree of neg camber, put a bit of toe in for movement of bushes, under braking and wear (1mm measured on the right tyre /wheel diameter).

Re tyre pressures, if you are running 45 series or lower put 40 psi because they are easily damaged if they get a little underinflated. esp if they are subject to excessive camber. the lower the aspect ratio - the more pressure for safety (up to 45). I run 38 in my 50 series, I would not go under 34.

Re tyre wear, how long is a bit of string? depends on alignment and driving. I will get at least 45000 out of mine because I do a lot of freeway. You get what you pay for with tyres. Nankangs and wanlis etc just dont have the balance of grip and wear and are really bad at recovery (slalom). I remember testing wanlis on a reps HSV. I nearly lost the rear end by the 3rd cone and had to abort at 70km/h whereas Bridgestones did 80km/h and just kept going where I pointed them - no snap oversteer no wash - just grip.

But if you like power oversteer coming on easily, and dont mind fighting for your life dodging a kangaroo or animal when the tyre wont recover, go for the wanlis!

This is one of the most educated things ive heard on the topic.

Just as a side note, if your going to get a wheel alignment and the aligner mentions "road camber" just walk away. As somebody thats worked on building roads of all types for years, i can categorically say that all road cambers are different. thats before you consider things like bumpsteer, potholes or other road damage. Setting up every car that comes into your shop to automatically pull right isnt just irresponsible, its down right dangerous!! Every car must be individually aligned to suit the customers needs. If they are unwilling to setup the car the way you request, go elsewhere.

  • 4 years later...

Sorry to dredge this thread up but I'll be taking my M35 to get aligned once I've fitted the Nismo S-tune kit I just bought.

Looking at the alignment specs that people have mentioned the M35 should have 1mm of toe in front and rear? Is that correct?

Every other car I've had recently the toe needed to be 0 front and rear and I've always been told toe in is the worst cause of premature tyre wear. Just want to make sure - if that's what it should be for some handling reason then I'll go with that but otherwise tempted to get it lined up straight like my scooby was.

On 20/11/2016 at 3:08 AM, gazman2 said:

Guess what I'm asking is DO I want neutral toe though? Just wondered if anyone knew why specs I've seen seem to recommend toe in front and rear. Has anyone tried something different?

I've been running zero toe on the rear for quite some time now; no issues . 

 

Front ; I'd suspect you will want an amount of toe in, cars can get a bit "wandery" with zero in the front . 

Thanks Dale! Think I know what you mean about wandery - my accord was annoyingly wandery on the motorway and that was zero toe all round. Really impressed with the M35 handling and stability so far and just don't want to mess it up.

The more toe you have the more stable the car will be, ie less tramlining and the steering wheel will return to straight strongly. The less toe the more willing the car will be to change direction, so its a trade off. Since my Stag is the daily it has toe, but the GTR is zero.

  • Like 1

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