Think of caster as the "rake"... kinda...

 

*they took down the picture *

More caster is better. You gain camber in corners and it improves straight-line stability (tracking). The only downside is increased steering effort which doesn't really matter with power steering.

Toe settings for racing purposes and toe settings that get the car to drive in a straight line with minimal steering input are usually two different things. The ideal settings for auto-x for my car would make it twitchy and uncontrollable on the highway. You have to compromise.

You should be able to find a forum that has good handling information that will let you make choices on these settings. It's a Civic- the information has to be out there.

 

XAT did my alignment

 

I had the coupe aligned at the Melbourne TK and bought the 3 year plan because well its just the coupe . They did a good job .

Then we replaced my suspension on the coupe so I had the alignment done at the TK at 301 & 60 because I can drop the car off and walk to work . They stripped the lug nut to which I can only say my bad for not telling them to not impact the one wheel when they balanced the tires that day because I was also getting that done . They could not get the toe to zero

Then I had the lugnut replaced which means a new wheel bearing replaced (well now I have two brand new wheel bearings on an old car at least) and so I had the Melbourne TK do it and toe is zero and camber is way better . Good techs over there . They listen

Now for my 91 hatch, he has an appointment with Cars and Concepts because Barry has been very happy with thier work on his cars.

So yea i feel ya

Melbourne TK yes Brandon TK no

 

I had the car aligned at Cars and Concepts. Man, that was totally worth the extra money spent. It only took Dan 1.5 hours to take my car from over 1 degree toe-in up front (!!!), wacked camber all around, and other complications to almost perfect all the way around. I talked to him for a good 10-15 minutes when I got there discussing what I wanted and asking him questions and with his input decided on settings. Then when I came back to pick it up I talked to him again for probably 5-10 minutes discussing the results. My car has had a rough life- I slid it sideways into a curb a few years back and tweaked the left suspension, and though I replaced most of the suspension pieces and got it mostly into line the mounting points are still bent. I also welded my rear toe/control arms to eliminate active toe but managed to lock them into the wrong position while welding them. Despite all this he got all but the back left where I wanted them (back left was too tweaked for stock adjustment- I'll get some aftermarket tubular toe arms to fix my poor weld job and get some more tire clearance while I'm at it before my next alignment). Overall the shop had a good atmosphere, people working there seemed like real enthusiasts, and it's the kind of place where they won't do shoddy work for less money, only high-quality stuff there.

In conclusion- Cars and Concepts= worth the premium.

 

Oh, and the difference in the way the car drives is tremendous. It drives straighter, handles better, the steering is VASTLY improved, and it actually seems to accelerate faster and at first glance is getting significantly better gas mileage, the last two because of the massive toe it had previously.

 

Had my M3 into Cars and Concepts for an alignment and corner balance and everyone there was very friendly, Danny did most of the work and he was great.

 

Heh. It's amazing what a difference it makes when all your wheels are pointing in the same direction.