OK, I cupped the inside of the OEM tires. I think the toe is off. At least this happened with 21,000 on them, so I'm not concerned. I'm in the market for new tires, and am thinking of Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 in 245/40R18. I will then get the alignment corrected. Is anybody running these tires yet? Any reviews to share?

One item I noticed on the Hunter Alignment computer at the dealership was that there were two entries for the RX8 in terms of alignment specs. The first listed as "standard", and the second listed as "sport".

I have the complete Mazdaspeed suspension with shocks, springs, stabilizer/sway bars. The sway bars don't change anything in the alignment, but the shocks and springs do. Does this mean I use "sport" settings? I assume yes, and so did the dealership, but even they did not know.

Does anyone here have the correct settings for the MS setup? Or is this "sport" setting what I am supposed to use?

 

I'm not too sure I would go with a factory spec'd alignment since they allow for a lot of slop. Find a alignment shop that will adjust to your specs.

Here is what I run during the winter:
Camber: -1F/-1.3R
Caster: As much as possible after adjusting camber.
Toe: 0F/0 rear (or 1/16 toe in for a little more stability)

The only difference for auto-x season is as much front camber (-) as I can get and 1/16 toe out on the front.

 

I know a pretty good aligment shop I'll use. Those look like good numbers. I'm thinking I should just leave it alone until I get the new tires. Any thoughts on that? Or should I correct it now with the tires in the shape there in. I'm not concerned about spending $70 bucks now and then again after the new tires are installed.

I'm still curious about the settings I saw on the computer. I'll see if the dealership can send them to me to post here. Do you have them?

 

I wouldn't worry about it as long as it's not pulling to one side or gets crazy under hard braking.

I posted the factory settings here: https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-racing-25/alignment-settings-street-track-use-43308/

 

So, you have two sets of tires? I need to setup mine once since I don't auto-x. What would be a good all around setup? Is it the toe setting that would cause cupping on the inside of the tires?

 

Dark8- With zero toe all the way around, does the car like to "hunt" on the road? Trying to decide if an aggressive alignment is worthwhile considering the 3 hour drive I have to make to go autox, not much fun to chase the car all over the ruts on the freeway...


ChopsMcgraw

 

I believe Standard means the base model specs ( the 16 inch wheels plus not sport tuned suspension) and the Sport means anything with sport package and above.

 

0 toe seems to tramline a little. I ran 1/16 total toe in on the rear this winter and it made the car less nervous and didn't seem to wear on the tires much. 0 rear toe and 1/16 toe out per side on the front with >-1 degree camber makes it a VERY nervous car to drive.

I'm actually getting my "summer" alignment in a couple of hours and this year I'm going to document the difference between 0 and 1/8 toe out in the front so I can make the adjustment at the event. Remember I use 17" Kumho MX tires in the summer which thanks to it's taller/softer sidewall isn't as twitchy and don't tramline as bad as the OEM Bridgestone's.

 

Fordahl motorsports in Kirkland - there's not a place around here I'd trust more...give them a call; they'll balast the car and do the alignment with the weight of 'you' in the driver's seat.

 

Looks like Kirkland is going to be a pit stop for me!

 

Hunter Screenshot

 

I've tried zero toe in the front, 1/16th toe out in the front, and I'm back to zero toe in the front.

I'm also on 17" Kumho MX's

 

Alignments seem to have the best of me right now. If my OEM tires have cupped, hope that is the right description, what setting would affect that?

 

Was the front toe out bad for auto-x or just bad for daily driving? I'm running 0 for the street. Yesterday we found that 1/8 of a turn will give you about 1/16" change in toe on the front. So I'll try different adjustments this year and see how the car reacts.

 

the toe out was bad for autoX (and not too great for street either). Turn in was amazing, but then the car scrubbed off speed in sweepers. Zero Toe in front has netted the best results for me. Oh and I had toe out before going staggered.