Alignment settings to make it a bit more track focussed?

Hi chaps, about to put new MPSS boots on and am doing a few track outings soon so was wondering if anybody would comment on how the alignment could or should be adjusted to make it a little more track use focussed. I don't want Carlos Fandango look, just to avoid scrubbing the tyre edges (like all track days seem to do with road setup).

Any advice much appreciated.

My advice is to wait until someone releases adjustable front upper strut mounts to give you addition camber in the front to reduce scrubbing. The rears are fully adjustable from the factory, the front only has toe adjustments at the tie rods. On a FWD based car (like all Golfs are) you want 2-3 degrees of negative camber all around for optimal track times and longer tire life with aggressive driving, lowering the car will only give you about 1-1.5 degrees on average. You can also replace the LCA's with units that will give you more caster which aids in high speed stability, but I would only add caster on all out track cars is it makes the car react weird on uneven road surfaces found on most public streets.

Thanks for that Rj - btw we are talking about a mk7 R not just an FWD GTI, so does your sage advice still hold? (ie there is no front camber option?) BTW as you suggest with our other cars we do run a bit more neg Camber all round for track use.
thx

You can change camber in the front, only it cost MONEY....
But as an example, when you lower the car, it gets tops -1.5 if you're lucky, then there's the Super Pro roll center adjustment ball joints that can give you another -.5, the you have-2.
The other way is if you're buying coilovers, you could get ST XTA, they adjust camber.
Or the more expensive one is to get camber plates which are expensive ( I have only seen the VWR so it's your call.
I'm shure there's more.

OldBob said:

Thanks for that Rj - btw we are talking about a mk7 R not just an FWD GTI, so does your sage advice still hold? (ie there is no front camber option?) BTW as you suggest with our other cars we do run a bit more neg Camber all round for track use.
thx

Click to expand...

The Golf R is FWD based like I said before. The large majority of the vehicles weight sits over the front wheels and 50-100% of the power is sent through the front wheels at all times on an R... so yes, you still want additional front camber to reduce tire scrub.

carlosalicea said:

You can change camber in the front, only it cost MONEY....
But as an example, when you lower the car, it gets tops -1.5 if you're lucky, then there's the Super Pro roll center adjustment ball joints that can give you another -.5, the you have-2.
The other way is if you're buying coilovers, you could get ST XTA, they adjust camber.
Or the more expensive one is to get camber plates which are expensive ( I have only seen the VWR so it's your call.
I'm shure there's more.

Click to expand...

These adjustable balljoints do not clear factory R/PP brakes. As I stated above, nobody (including VWR) makes adjustable upper mounts for the MK7 yet. Coilovers like ST are the only way to get them right now... but you couldn't catch me dead with ST coilovers lol.

Until some more camber options are available do yourself a favor and buy a tire pyrometer. I have been running RS3's on my R and it likes high pressure. My pressures from todays Auto X - Driver Front:46 hot, Passenger Front:52 hot, both rears were around 44. I settled on these pressures after fine tuning the temps to within 6 degrees from inner to outer shoulder. Every course and track will have different numbers. Getting the temps across the tread as even as possible is your best indicator to a tires sweet spot and making sure that you are doing everything you can to avoid excessive tire wear. This sounds insane to some but hit the track at 50 psi front and 45 rear and bleed off from there checking the temps to make adjustments. I'm in the same boat though, can not wait for a reputable company to make some camber plates. One other thing is to keep an eye on thin ribbons of rubber developing on the backs of the tread blocks, this can be an indication that the car is being overdriven. For now this is the best advice I can give you to save you tires while getting the maximum grip from them.

Thanks for the input guys, much appreciated - off to SPA for Monday and the Ring Tues/Wed so I'll let you know how I get on

RjRacing said:

The Golf R is FWD based like I said before. The large majority of the vehicles weight sits over the front wheels and 50-100% of the power is sent through the front wheels at all times on an R... so yes, you still want additional front camber to reduce tire scrub.


These adjustable balljoints do not clear factory R/PP brakes. As I stated above, nobody (including VWR) makes adjustable upper mounts for the MK7 yet. Coilovers like ST are the only way to get them right now... but you couldn't catch me dead with ST coilovers lol.

Click to expand...

So since I have a non PP GTI, the ball joints will fit my gti.
I was worried about the fit.