Too much toe - is it a bad thing?
Discussion
The lower control arm snapped the other week (after going over a speed bump), I replaced both sides with adjustable control arms which are stronger than the OEM version.
I paid a visit to a local laser alignment company and they duly set up the suspension according to the manufacturer specs.
The problem I have is that both rear wheels now toe out at quite an aggressive angle.
Being that the new control arms are adjustable, I could opt to hop under the car and straighten them up, but then I got to thinking... The car's been set up per the manufacturers recommendations - they (VW) must have tested various iterations of suspension setups and established that the aggressive toe out must be beneficial to handling (despite causing premature wear to the inside of the tyre).
So, is too much toe a bad thing? Should I neutralise the toe since I very rarely drive the vehicle to its limits?
I paid a visit to a local laser alignment company and they duly set up the suspension according to the manufacturer specs.
The problem I have is that both rear wheels now toe out at quite an aggressive angle.
Being that the new control arms are adjustable, I could opt to hop under the car and straighten them up, but then I got to thinking... The car's been set up per the manufacturers recommendations - they (VW) must have tested various iterations of suspension setups and established that the aggressive toe out must be beneficial to handling (despite causing premature wear to the inside of the tyre).
So, is too much toe a bad thing? Should I neutralise the toe since I very rarely drive the vehicle to its limits?
Blim_bug said:
Nope, not camber (from my limited understanding), toe out = the top of the wheel sits further into the arch (towards the centre of the car) whilst the bottom of the wheel sticks out more?
No, that's negative camber that your'e describing. Tow out means the fronts of the wheels are further out than the backs, so the two sides of the car are trying to drive away from each-other.
Suggest some homework here - that's not toe, that's camber.
"Toe" is like your feet, where your toes can either be pointed together relative to your heels (toe in) or pointed apart (toe out).
The Porsche in the photo is exhibiting "negative camber".
It's fair to say that if a car has either toe out or positive camber it will probably have very wayward handling!
"Toe" is like your feet, where your toes can either be pointed together relative to your heels (toe in) or pointed apart (toe out).
The Porsche in the photo is exhibiting "negative camber".
It's fair to say that if a car has either toe out or positive camber it will probably have very wayward handling!
kambites said:
Blim_bug said:
Nope, not camber (from my limited understanding), toe out = the top of the wheel sits further into the arch (towards the centre of the car) whilst the bottom of the wheel sticks out more?
No, that's negative camber that your'e describing. OK, so is too much negative camber a bad thing?
doogz said:
Yeah, that's camber.
Toe is the angle the wheel is steering at, basically.
You were describing both of your rear wheels steering out the way, "agressively"
Are those Beetles FWD yeah?
This Beetle is AWD - well to a certain extent - FWD until slip detected, then shunts power to the rear (Haldex).Toe is the angle the wheel is steering at, basically.
You were describing both of your rear wheels steering out the way, "agressively"
Are those Beetles FWD yeah?
Blim_bug said:
OK, so is too much negative camber a bad thing?
Generally, negative camber will increase your stopping distances and decrease your traction, but aid cornering (up to a point). Thus, more negative camber on the back than the front will make the car more prone to understeer and vice versa. It will also mean that the inner edges of your tyres wear faster than the outer ones. Edited by kambites on Wednesday 18th January 15:59
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