Tomorrow I have a appointment for wheel alignment on my '02 MCS. This car doubles as a daily driver as well as a weekend warrior. From what I have heard, the camber is not adjustable. Recommendations have leaned to wards a Toe setting of 1/16 (out) for the front, & 1/16 (in) for the rear. I will be using BFG G Force TA KDW2 tires on Pro Race II 17" rims. Do the specs for toe settings sound correct & is there pressure recommendation to start with, using 17" tires. ( I know 17 ain't the first choice, but thats what I got & there is very little info out there).
Thanks in advance.

 

Unless you have a larger rear sway bar I think you'll be better off with 0 rear toe, to help rotation. Higher or lower rear pressures, than normal, will help rotation also.

 

I agree... toe out in front, 0 toe in rear...

 

In the front I'm running 1/16 out each side for a total of 1/8th.
In the rear I've got 1/16 out total.
Stock rear bar.
Car is a daily driver.

 

Thanks for the suspension info. Anyone out there running on sticky non run flat 17" tires that can offer some pressures?

 

I ran my BFG KDW2's at Carolina MOtorsports Park last year. The pressures I was using were 42 front and 38 rear if I recall. I torn the hell out of the fronts though so be warned, no front camber is murder on the tires. Keep in mind, that was a track day not an autocross so pressures may or may not be very useful. It is a place to start at least.

 

Thanks all for your help. I know this topic has been beaten to death, but I was unsure if the discussion included the 'older' style suspensions. I set the front end toe at -.05 on each side for a total of -.10 out. (I'm lousy with math 1/10th" ?). I will have to track the car, but it seems to work well on the road.I was going for a multi purpose setting here.There was absolutely no adjustment to be had in caster & camber. I tried loosening the strut towers to no avail. Of course, as expected, there was no adjustment (including toe) in the rear suspension ether. This is what I ended up with:
Front: caster 4.2 & 3.8 rear:
camber 0.4 & 0.9 camber 1.8 & 1.4
toe -0.05 & 0.05 (total -.10) toe .10 & .05 (total.15)

I'm new at this, and don't know this alignment shop. Are we in the ball park here? Your comments appreciated. Thanks.

 

Rear toe is adjustable, if you requested a specific number go back and tell them to do it again. It requires the loosening of THREE bolts (one hidden by a plastic flap) at the front end of each trailing arm and a means of sliding the arm in or out.

You can even out the front camber by loosening the subframe bolts and sliding that in the desired direction. I'd want the dealer to do that or a trusted alignment shop.

You also sound uncertain of the measurments. It will be in degrees or inches. If it's in inches, get rear done again. If it's in degrees then the rear really isn't so far off zero as I'd consider it important to go back for that but then the front really wouldn't be where you want it if it's -.10 degree.

 

These would be cold pressures?

 

I'd highly recommend picking up the April GrassRoots Motorsports issue. They have an extended article on setting up their MINI for autocross. It's a pretty comprehensive write-up; shocks, tires, wheels, alignment, etc etc etc. They cover stock class, some beyond stock info, and even "what if I want to...." stuff. Good info from some serious racers.