The First Alignment - 800 Miles

[Honad]

One of the first things I have always done with new cars is an alignment. They are generally out of whack or at least not optimal for what I want out of a car. Most cars are dialed to zero for the most part. Either way, it's nice to get the car up on the rack to take pictures of the undercarriage when it's so damn clean and new. Something that certainly doesn't last very long when it's your daily.

Factory specs were as follows:

Left Front:
Camber 0.5
Caster 3.4
Toe: 0.03"

Right Front:
Camber 0.4
Caster 3.3
Toe: 0.05"

Left Rear
Camber -1.7
Toe 0.10"

Right Rear
Camber -2.0
Toe 0.09"

There is absolutely no adjustment in the rear of course being a solid rear axle without the use of shims, so there was really no help there, though it did change just a bit after the front alignment as it will.

You have very limited adjustment in the front, done all in the shocks. We were able to dial out the positive camber (which, what the hell?) and get the toe set where I wanted it. Settings after were as follows:

Left Front:
Camber -0.2
Caster 3.4
Toe: 0.00"

Right Front:
Camber -0.2
Caster 3.3
Toe: 0.00"

Left Rear
Camber -1.4
Toe 0.09"

Right Rear
Camber -1.7
Toe 0.10"

Couple pictures of the old girl up on the alignment rack.







Not a great shot, but in the picture the two bolts on the strut that give you the only factory adjustment that you really have camber wise in the front.


Front undercarriage shot


Center section undercarriage, I'm really digging how flat everything is. You can also see the big orange high voltage line!


Where your batteries go, nice and low in the car.


A pretty good shot of your twisted beam rear.


Shot of the battery tray and the rear suspension

[moline]

honad

can't thanks you enough for the info!! i see a trip to evasive motorsports in my future.

take care
later
dan

[Goose]

Thanks from me also for the pictures. I agree that most new cars aren't set up well at the factory.

With the dead-straight wheels, are you having any wander/tramlining on the highway?

[Honad]

Originally Posted by Goose

Thanks from me also for the pictures. I agree that most new cars aren't set up well at the factory.

With the dead-straight wheels, are you having any wander/tramlining on the highway?

The positive camber would've contributed more to that allowing less contact patch in a straight line, but no, I haven't experienced any weird wander other than when I'm blown by the 80 mile an hour storm winds that kick up around here.

[muddy]

Positive camber at the front! Do you suppose that is to induce more understeer? Were you able to do an at limit comparison before and after?

[Honad]

Originally Posted by muddy

Positive camber at the front! Do you suppose that is to induce more understeer? Were you able to do an at limit comparison before and after?

I think that they did it to even further increase the efficiency of the low rolling resistance tires. Less contact patch = lower resistance = better gas mileage.

[JnC]

I'm noticing a lot of wandering when I'm at highway speeds. Particularly if there's a semi in the vicinity. (Flat road, no grooves)

What could be causing the sensitivity to small steering inputs? Toe?

And are you certain that gray thing is the batteries and not the fuel tank? I would have thought the batteries were located before the twisted beam partition.

Edit: It looks like the container in front of the twisted beam is actually the fuel tank.

The 10.6-gallon composite fuel tank, located in front of the rear suspension torsion beam in the CR-Z, is a critical component in compliance with Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (AT-PZEV) regulations that require a zero-evaporative emissions fuel tank. A polyethylene composite design meets the zero-level evaporative emissions performance level while also minimizing weight and allowing for greater fuel capacity.

http://www.hondanews.com/channels/ho...a-cr-z-chassis

[muddy]

The wandering around a semi is from aerodynamics, there is not much you can do other than get away from the big vehicles. The rest of, it is up to discussion.

[kgb_m3&z]

Was just wondering how you were able to adjust camber up front. I lowered the crz last night and those front strut holes didn't seem to have any room for adjustment. They're perfectly round so once the bolt is in, it's in. Did you end up using different bolts or something?

[Ludercrz]

Originally Posted by kgb_m3&z

Was just wondering how you were able to adjust camber up front. I lowered the crz last night and those front strut holes didn't seem to have any room for adjustment. They're perfectly round so once the bolt is in, it's in. Did you end up using different bolts or something?

usually the control arms are adjustable. not sure for our car.