Advice on alignment - just bought new tires

[sfritz]

I wanted to ask for some advice.

Been following the forum and watching all the back/forth on OEM tires and their poor performance and wear, staggered vs squared setup, etc...

So I did my research and figured out the tires and wheels that I wanted and fit my budget. Went 18x9 Neuspeeds with 245/40/18 Michelin PS4S. Ordered from a well respected vendor out West and had them balance and mount the tires and ship to me. My new 2018 originally came with the staggered setup.

I changed out my wheels yesterday, set the air pressure and am very satisfied with around 100 miles into it. No TC lights, etc. And I am slowly adjusting to the feel with all of the changes I entered. The Michelins feel really nice so far.

I did have significant inner tread wear on both front wheels. Similar to other postings on how bad it was. I’m guessing like many of you that complained and/or posted pics. I only had 8500 miles on Pirellis.

My question on advice is what are the targets for alignment and specs that I should target now. Did my factory car come with too much toe in that led to the really bad inner wear on front tires? I’m guessing that getting these new wheels aligned is a good idea and want to know what to look for. I don’t have much experience here.

Also - bonus question - would you recommend the Audi dealership for the alignment? Do I tell them some of the targets that others might suggest vs just saying “I need an alignment?” I am tuned and have never been to the local dealership as I bought my car from further away.

Thanks for any help.

[Potatohead_RS3]

The original tires are garbage - As in, I think there is something severely wrong with the design of the tire. It is absolutely not normal for tires to wear in the inside shoulder like these have been for many multiples of cases, and many people have had their alignments checked (myself included) with nothing out of the ordinary. The tires are literally wearing almost on the sidewall.

Anyway, if you want stock alignment specs, the dealer is the place to get it done, IMO. If you have some aftermarket suspension pieces and want to go more aggressive, go elsewhere.

[Rs3three]

Going to an Audi dealer you will pay a premium but may not get premium work.

I’d go to a respectable alignment shop to get the work done. I usually keep my toe setting to a minimum as toe combined wth camber will accelerate wear.

[cseaman]

my car (2019, non dynamic) came with a ton of toe. i moved to 265/35r18 hankook ventus v12 evo2s and neuspeed springs at 1000 miles and had the car aligned, which is when the toe was diagnosed. would def recommend you get the alignment squared away. i had my car on the lift today (5k miles) and the new tires are doing very well and wearing very evenly. i read so many stories about the stock pirellis that i had my wheel/tire setup in the garage before the car was on a boat from emden.

[P5stunna]

The Audi dealer charged me $143 for the alignment which seems reasonable to me.

[dklein8989]

Went 18x9 Neuspeeds with 245/40/18 Michelin PS4S. Ordered from a well respected vendor out West and had them balance and mount the tires and ship to me. My new 2018 originally came with the staggered setup.

Mind sharing where you purchased from? I've been looking at the same setup and receiving them already mounted and balanced would be a huge convenience. Thanks!

[sfritz]

Mind sharing where you purchased from? I've been looking at the same setup and receiving them already mounted and balanced would be a huge convenience. Thanks!

Will send DM.

[sfritz]

Thanks all for the advice. Appreciate it.

I’m interested if the alignment shows off or not per the earlier comments on the Pirellis.

[SmittStarr]

I took my car to a respectable local shop to install my Michelin PS4S on the stock rims and get an alignment. They put me up on the Hunter machine and the alignment was dead on, requiring no changes. They didn't charge me for the alignment -- gotta love a respectable shop.

[Chaoscreature]

Alignments on these cars is extremely simple, but take the car to a place that tunes vw's/audis.

All you can do is set the toe in the front, which is ridiculous but getting more and more common. In the rear you get camber and toe.

I would set the toe in the front to between 0.00 to 0.05 degrees per side. A good shop will nail these settings left/right and even make your steering wheel straight. Lots of crappy shops or newbie techs will send you home with a crooked steering wheel :(

In the rear I would recommend matching the camber to the front and setting the toe between 0.05 to 0.010 degrees per side.

This is a sporty alignment, but won't be too darty.

[sfritz]

Alignments on these cars is extremely simple, but take the car to a place that tunes vw's/audis.

All you can do is set the toe in the front, which is ridiculous but getting more and more common. In the rear you get camber and toe.

I would set the toe in the front to between 0.00 to 0.05 degrees per side. A good shop will nail these settings left/right and even make your steering wheel straight. Lots of crappy shops or newbie techs will send you home with a crooked steering wheel :(

In the rear I would recommend matching the camber to the front and setting the toe between 0.05 to 0.010 degrees per side.

This is a sporty alignment, but won't be too darty.

Thanks for the details on the settings.

[cheeba]

All you can do is set the toe in the front, which is ridiculous but getting more and more common. In the rear you get camber and toe.

Are you sure about this? I haven't checked mine out yet, but it's insane that a car like the RS3 would not have a camber adjustment on the front end!

[Painstain]

Are you sure about this? I haven't checked mine out yet, but it's insane that a car like the RS3 would not have a camber adjustment on the front end!

There’s not much adjustment on the front camber(+/- 1*ish), but the MQB platform does have camber adjustment up front.

[cheeba]

There’s not much adjustment on the front camber(+/- 1*ish), but the MQB platform does have camber adjustment up front.

Thanks! Yeah, so it's the same as pretty much every other transverse VAG car. Do you have any idea what the max is up front? I'd love to run -2.5-2.8 (I know stock isn't going to get there), but I don't want to run camber plates in this car because I love how comfortable it is for its performance level and I don't want to compromise that.

[Chaoscreature]

There’s not much adjustment on the front camber(+/- 1*ish), but the MQB platform does have camber adjustment up front.

I know you can unbolt the subframe and jack it around a bit to balance out the left/right camber but I have seen nothing that would allow you to actually change the total camber without purchasing camber plates or special lower control arms. Of course I own a lowly A3, so maybe the RS3's got something I am not aware of?

[cheeba]

...Of course I own a lowly A3, so maybe the RS3's got something I am not aware of?

This is how VAG usually does things - when you move up the chain for any given platform, things like lowered suspension, geometry-optimzed control arms, and geometry adjustment are added, so that would follow what they've done in the past. For example, you can bolt many TT bits onto the corresponding platform MKIV/V/VI Jetta/Golf to optimize the performance and handling.

I'll start a thread when I eventually get my RS3 in the air, as I'll be looking to max the front camber and optimize the geometry for sharper handling.

[Chaoscreature]

Cheeba,
So is the adjustment in the control arm ball joints? If so, are the adjustment slots in the arm or the joint?

[cheeba]

Cheeba,
So is the adjustment in the control arm ball joints? If so, are the adjustment slots in the arm or the joint?

I can't speak to the RS3 specifically, but on every VAG car I've seen, the adjustment slots are on the control arm. Usually, companies (like Superpro) end up making ball joints with a bit of camber adjustment (and usually better roll centre geometry) as well.

I'm sick of running noisy, failure-prone (my local roads eat these things up) spherical bearings, like those found in adjustable camber plates, but I did find this solution, which I'm going to try:

https://store.034motorsport.com/dyna...-ttrs-mqb.html

OP, since we're a bit off track in your thread, here's my input. There is not enough camber adjustment on these cars to eat the inside of the tire, so it's definitely your toe. I typically run -2.5-2.8°F on the street and don't have issues with tire wear. Also, asking for geometry settings without stating your vehicle use and driving habits, and your desired outcome in handling is going to get you answers all over the map. Factory cars are set with negative toe for straight line stability, but this dulls handling. Zero toe will get a sharp turn in, but may feel a little tendency to wander on the highway. Toe out will get you a very sharp turn in, but is usually only advisable for racecars or very aggressive drivers.

That said, you bought an RS3 and pretty good tires, so I'll assume you are a reasonably aggressive driver. I like zero toe all around, and -2.6°F/-2.2R to make a transverse Haldex car pretty neutral. Less camber in the rear will yield less grip, allowing the car to rotate better. You would obviously need mods to get that much camber, so I would just max them all out, but keep the F/R setting in mind. If you hate understeer, you may want to give up some rear negative camber to rotate the car better. This is why it's never as simple as asking "what setting should I use?"

Sorry for the long explanation, but I feel geometry optimization is the most underrated 'mod' you can do to any vehicle - it can completely transform the feel (and performance) of a car!

[Painstain]

Thanks! Yeah, so it's the same as pretty much every other transverse VAG car. Do you have any idea what the max is up front? I'd love to run -2.5-2.8 (I know stock isn't going to get there), but I don't want to run camber plates in this car because I love how comfortable it is for its performance level and I don't want to compromise that.

Sorry, Cheeba. Just saw your post. Max without camber plates that I've been able to get (evenly) was -1.3* up front and -2.7* rear.

[xliv]

I took my car to a respectable local shop to install my Michelin PS4S on the stock rims and get an alignment. They put me up on the Hunter machine and the alignment was dead on, requiring no changes. They didn't charge me for the alignment -- gotta love a respectable shop.

Mind sharing which shop you went with? I've been looking for a good shop in the GTA.

[TZilla]

Sorry, Cheeba. Just saw your post. Max without camber plates that I've been able to get (evenly) was -1.3* up front and -2.7* rear.

This is my experience up front as well. Camber is essentially non-adjustable stock. You can try to even things up by shifting the subframe as needed, change the caster slightly and gain a tenth or two of a degree with loosening things up and taking out some slop.

[sfritz]

This is why it's never as simple as asking "what setting should I use?"

Sorry for the long explanation, but I feel geometry optimization is the most underrated 'mod' you can do to any vehicle - it can completely transform the feel (and performance) of a car!

^ Thanks for the direct feedback! Appreciate you taking the time to explain it.

I’m learning, and that’s what I love about this forum!

[cheeba]

Sorry, Cheeba. Just saw your post. Max without camber plates that I've been able to get (evenly) was -1.3* up front and -2.7* rear.

No worries, and thanks man! Looks like I'll definitely be running some sort of camber solution because -1.3°F is garbage for a performance vehicle.

[Chaoscreature]

This is my experience up front as well. Camber is essentially non-adjustable stock.

Whew, I'm not crazy :)
I was hoping I was wrong because that would mean I could upgrade a part or two to RS3 spec and get camber adjustment.

[WZ3R0]

Mind sharing which shop you went with? I've been looking for a good shop in the GTA.

Also curious what shop.