Recommended S3 Alignment Specs

[Dubberz]

I am looking for recommendations on alignment specs for my 2017 s3, lowered with EMD springs and a 034 rear sway bar. I daily this, but also do the occasional weekend spirited drive. recommendations please!

[Spinnetti]

Zero toe front and back, and in my case I run -1 rear camber (along with -2.5 up front with camber plates). Still is understeer biased with that (so I relocated the battery to the trunk and run the RS3 reverse tire stagger too, and now its just about right)

[MikTip]

For a street driven car...Factory specs.

Only thing "adjustable" on the front is toe. Unless you get aftermarket parts to alter camber...

Rear factory spec. As lowering it has already effected your camber. Tire wear maybe excessive...

[Chaoscreature]

Stay with factory specs for camber (as if you have a choice in the front!).
I would try to match the rear camber to the front. There is zero benefit to additional rear camber IMO.
Toe is the only thing you really get to play with. Zero or very little toe in the front will help the car feel more responsive and eager to turn in. You should probably stick with the factory rear toe settings for now, you can always change this later.

[TheMysticWizard]

So, you're telling me 034 wants to charge me $218 to set my front toe. Better yet, the dealer wanted $269!?

I had a suspicion that this was the only setting that could actually be modified and set on my A3. Having a rear torsion bar setup, I am fairly certain nothing can be modified there as far as alignment.

I have fixed camber inserts in the front, so that's not able to be modified. Caster cannot be modified on our cars, so that leaves toe. That's literally it?

[MikTip]

So, you're telling me 034 wants to charge me $218 to set my front toe. Better yet, the dealer wanted $269!?

I had a suspicion that this was the only setting that could actually be modified and set on my A3. Having a rear torsion bar setup, I am fairly certain nothing can be modified there as far as alignment.

I have fixed camber inserts in the front, so that's not able to be modified. Caster cannot be modified on our cars, so that leaves toe. That's literally it?

Well...

They try to razzle-dazzle ya into thinking they are doing a "4-wheel" alignment.

Which they probably are...but your paying for their fancy Laser alignment machine.

Plus hooking up your Audi to their OBD computer scanner...see if its modified.

Or finding mods to proclaim to you your warrenty is void.

$tealrShip$

[MikTip]

I use this at home:

https://www.quicktrickalignment.com/

[Spinnetti]

4 jack stands, string and a tape measure is all you need to set toe. I did in my garage on my race car (as well as setting caster, camber etc), then took it to a high end porsche shop to check it and they couldn't do any better. Any old shop can set toe for <$100. I also run LESS than stock camber in the rear since these things understeer too much already.

[TheMysticWizard]

4 jack stands, string and a tape measure is all you need to set toe. I did in my garage on my race car (as well as setting caster, camber etc), then took it to a high end porsche shop to check it and they couldn't do any better. Any old shop can set toe for <$100. I also run LESS than stock camber in the rear since these things understeer too much already.

How do you position the car on the jack stands? I had assumed alignment needed to be done with all 4 corners under load and settled in, not after jacking it up and sitting it down.

Sadly, I don't have an option to run less camber in the rear, there is no adjustment with the torsion bar.

[gvazquez]

FWIW my suspension mods are BC racing coilovers, emd rear sway bar, super pro end links front and rear, godspeed rear camber arms and super pro front control arm bushings that add caster. I run zero toe in front and about 1/8th inch in in the rear mainly so it doesnt get squirrely under hard braking as zero toe in the rear is pretty aggressive. Camber up front is -2.8 and rear camber is -2.2. Caster is at 7.8 positive. The stock suspension allows you to run quite a bit of negative camber in the rear but the camber arms I'm using have spherical bearings so that was the selling point for me. This setup feels very precise to me and I couldn't ask for anything better for this platform.

[Spinnetti]

How do you position the car on the jack stands? I had assumed alignment needed to be done with all 4 corners under load and settled in, not after jacking it up and sitting it down.

Sadly, I don't have an option to run less camber in the rear, there is no adjustment with the torsion bar.

jack stands go outside the wheelbase and track - car isn't on them, its just to hold the string - then you set the string parallel to the vehicle centerline and measure at the front and back of the wheel - even up on both sides first, then adjust toe. I'm sure prolly internet guides on it. I've got a bunch of race car setup books (some of which you can find online)... Carrol Smiths "x To Win" books (e.g. Tune to win) and Paul Valkenburgs and others... lots of good resources out there e.g. google "string alignment method"

[TheMysticWizard]

jack stands go outside the wheelbase and track - car isn't on them, its just to hold the string - then you set the string parallel to the vehicle centerline and measure at the front and back of the wheel - even up on both sides first, then adjust toe. I'm sure prolly internet guides on it. I've got a bunch of race car setup books (some of which you can find online)... Carrol Smiths "x To Win" books (e.g. Tune to win) and Paul Valkenburgs and others... lots of good resources out there e.g. google "string alignment method"

Ah ok, makes more sense now.

How easy is it to make adjustments when the suspension is loaded?

[Spinnetti]

Ah ok, makes more sense now.

How easy is it to make adjustments when the suspension is loaded?

Its just the tie rods. Loosen the lock nut, turn the rod. You gotta kinda squirm under there though. Since even a bad shop can set toe, you should be able to go to any random tire shop and have that done for $60 or so.

[S3_Miles]

So, you're telling me 034 wants to charge me $218 to set my front toe. Better yet, the dealer wanted $269!?

I had a suspicion that this was the only setting that could actually be modified and set on my A3. Having a rear torsion bar setup, I am fairly certain nothing can be modified there as far as alignment.

I have fixed camber inserts in the front, so that's not able to be modified. Caster cannot be modified on our cars, so that leaves toe. That's literally it?

Brother you sound shocked. Every quote i've gotten from 034 has blown my hair back...but they seem to be the shop around the Bay Area that knows what they are doing. Im going to go to them for the carbon cleaning because their quote falls inline with what I am seeing other places

[TheMysticWizard]

Brother you sound shocked. Every quote i've gotten from 034 has blown my hair back...but they seem to be the shop around the Bay Area that knows what they are doing. Im going to go to them for the carbon cleaning because their quote falls inline with what I am seeing other places

Not so much shocked at the price, shocked that they would only be setting toe for that price point.

Their prices are just cheap enough to make you go there rather than the dealer. I'd hope their techs are just as thorough (maybe moreso since they are more enthusiast based) Not saying dealer techs are the best...

[MikTip]

Every automotive repair shop is in business to make money. $165 an hour labor. I work on aircraft and dont get paid that much!

[TheMysticWizard]

Every automotive repair shop is in business to make money. $165 an hour labor. I work on aircraft and dont get paid that much!

Sadly I don't believe the actual mechanics make even close to a third of that. I make good money and I don't quite make half that myself. I guess operating a auto repair business is quite expensive.