[alfa] alignment issues

[C M Smith <cmsmith@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Positive toe usually refers to toe in, which is not the norm for fwd cars. 
The Audi is probably all wheel drive so I dunno if front alignment is 
spec'd for positive or negative toe. Toe out will cause the front end to be 
twitchy, and may give the feel of good initial turn in before body roll 
puts the weight on the outside wheel. Toe in should give slightly less 
immediate turn in but more cornering effect for a given steering input as 
the suspension loads up. Toe in will give more stable handling usually.

It is of course impossible to dial in more toe on one side of the front 
than the other, this is only possible on a  non-steering axle. If toe is 
set differently for left and right wheels on a steered axle the wheel will 
be offset as the tires adopt a straight ahead balanced configuration.

As far as I know, toe cannot affect camber but more toe in can compensate 
for less negative camber. I think the Audi 80 uses strut front suspension 
so camber adjustment would normally be minimal. On most strut suspension 
camber is non adjustable. Older Audis and the newest Audis (except the VW 
based TT) use wishbone suspension, quite sophisticated actually which 
should be camber adjustable.

If my alignment shop suggested they set front toe differently left and 
right I would change shops. That is just dumb. Rear suspension with 
adjustable toe can be set differently left and right and the thrust angle 
can be set differently as a result.

Basically I suggest Tess's car was just not aligned by a competent front 
end man, period.

Cheers

Michael Smith
White 1991 164L
Original owner
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