Can a normal wheel-alignment shop do a corner balance?

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  #16  
Old 08-20-2008, 12:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Mike@RiversideInfiniti
Corner balancing can be thrown off by something as simple as a half tank of fuel sloshing around in a corner. (dedicated fuel cell can solve this very quickly... but who's that hardcore? )

Better rubber > corner balancing.

Corner balancing is similar to a grounding kit; it rounds off and finishes the car, but is not a MAJOR performance player until you're way off on the deep end.
better rubber has nothing to do with the car's balance. U might corner faster but changing direction is still going to suck....
 
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Old 08-20-2008, 12:34 PM
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Changing direction is determined by how much lateral grip you have available. Once you run out of lateral grip, you've reached the limit (oversteer/understeer). Corner balancing distributes the load more evenly. Better rubber increases the amount of lateral grip available.

Vlad, next track day, try a set of shaved, heat cycled race rubber. You'll be SHOCKED at how big the difference is.

It's bigger than the difference between the oem RE92A vs RE050A.
 
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Old 08-20-2008, 12:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Mike@RiversideInfiniti
Changing direction is determined by how much lateral grip you have available. Once you run out of lateral grip, you've reached the limit (oversteer/understeer). Corner balancing distributes the load more evenly. Better rubber increases the amount of lateral grip available.

Vlad, next track day, try a set of shaved, heat cycled race rubber. You'll be SHOCKED at how big the difference is.

It's bigger than the difference between the oem RE92A vs RE050A.
Mike I understand what u are saying. Race rubber will give u the best grip compared to anything else u do on a car. Lateral grip also depends how much weight is being transferred from side to side. Lets say u are doing a slalom and the left side of the car weighs considerably more than ur right side then after few direction changes the car will become very unbalanced therefore causing it to oversteer/undersseer much sooner than it would if the car was corner balanced.
 
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Old 08-20-2008, 01:26 PM
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I havn't weighed a G, but how is the stock weight distribution over every tire? It can't be significantly off...

Also, having considerably more weight on the right (or left) side is typically normal, and will not be very noticeable on a stock suspension. If you're running very high spring rates, as the OP might, then it's more noticeable.

However, it is the diagnals that are the most important. FL + RR = FR + LR. If the car is balanced before the additional weight, then the car will still be pretty close after the additional weight is added. The diagnals are more important than the actual Left/Right weight distribution.

Think of it this way. If you sat on the front left of your car, the right rear would go up a bit. If you sat on the front right of your car, the left rear would go up a bit. The amount of drop/increase in height is equal to the weight transfer right? The amount of drop/increase is also dependant on spring rates (weight of you is a constant in this case). Thus, weight transfer is dependant on the spring rates themselves, not the left/right balancing.

Enough with the bench racing... is your car corner balanced? The only car I've had done is my Miata, and my understanding of corner balancing is pretty rudimentary as I don't have a ton of experience in this area.
 
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Old 08-20-2008, 01:36 PM
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My car is corner balanced by a suspension guru Darren from West End Alignmnet with me sitting in the car and it is the best one of the best $150 spent.

I will leave this thread alone.
 
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Old 08-20-2008, 01:40 PM
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newb question. What is corner balancing?
 
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Old 08-20-2008, 01:47 PM
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Originally Posted by Shakuya88
newb question. What is corner balancing?
corner balance – Verb, to make a race car weigh as close to the same amount as possible at each of the four wheels. Accomplished on cars with adjustable ride height suspensions by raising and lowering the corners until equal or near equal weights are attained while the car is on scales. Other means include moving various components around or by installing ballast in certain locations, where rules permit. Also referred to as "corner weight".

Source: http://users.zoominternet.net/~tworx...0Glossary.html
 
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Old 08-20-2008, 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by donpisto
corner balance – Verb, to make a race car weigh as close to the same amount as possible at each of the four wheels. Accomplished on cars with adjustable ride height suspensions by raising and lowering the corners until equal or near equal weights are attained while the car is on scales. Other means include moving various components around or by installing ballast in certain locations, where rules permit. Also referred to as "corner weight".

Source: http://users.zoominternet.net/~tworx...0Glossary.html

Oh that actually makes a good deal of sense. Corner balancing, to balance all corners. Thanks for that, now the rest of this thread makes sense...haha
 
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