[spiike32]

I'm debating to corner balance my 335 after I install the KW's sitting in my garage. My question is it worth it and will I see a difference in spirited (non track) driving. It costs a lot... like $300 (3 hrs @ $90 an hour).

For those that don't know what it is, it's putting the entire car on 4 individual special scales under each wheel, and then with the driver weight simulated by sand bags, make all corners equal by adjusting your coilovers. They do this for track purposes.... but I'm just not sure if it's worth it.

Has anyone done this and was it worth it?

[The HACK]

They don't make the weight equal on all 4 corners. Corner balancing only takes into account cross weights, front left + rear right should equal front right + rear left when a car is properly corner balanced. The actual weight difference from corner to corner can and will vary, sometimes as much as 50-80 lbs.

And no, if you don't plan on ever taking the car to the track, it's not worth it. Heck eve if you plan on taking the car to the track, it won't be worth it until you actually know what you're doing with the car in terms of driving it. The change is minute and really only appreciable when you're capable of really driving the car. I had about 7 years of HPDE experience and probably about 60 full days on the track when I had my car corner balanced, and it was a HUGE difference for me. But had it been MY first track event? I'd be like, that was $300's worth? Could have blown that money on some bling aero wing instead.

[sn0pea]

Originally Posted by The HACK

They don't make the weight equal on all 4 corners. Corner balancing only takes into account cross weights, front left + rear right should equal front right + rear left when a car is properly corner balanced. The actual weight difference from corner to corner can and will vary, sometimes as much as 50-80 lbs.

And no, if you don't plan on ever taking the car to the track, it's not worth it. Heck eve if you plan on taking the car to the track, it won't be worth it until you actually know what you're doing with the car in terms of driving it. The change is minute and really only appreciable when you're capable of really driving the car. I had about 7 years of HPDE experience and probably about 60 full days on the track when I had my car corner balanced, and it was a HUGE difference for me. But had it been MY first track event? I'd be like, that was $300's worth? Could have blown that money on some bling aero wing instead.

So what kind of alignment do you recommend then?

[The HACK]

Originally Posted by sn0pea

So what kind of alignment do you recommend then?

Wow talk about going off topic.

Corner balancing and alignment are typically done together but corner balancing and alignment are two different things. Typically, when a car is set up for track use, a shop will perform corner balancing to get the cross weight as close as possible (again, front left + rear right = front right + rear left) by moving the height of the two corner that's easiest to adjust. For example, on my car the rear adjusters are already set to bottom out on their perches, so when the shop did my corner balancing all they did was adjust the front. If the front left + rear right is more than the front right + rear left, the front left is lowered to equalize the cross weight (at least, that's how I think they do it).

Once the proper corner balancing is reached, then they'll adjust the alignment accordingly, since ride-height adjustments affect camber up front, which in turn affect toe settings.

What do you intend to do with your car, and how much driving do you do on the track?

[sn0pea]

Originally Posted by The HACK

Wow talk about going off topic.

Corner balancing and alignment are typically done together but corner balancing and alignment are two different things. Typically, when a car is set up for track use, a shop will perform corner balancing to get the cross weight as close as possible (again, front left + rear right = front right + rear left) by moving the height of the two corner that's easiest to adjust. For example, on my car the rear adjusters are already set to bottom out on their perches, so when the shop did my corner balancing all they did was adjust the front. If the front left + rear right is more than the front right + rear left, the front left is lowered to equalize the cross weight (at least, that's how I think they do it).

Once the proper corner balancing is reached, then they'll adjust the alignment accordingly, since ride-height adjustments affect camber up front, which in turn affect toe settings.

What do you intend to do with your car, and how much driving do you do on the track?

Woops. What am I thinking of then? I guess I was just thinking corner balancing was alignment.

[Exalfisti]

Getting your car aligned is basically having the geometry of the wheels adjusted to approved specifications ( generally factory but they could be pcustom specs as is often the case with after market suspensions). You'll usually only do the front wheels and the adjustments are to camber, caster and toe in.
The previous posts spoke to what actual corner balancing consists of.