The Rubber parachute

[robchalmers]

Front toe helps with turn-in, rear toe helps keep the car stable at speed. easy rule of thumb I was told back in my race days

-ve rear toe (front inner edge closer together than rear) = more stability in straight line, can help reduce mid corner and lift-off o/steer

+ve rear toe = more rearpost weight transfer turn ability.

The alignment was done by the bloke at the local shop and I helped out 'cos he was using a mirror gauge similiar to what I used to used on race cars. The car still feels very secure at highway speeds (65-70) and is still fun 'maintaining momentum' on back roads

[robchalmers]

1st tank sole on new alignment 43MPG !!!!!! another 4.9% increase!!! and I've ticked over my 50mpgUK target!!!

[mwebb]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

mwebb: did you set the toe yourself or have a shop do it?

i set the toe myself , using a hunter g111 at my shop

[MetroMPG]

Just did a quick calc to determine how accurate the measuring-tape-across-the-treads method of checking alignment specs for my car would be:

With my 155/80 r13 tires, the outer diameter is 22.76 inches / 578.2 mm, and a 1 degree toe angle equates to a 5 mm or 0.2 inch difference at the tread. That's coarser than I would have guessed, so probably worth a check.

The larger your tires' outer diameter, the more potential accuracy in the measuring tape quick check.

[gone-ot]

...I can remember alignment shops that had a pair of saw-tooth edged bars sticking up through a plate on the ground that you'd drive over, which moved a scale that they read to indicate whether and how much your front wheel toe-in/out was.

...don't recall anybody actually worrying about rear wheel toe until VW's and Corvairs came around.