C5 Alignment - A Collection of Starting Point Suggestions & What I Run
This page seeks to try and capture as much alignment suggestions as I can find for retention by the community at large. I also have a document with my "dialed in" suspension values you are welcome to play with as a starting point.
DISCLAIMER: Some of these values may contradict each other. There are a lot of combinations that work, and there are a lot of considerations such as control arm bushings, suspension configuration, tires, your local tracks demands, etc etc. A combination that will set a track record at one track may not nescessarily work well at another. Also your goals may vary. I for example want a well balanced setup that will work pretty darn well wherever I go, and has a slight penchant to oversteer so I can rotate on the tighter tracks I find myself on a lot. Other folks will adjust their suspension specifically to maximize the turns they can gain the most time in, knowingly sacrificing time in other turns, such as a clockwise track with big right handed sweepers and just the sporadic low speed left hander.
My Personal & Current Time Attack Focused Alignment Vales:
| Alignment Item | Value |
| Front Camber | -2.8 |
| Front Caster | Max |
| Front Toe | Zero |
| Rear Camber | -1.3 & -1.6 (max) |
| Rear Toe (Total) | 3/4" |
Please be aware this is a very specific track configuration, also specific to my current configuration, and under constant refinement. This very well may not apply to you, keep reading for additional configurations.
Useful Links
- My Alignment Document of alignment values (outdated-ish as I moved to AI)
- PFADT Engineer Corvette Alignment Guide
- Spec Corvette Rules (contains alignment suggestions)
Useful Information per Spec Corvette (09-05-2022)
- Front Camber 2.7. Front Toe 0. Caster max.
- Rear Camber 1.2. Rear Toe In 1/8.
- 3.5" front 4" rear to frame jacking points.
- (Jesse note: This is pretty much 2" lowered. I don't recommend this without 1" drop spindles and a bumpsteer kit)
Some General Suggestions For the C5 Platform:
- OEM Bushings Suck. They contort under heavy load and you won't be able to keep your camber settings, so just go max.
- Camber Plates: Highly recommended you get camber plates as the eccentrics can shift under load.
- Rear lower control arms can bind at the upper limit of the camber adjustment range if using poly or Delrin bushings. Spherical rear lower control arms really does the trick here, full spherical is the best but expensive.
- Learn to do a string alingment. It's really not that hard and you can get great results with modest effort at home. I really need to make a video explaining this. It's not rocket science however.
- These Cars Handle Poorly if Lowered. Yep I know that the stock height looks a bit lame, but dumping these cars on the ground compromises handling by messing up the factory geometry of these cars. Don't do it, you'll get slower lap times!
- Get the Right Spring Rates and Sway Bars. A lot of folks get spring rates for these cars from brands that specialized in FWD cars or making their coilover somehow fit a thousand different cars. Don't buy that quick cash grab bull! A dead giveaway for cash grab coilovers is a higher front spring rate than the rear. The spring rates should be equal,if not rearward biased due to the motion ratio in the rear. 550/550 is spec Corvette, 550/650 is a common high end track setup. Check out my spring rate and sway bar compilation for more informaiton.
Van Steel Alignment Specs:
