Touring car toe
Howell, John
When I race at my local touring-car track, everyone tries to tell me how to set up my car. Certain people tell me to run toe-in, while others tell me they run zero toe on their cars. I’ve run both, but when I tried toe-in (roughly between 1 degree and 2), the car didn’t feel ultrafast. Is it me, or is it best to run zero toe to get the car to go at its fastest?
Tim Ogden
Tim, here’s the lowdown on toe. When you run more toe-in, you increase stability and overall straight-line tracking. This makes the car easier to drive, but you do lose a little top speed because of the increased drag on the front tires (since they’re pointed inward toward each other ever so slightly, they scrub off a little speed).
If your car is set with toe-out on the front, it will enter turns more aggressively. On exiting a turn, though, it will exhibit slightly more “on-power” push.
Just remember: make only small toe-adjustment changes at a time, and keep track of how the car reacts and handles with each change.
Copyright Air Age Publishing Aug 2003
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