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MG MGF Technical - Tracking !

I'm aware that this is a well worn (like my tyres) path, but what is current thinking on the set-up.

After trawling through the BBS archive it didn't really provide any definitive answers.

Basically the car is back from the garage after a nearside TRE replacement. Aside from the fact that the steering wheel is skewed through 60 degrees, the drive has gone all "vague". Managed to dig out the print out from the last time the car was set up and the rears appear to be set at zero degrees with the fronts at + zero degrees, 5 minutes.

I presume that + translates as "toe in". This was last done a couple of years ago by Mike Satur.

I would appreciate anybodies comments on this and specifically whether the new driving experience sounds like the result of the car being reset to the manufacturers recommendations or simply of a bad job?

This is the first time I've been back on here for a while. Same old people, same old wind ups !!

Mike if you read this.... Have you still got my boot rack ?

Kippax

Hmmm, depending on who you talk to on here you will get a different answer. :-)

IIRC standard tracking settings is as you described, i.e. zero at the rear, +5 toe out at the front, this gives the MGF it's usual 'vague' feel steering wise, accentuated if you have EPAS.

The usual recommendation on here is to go for -5 toe in front and rear. This gives a very precise feel to the steering and is usually recommended if the car is lowered.

I personally favour a compromise of zero on the rear and -2.5 toe in at the front - i find that without EPAS, -5 on the front makes the car feel a bit twitchy, especially on bumpy road surfaces. But then, i live in the middle of nowhere and spend a good 75% of the time driving on country lanes - hence my preference for slightly less toe in.

Basically it is all a matter of personal taste, based upon your driving style, the ride height of the car and the usual roads you travel on. Providing you keep near the zero setting you shouldn't have too much of a problem with inner rim tyre wear.

SF
Scarlet Fever

Thats a bit odd cos we had it originally at +5 toe out and it now feels vaguer. So what does that suggest?

Just had a chat with the garage and they said that they only checked the front wheels. (Is that right?) And they set them at +/-1.2. this sounds less precise than my bloody handling! Is this the problem and would I be better just going elsewhere and getting all 4 wheels alligned to a setting of my choice?

Anybody got any idea how much I might pay for this?
Kippax

Toe out = vague
Toe in = precise

4 wheel laser alignment is recommended, but can be pricey.

SF
Scarlet Fever

If the wheel is not central then they did a bodge job, irrespective of other settings. Take the car back.
Will Munns

Hi Steve,

Without question, it sounds as though your tracking was disturbed when you had the TREs replaced - not entirely surprising, but the fact that the steering wheel is now displaced off centre indicated that someone wasn't taking much care when resetting everything on completing the job!

Your old tracking settings of +5min toe-in front and 0 rear are interesting. Who set these for you? Personally, I found this to be a little too tail happy - fun, yes, but the rear starts to come out rather early.

Current 'BBS' tracking settings are 0deg 5min toe-in front, 0deg 5min toe-in rear. You might also consider 0deg front as an alternative, but winding off too much toe-in at the rear is a risky thing to do - see Tracking explanation and alternative settings: http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/tracking.htm

The Standard tracking settings, BTW are summarised here: http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/facts_and_figures/tracking_data.htm Note that the trophy uses different tracking to the other MGFs. Note too that the TF has quite different toe-angles at the rear, as befits the altered rear suspension geometry.

Rob Bell

Hi,

What are the tracking settings for a trophy,
when I had mone setup it was done to standard F
will this cause problems ?

Paul
Paul

It won't cause problems Paul, but the Trophy does use a slightly different set up - see the info on http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/facts_and_figures/tracking_data.htm
Rob Bell

There are conflicting statements on here which are confusing me a little.
Is +5 toe in or toe out? Or could it be either?

My print out for the original settings were +5 front and 0 rear. This I believe may be the settings as recommended for the set-up with the modified bushes, but Im pretty sure that Mike (Satur) didn't fit the bushes.

Decided to tighten things up a little going for 2.5 toe in, with the rears at zero.
Kippax

Steve, positive is toe-IN, negative is toe-OUT.

I was guessing that those were Mike's settings; you'd definitely need less compliance in the rear suspension bushes to even contemplate them.

Having a little more toe-out at the front improves initial steering response, although on the MGF having toe-in seems to improve subsequent 'bite' through the corner.

This has a lot to do with the way that toe-angles alter under movement and suspension loads - and its impact upon tyre slip angles. More @ http://www.mgf.ultimatemg.com/tracking.htm
Rob Bell

This thread was discussed between 11/06/2003 and 12/06/2003

MG MGF Technical index

This thread is from the archive. The Live MG MGF Technical BBS is active now.