Track Alignment vs. Corner Balance

[adam996GT3]

This morning I reached out to a shop to see about getting a corner balance on my f80 with bilstein b16 and GC camber plates. They mentioned they couldn't do a corner balance bc my stock end links wouldn't provide the adequate amount of adjustment. I would need to upgrade to SPL end links and then have a corner balance. My question, is the corner balance worth the extra money and effort? Will I experience a noticeable improvement in handling characteristics on the track? Or should I not upgrade the end links and stick to a track alignment? I am an intermediate driver with 4-6 trackdays a year. The car is only used for weekends and trackdays. Opinions?

[whitstap]

They can still adjust the corner balance without disconnecting the end links... of course adj them to eliminate preload is ideal... if the corner balance is way off then the car will feel noticeably different it left and right turns

[m4forum]

I agree .... ideally having end links is preferable but I dont see make much difference. The biggest variance we have are not he cars but ourselves. Save the money and have more track time.

[Pic18]

Saying they cannot corner balance because of stock end links is incorrect. They can corner balance by taking off/unhooking the end links, and most would argue this is the correct way to do it. The issue is that once you hook the links back up they will likely be binding (and likely already are if you are lowered) which will at least partially negate the benefits of the corner balance to begin with.

To answer your question, if you are not feeling an imbalance currently (i.e. car understeers in one direction but not the other) then you would likely not feel the difference/benefit of a corner balance (even if it is providing better handling). That said, regardless if you are lowered you should invest in adjustable endlinks to remove any preload and binding in the swaybars.

[adam996GT3]

Thanks for the insight. I ordered a set of SPL end links for the front and rear and I am going to throw them in before getting it corner balanced.

[hellokitty]

I got corner balanced on stock end links. May upgrade my end links down the line. Let us know how those SPLs turn out for you