Wheel alignment
TOE is the how parallel the wheels are or distance between the front of the tyres and their rears, sometimes expressed by an angle instead. Toe in or out will result in the 2 wheels fighting over which direction to go and will always produce uneven wear across the tyres, but usually mirrored between the tyres. i.e. both insides areas of the tread or both outside areas.
Negative Toe is Toe OUT, thus distance between the fronts of the tyres is greater than between the rear of the tyres.
If you were to look from the TOP:
The individual toe of each front wheel is not critical (because of the steering mechanism), but the TOTAL toe is (Toe = distance rear - distance front of tyre). On factory original steering racks only one side is adjustable, which can then result in the "crooked" steering wheel problem after adjustment, replacements are usually adjustable both sides.
For the rear wheels the individual toes are however important. If that's off, your car will be driving "side ways". Its unlikely to be wrong as the rear toe is not adjustable on Sciroccos (without special equipment and shims), unless the car has been in an accident.
CAMBER is the angle a tyre makes with respect to a vertical line. It can be used to improve cornering as camber cause the tyre edges to 'dig in' as you turn but with the result of uneven tyre wear.
Positive Camber tops of both tyres point outward
Looking from the front of the car.
Negative Camber, tops of both tyres point inward.
Looking from the front of the car.
Uneven Camber, one tyre points inwards the other out.
Looking from the front of the car.
Camber affects directional stability and tyre wear. A difference between the front wheel camber settings will cause your car to pull to one side. Therefore it's very important to keep camber for BOTH tyres as even as possible. (Except for oval racetracks)
Your car will also perform differently with different camber settings. For street use, follow manufacturer's setting, for race use, use more negative camber (basically so that the in board tyre will be flat on the road in sharp curves). Naturally, more negative camber will wear the insides of the tyres quicker.
The rear camber is not adjustable on Scirocco’s (without special equipment and shims) but can be out if the car has been 'kerbed' i.e. hit the kerb sideways by trying to take a corner to fast.
CASTER is the angle your wheels pivot about with respect to the vertical when you steer, this is the way the camber changes as you turn into a corner. This is dependent on the position of the top of the strut mountings and the swinging arm mounting points. Not adjustable on a normal Scirocco set up but can be incorrect following an accident if the chassis has been bent.
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