This came from OceanRagtop's CarDomain page. I believe it's still up, but I've had it in text format for awhile. I ran his 'Canyon Blaster' alignment with a few modifications for awhile.. although I will be moving to a front-biased camber setup and higher caster soon enough. His numbers may not work for you, but it's a start.
ALIGNMENT SETTINGS: What are camber, caster and toe settings? How do they affect handling?
Here's the way I think about it, though my musings will probably make a suspension engineer cringe: Camber keeps the car on the road by resisting cornering forces, while caster and toe affect the "feel" of the car during cornering.
Camber: Resists the cornering loads and provides essential grip. The 'right' camber settings are the ones that allow for even tire wear across the tread. That will vary with how spirited your driving is, whether you do double-duty with autox/track. You might even find you need to rotate your tires more frequently, or even from side to side, in order to get even wear. I check for wear patterns every week, as this can change very quickly.
Camber bias between the front and rear needs to be considered as well. Some suggest having at least 0.5* more negative camber on the rear than the front. Yet, autocrossers often like more negative camber up front as compared to the rear. With my particular combination of equipment (shocks and sway bar settings, tires) and driving style, I find that the car simply is not as balanced on the street if I have too much rear camber bias. What works best for me is a F:R camber difference of 'only' 0.2* to 0.3*. For example, setting camber to -1.0*F and -1.3*R. With these settings, I find much better balance, better break-away and better turn-in. There is little "plowing" into corners, though it means the car feels a bit more tail-happy to most folks. Then again, I tend to be prudent when applying throttle while cornering so that this doesn't bite me hard. Your mileage may vary.
Caster: Affects turn-in and responsiveness. Varies on-center feel and tracking. 3* for snappy, 4* for balanced, 5* for solid on-center tendency, or 6* for strong on-center feel. The higher caster value you use, the more effort you will need to keep the car cornering on line. As caster comes down to 3* or so, you will have an extremely light feel to the steering, more of a point-and-shoot feel. Not everyone likes this. Also be cognizant of the effects of road crown. Want to tame some of that "wandering" feel? Have the tech adjust caster for road crown, instead of remaining symmetrical (ie, 4.5*L and 4.0*R). Highly subjective.
Toe: Affects turn-in and responsiveness. It also affects tire wear, since too much toe results in scrubbing the tire as you go down the road. Be careful about the toe settings, as even a 1/32" (per-side) difference in toe can change the car's character quite a bit. Screw this up and you'll tear up your tires, or create a twitchy beast. Generally, I prefer very little toe on the front end, and moderate toe-in on the rear. Highly subjective.
Front toe-in helps the car to track along the line you're driving, but it also resists turn-in. Very little (or zero) front toe-in can dramatically improve the car's responsiveness and willingness to dive into a corner. If you prefer quick-flick abilities and want a lighter feel to the steering, consider very little or zero toe on the front. I usually set toe between 0" and 1/32" toe-in. Small changes make all the difference.
On the rear, I prefer moderate toe-in. Rear toe-out is to be avoided at all costs, unless you like a tail-happy car that harks back to the old Porsche 911's of the 1970's. I've noticed that 1/32" rear toe-in (per-side) allows for better rotation, 1/8" toe-in allows a bit greater ability to stay planted and on-track during hard cornering. I've tried 1/8" per-side, 1/16" and 1/32". My preference is 1/16" or 1/8" per-side when I know I'll be doing lots of higher-speed runs or track work; or, 1/32" to 1/16" per-side when I know I'll be doing mostly daily driving.
Alignment eccentric bolts: Torqued to stock+30%; now, no suspension creaking. Most techs will say this will destroy the bolts the moment they're cranked down so hard. About 85 ft-lbs is the factory setting, yet my bolts always let go at that setting. Boosting the torque to somewhere between 110-125 ft-lbs has worked for me, resulting in far fewer bolts letting go during the course of the year's driving. Of course, this will require new alignment bolts/nuts every couple of alignments, given the added stress on the threads. But, the alignment specs stay put. At ~$5 per bolt (and there are 8 of them), this is good insurance.
ALIGNMENT SPEC VARIATIONS: These are the various specs I have tried, with some comments as to how each changes the feel of the car, the ability to corner, the tendency to track straight, and so on. I try to find the camber that works best for my intended use, then I vary the caster/toe settings to adjust the "feel" of the car. Any of the below combinations can be slightly adjusted in the caster and toe department for significantly different feel.
In general: Set the camber to match the treadwear your driving style dictates; then adjust the caster and toe settings to match how light and responsive (or heavy and resisting) you wish your steering feel to be. Remember that extremely slight changes in caster and toe make a huge difference! In reality, adjusting the alignment/cam bolt alters all of the settings. What I mean is: I prefer to prioritize camber settings first, then dialing in the caster/toe within the camber range I want to achieve.
* Sedate Highway Machine: Goal is to get the most mileage out of a set of tires and still allow a the occasional zippy run through the hills. -0.6* camber, 5* caster, 1/16" total toe-in (F); -0.6* camber, 1/8" total toe-in (R). Did not like it. Too flat and unresponsive, though it tracked well both at speed and in corners; held a line very well, though at much-reduced cornering loads than other settings. Wore the outside edges very fast. Did not like this, as it took the spirit right out of the drive. Made canyon carving scary, as it could not handle the load demands. For my driving style and the roads I travel, I need far more camber on both front and rear.
* Cornering Machine: Goal is to be an autox/track monster with the stock suspension. -1.5* camber, 3* caster, zero toe (F); -1.8* camber, 1/8" total toe-in (R). Incredible steering response, at the risk of jumping half a lane if you sneeze and blink. Very quick turn-in. High cornering capabilities. Even wear requires driving mountain twisties more often. Could probably even use another -0.2* or so of front camber, but I've learned to dial out the understeer with minor changes in sway bars and tire pressures. Perhaps not enough straight-line grip, but cornering limits are very high. Be aware that this combination can result in a tail-happy car, depending on the rest of your car's suspension and your driving style. You might find a need to soften up that rear sway bar, or lower the rear tire pressures a bit, to accommodate. Want a bit more "weight" to the steering feel? Bump up the caster by 0.5* or 1.0* and add a smidgeon of toe-in.
* Canyon Blaster: Goal is to have very high cornering capability yet retain tolerable city traits. -1.2* camber, 3.5* caster, 1/32" total toe-in (F); -1.5* camber, 1/8" total toe-in (R). All the benefits of the above settings, but with no lane-changing when sneezing. A bit of wearing on the inside edges require much attention to tire pressures. Not quite as much cornering ability as the Cornering Machine settings, though a bit more balanced. Good break-away is predictable and balanced. Want a bit more "weight" to the steering feel? Simply bumping up the caster by 0.5* or 1.0* will do wonders, here.
* Daily Driver: Goal is to have good cornering capability with good tire wear. -0.9* camber, 3.2* caster, zero toe (F); -1.2* camber, 1/8" total toe-in (R). Good performance, similar to Canyon Blaster (above) but with better wear characteristics for when not doing much autox/track work. Excellent all-around settings. Predictable break-away. 50:50 balance allowing 4-wheel drift on track, though at lower cornering limits. The very low caster and zero toe on the front allows much quicker turns and much faster turn-in; not everyone will like this, as it will require more attention when in traffic and at highway speeds. Very light and quick steering feel. To add "weight" to this, boost caster by 0.5* to 1.0* or so.
* Latest Settings (May 2005): -1.0* camber, 4.7* caster, zero toe (F); -1.4* camber, 1/16" total toe-in (R). Alignment cam/bolts torqued to 120 ft-lbs (F) and 115 ft-lbs (R). Excellent handling, mild on-center tendency, quick turn-in due to zero front toe. The steering feel has lightened up, as compared to my last settings. Heavier than the Daily Driver (in a good way), no risk of accidental lane change, but fairly responsive and quick. Additional camber over the Daily Driver settings better holds the car in tight/hard cornering in the mountains. Love it!
Preference: The Canyon Blaster settings when doing autox/track; the Daily Driver settings when not. In general, I prefer light to moderate caster and zero or slight toe-in on the front. This provides speedy steering response and a light feel, yet it avoids sneeze-induced accidents. No one combination is going to please everyone. But these are the combinations I have tried. Each has a very different feel. Each can be varied by simply changing the caster or toe by a small margin. These specs tend to have far less grip on the rear than many prefer, but this reduces the push/understeer tendency that most Miatas seem to have.
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