4 Wheel Alignment - Check

pepsilol · 27 Sep 2013 at 17:19

Anyone fancy criquing this on a 996 2004.

Looks like he did a bloody good job on the face of it.

He's gone over stuff that was already in the green and made it closer and more symmetrical ( something that I was so shocked to see that I gave their head office a call for a thumbs up, something I've seen other hunter people not do.)

The best part is that it was from a generic accident repair company for a whopping £49..

Autodynamics in Sheffield wanted a whopping £120 and they also aim to just get it into the green, nothing else.

If it is indeed all good, then they really get a thumbs up from me.

DannyW · 27 Sep 2013 at 18:05

Nice. Take it that's the hunter machine then?

There is a quickfit (of all places!) near me with that machine, they charge £40 (if you say you've been quoted that else where)

for a quickfit they are good, last car I took there they did same as you, even though it was in the green they made it a centre as possible, and when it came to the back the bolt were seized so they had to heat them up very carefully was right next to fuel tank

Love the hunter machine cars always feel a lot nicer to drive after, even if they just make the smallest of adjustments

pepsilol · 27 Sep 2013 at 18:08

Yup, the front feels a lot more planted which is nice to see.

Would you believe that Centre mavity in Warwickshire quoted £380 or thereabouts and 4-5 hours labour. I lol'd.

Clarkey · 27 Sep 2013 at 18:08

If you're going to sing somebodies praises then at least share the name right....

I would think that the car understeers like a greased pig with basically no front camber. If you haven't identified this as a problem then you won't need anything different, so i'll be quiet.

Rotty · 27 Sep 2013 at 18:37

did they do it with full tank of fuel ? or at least ballast the front?

pepsilol · 27 Sep 2013 at 18:38

It was Just Car Clinic in Sheffield.

Road wise it's perfectly fine. Yes I went with a full tank and they used weighting but I am not sure where they put it or anything more than that other than mentions of weights.

The front used to skip and hop on the motorway, certainly not the case now thank god.

Clarkey · 27 Sep 2013 at 18:55

Not surprised it was badly behaved, cars deliberately set up to be nervous would use half that amount of toe out, must have gone through tyres like crazy too.

pepsilol · 27 Sep 2013 at 19:26

Clarkey said:
Not surprised it was badly behaved, cars deliberately set up to be nervous would use half that amount of toe out, must have gone through tyres like crazy too.

I replaced the Inner and outer tie rods before that alignment..

Simon · 27 Sep 2013 at 20:56

Clarkey said:
If you're going to sing somebodies praises then at least share the name right....

I would think that the car understeers like a greased pig with basically no front camber. If you haven't identified this as a problem then you won't need anything different, so i'll be quiet.

You know what castor does ?

Clarkey · 27 Sep 2013 at 21:45

Of course I do, I also know it's no substitute for static camber. I my time with the bmw I've gone from 3 to 2.5 to 2 to 1'20", always 8deg caster, and each step has resulted in a noticeable loss in overall front end grip. With 1'20" now you really can't drive it that hard at all before the front end starts washing out, for me and my style that saps confidence. Other people might not drive briskly, or their driving style is not so heavily reliant on the front end. Most of all though, a 911 is a radically different beast to a 3 series. These are the reasons I said 'I would think' rather than 'I know'.

Biohazard · 27 Sep 2013 at 22:06

That's still quite out, within tolerance, but not straight.

Fuzz · 27 Sep 2013 at 22:10

there is no weight over the front end of the 911, you don't need much static camber. The figures look quite good.

Comparing alignments on BMW to 911.. err dont!

Simon · 27 Sep 2013 at 22:10

Clarkey said:
Of course I do, I also know it's no substitute for static camber. I my time with the bmw I've gone from 3 to 2.5 to 2 to 1'20", always 8deg caster, and each step has resulted in a noticeable loss in overall front end grip. With 1'20" now you really can't drive it that hard at all before the front end starts washing out, for me and my style that saps confidence. Other people might not drive briskly, or their driving style is not so heavily reliant on the front end. Most of all though, a 911 is a radically different beast to a 3 series. These are the reasons I said 'I would think' rather than 'I know'.

Or the chassis and setup is completely different. For a start it will struggle to wash out like your BMW as it has no engine in the front.

The S2000 runs similar to the Porsche as standard and that will turn in like your BMW could only dream of.

Clarkey · 27 Sep 2013 at 22:12

One day people will read the whole post :rolleyes:

Fuzz · 27 Sep 2013 at 22:14

OK then, you don't need to think, you are just wrong.

pepsilol · 27 Sep 2013 at 22:19

Well all I can say, it has really sharp handling as it is ATM

Clarkey · 27 Sep 2013 at 22:25

Seems like I'm not actually, some light reading reveals 911 owners commonly using very similar settings that the BMW guys use.

Simon · 27 Sep 2013 at 23:23

Castor is there to keep the tyre flat when the car rolls and the wheel travels into the arch. The suspension design, bump steer response, ride stiffness and tyre makes a big difference to what camber you need. Your car is lowered so your roll centres are knackered anyway, and is the reason you think you need a load of camber to stop positive camber during corners

Now a proper designed sports car with decent suspension design that hasn't been compromised by lowering won't need 5 degrees of camber to stop it understeering

Clarkey · 27 Sep 2013 at 23:42

It will not lose camber under compression, the camber curve in the front is pretty much neutral through the travel (McPherson yes) and that's exactly why they like a lot of static. The multi link rear gains a ton of camber under compression.

You trash talk me so much it makes me really want to have a head to head with this damn S2000. Donington 30/10, be there

Simon · 28 Sep 2013 at 00:04

Thing is you trash talk most stuff on here, look at how your first post in this thread reads - I just hate reading it when you make out like it is fact, especially with the style you post in. Then you go off to the Porsche forums to try and find support for you blanket 'BMW rules'

I went to Donington last time, no one even could be bothered to come and say hello let alone offer a 'be there'. Unfortunately I'm not around this time, but you've seen the vids from last time. I guess the lack of comments means there is nothing bad to say ( bit like the aventador in car video I posted, or in fact any OCUk thread)

My S2000 is not a track car. I just drive it every day, it never breaks, it makes me feel good driving it and I've yet to find anything worthy to replace it. It hit 153k miles today and I've owned for 7 years, I could talk about my Rover turbo if you want to get into modding. It's still only 250 hp on road tyres so your 'race car BMW' you seem to spend your whole life fiddling with is likely to beat it if that's what your interested in. Or maybe it won't as I've had it setup well by a suspension specialist?