Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

ok, nice and simple... now that my 944 is running and mot'd n stuff .. it'd be quite nice if it didnt pull to the right, tramline, hop about when turning left and feel all floaty and vague when turning right .. it does other weird things too but it'd be labouring the point to list them all

basically .. some PO has been in there swapping out knackered bits .. and never had it setup afterwards. Parked on a flat and level surface (tesco's petrol station to be precise) all 4 wheels display visibly differing camber and toe adjustments..

so.. where to take it ? bearing in mind im currently based in Carmarthen which is.. well, miles from anywhere.

any recommends ?

ok so you are 193 miles from who i would recommend, but what a drive back afterwards....

maybe i should have added that i sometimes have occasion to visit bristol, hereford and stourbridge .. which throws things a bit more open

Well Zimm

If you come up to Stourbridge then you need to make a diversion to the guy that Demonfish and I use

However from what you say about your car, I would gusstimate that it will need to be worked on for about one day to sort it anywhere near properly

What a drive back though if you use the M50, A40 and A49

especially the long windy downhill section into monmouth...

got the back end out once there...















in the van

what settings will you be going for?

lol, i know that road well, lived in goodrich for a while..

my (almost) scariest experience ever on 4 wheels was on that road but going the other way, know the downhill followed by the right hander past the garage ? dont try turning into that @ 110 in an MGB-GT... it doesnt work

preferred route would be to hereford, then brecon, llandovery, etc etc .. get a clear run (rare) and its ace

but back on topic.. who do i talk to in stourbridge ?

as for what settings .. whats recommended ? its a completely standard early lux on 15" cookie cutters, so nothing special, and it's not likely to see a track day.. unless its towing my bike trailer

oh yeh .. got my local place to chuck the gauges on it this afternoon even though they didnt have the time/tools/experience to do anything about it..

front end isnt too bad.. smidge of toe out and very little camber.. but nearly the same each side.. however i suspect the rack's not been centred correctly.

the back end however was so far out it was silly

OSR ~5 deg neg camber, smidge of toe in
NSR ~2 deg pos camber, considerable toe out !

no wonder it felt odd.

figured it was SO far out i couldnt make it worse, and armed with the internet and haynes manual (useless) got the jack out.

aiming for 1-2 deg neg camber and straight tracking the OSR is now a LOT better, NSR didnt want to play ball before the light faded.. but YAY it almost goes in a straight line, and feels a million times better turning left

might have another crack at the NSR tomorrow, i know I dont stand a chance of getting it spot on, but it's already better than it was.

Its amazing how much a min makes to the handling, tyre wear and fuel consumption.

A tad of toe in at the front will give you a stable car in a straight line for sure, and one to one and a half camber is about right IMHO. The rears should have no toe and be nice and parallel.

Once you've got it roughly right enjoy it, but at some point you should get it done by a man with a laser alinger etc.

Have you had it corner weighted and balanced? If not, then consider getting that done before the geometry.

Theres a discussion that may be of interest here

Good work though.

Hi Zimm,

The guy Demonfish and I use is not in Stourbridge, he is about 40 minutes away by car

He is Chris Franklin and he operates just outside Atherstone on the A5, in Warwickshire

You can see his web site at http://www.centergravity.co.uk

You can "speak" to him at info@centergravity.co.uk

Unfortunately I seem to have mislaid his telephone number

The only thing he does for a living is set up performance cars and he is a member of TIPEC

He also does development work for a number of suspension manufacturers and a company that makes replica Porsches

He will do want ever you want, within reason, and will need to "interview" you before starting on your car

He isn't cheap but he is b****y good

See latest edition of All Torque if you are a club member

Hope this helps

so.. having phoned around my local (ish) mazda dealer swore blind they could do the job ..

got there, double checked that they knew what they were doing and sat down to have a coffee.

chap comes through,

"there isnt any adjustmnent on the back of a porsche"

went out to the workshop and explained to them how to do it

result ?

they snapped the eccentric, denied availability of a courtesy car, are ordering a new eccentric and have refused to complete the setup, or cover the cost of the hire car i now need for the next few days.

not happy ! if they have the temerity to even think about presenting me with a bill for fixing what they've broken an awful lot of shouting will ensue.

oh, i got a quote from centre gravity, lots more than i was quoted locally, but in light of todays high jinks, more than likely worth the extra, and the trip up there.

Hi Zimm

Sorry to hear about the Madza problems (I did check the spelling)

If you are a member of TIPEC check out page 9 of the June 2008 edition of All Torque

It could save you some money

Also ensure tyres and suspension in good condition otherwise you may end up having to have extra work done in the near future after visiting Centergravity.

I suppose the hard lesson here is you only get what you pay for

Specialist job and specialist skills, sorry to harp on.

I was up at Chris's place yesterday and a guy was there having driven from Somerset just to get his car done

I have seen people there from off mainland UK with their cars before now

Hope all works out well for you

Finally, know how heavy you are, car will be set up with your weight in it and also you need to have a full tank of gas onboard preferably.