Greg Fishman

There are lots of shops out there much better able to do a proper alignment. I don't think I have ever had a dealer do a proper alignment with any car I have owned. In my experience it isn't worth the time to go to the dealer (not just Porsche) for an alignment.

NJ-GT

Because the fact that somebody owns a Porsche dealer doesn't mean that it has state of the art equipment and technicians.

In my personal experience, my Porsche dealer technician (he's great) brings the car to a different shop with state of the art Hunter Alignment equipment.

BTW, I use 40 lb/ft on the sway nuts.

Before hitting the track this year, I'm going to install adjustable drop links. A loose sway or broken drop link is something I don't want to experience.

Greg Fishman

A proper alignment doesn't require state of the art equipment, it does make it a quicker job though. I helped my mechanic do an alignment with nothing more than strings and a camber gauge while at the track and the car was perfect afterwards. Much better than the alignment the "specialist" did with a Hunter rack. What is important is whatever equipment the tech is using be calibrated properly and the person be willing to take the neccesary time and effort to be precise.

plima

Hello Holger,
I'm in Palo Alto and planning to have my '04 GT3 (8500 miles) aligned. I have very low confidence in the authorized dealers, but see you have found one that is competent and would like to know which dealer it is.
Thanks in advance

ben in lj

The 0s across the board will likely cost them more than the alignment. If you do not plan any further sales or service activity with them, then by all means play hard ball with survey for $. If you do think there is any chance of doing either with them in the future, then I'd follow Fishman's advice. PCNA is an absolute joke and will usually do jack s*$^ outside of saying "you need to work that out with your dealer". They're a waste of time to even bother contacting as many of us have learned the hard way on several occassions.

Holger B

It's Sonnen, in Marin. They have one guy (Danny) that does all the alignments and it takes 3 hours. I consulted with the shop foreman (Manni) beforehand to customize the settings to my liking (he's got experience with Cup cars in Europe). Talk to Gary to set it up (415-381-7822). It's not cheap ($250, I think) and they'll give you a 10% discount when you mention you're a PCA member. PM me with any questions.

mds

For alignments RennWerks in Mountain View does a good job also.

gtdrei

db,

My dealer delivered my car with extra alignment, provided an alignment sheet that verified that the car was 'within spec'. It drove like a pushing pig,wouldnt turn in and attempted to go airborne over every bump. But when the alignment was checked it was 'within spec'.
The GT3 is so adjustable, the alignment is an issue of personal driving style. The factory spec is too broad and fits ...almost nobody's style. Most owners bit the bullet and get the car aligned by a specialist, who has an understanding of what the customers wants. Best saving your PCNA bullets for a real issue. BTW, I don't think I've ever bought a car that came properly aligned, except the ones that had no alignment adjustments. Like my '01 TT.

Robin

db_gt3

Just a follow up note:

As most of you in L.A. know, Jhonson's does alignment "old school" without a machine. It takes about three hours and they do a great job. Car felt like it should when they got finished. It makes me feel at ease when Steve has a 993 cup car sitting in one of his bays having work done on it. A drop link bolt did loosen back up after a few hours driving but has since been corrected by the "good" dealer service tech. All is well and ready for the track. Once I go to MPSC's I will have Jhonson's install the shims if I feel like more negative camber is in order.

Thanks again,

-db

bora

I recommend Tony Colicchio at TCDesign.

http://www.tcdesignfab.com/

Tell him Bora sent you.

SYMA

PCNA PHONE NUMBER 888-430-8768

db_gt3

Is that the number for the Atlanta office?

SYMA

Yes DB, that will get you who you need. Be firm, but polite.

db_gt3

Thank You Sir.

PTEC

Sorry, I didnt have time to read this thread but I got about a quarter of the way through it, where you mentioned your CSI survey. Car the dealership you bought the car from. Tell them the situation and that you will give them all zeros unless they reimburse you for the price of the alignment. I gaurantee they will accept those terms. Porsche pays dealership thousands of dollars a month in CSI bonus. One bad survey could drop them completely out of contention. Be sure you speak with the Sales Manager AND the General Manager.


To all the people bashing the dealerships doing alignments.... the tech is going to align your car to specs. If the factory specs are too conservative then you have to let them know thats how you feel and say that you want something more agressive.