Hauser_III

I took my "waiter" C2 in for an alignment this morning, because the straight-ahead has been off since I got it three weeks ago. The service advisor just called to tell me that the alignment was done, and informed me that there would be a charge on the ticket for filling up the gas tank, because "Porsche specifications require a full tank of gas in order to do an alignment correctly."

They're not throwing dealer mark-up on top of the fuel bill, so this isn't a rant about the dealership. But I've had several alignments done at this dealership previously, and never once have I been told that I should have brought it in with a full tank, and never once have they filled the tank up before today. So, is this one crazy, or did they do the right thing to fill it up before doing an alignment?

Benjamin Choi

talk about splittin hairs.

roberga

makes sense to have a standard for all dealers.

MrBonus

I was told the same thing except they called me before doing the alignment.

MJones

The dealer is correct!
A full fuel tank is called for in
"Adjustment values for suspension alignment"
The following values relate to the empty weight. i.e. full fuel tank, vehicle with tools but without driver or additional weights.

mdrums

Tank should be full and weight should be put into the drivers seat.

911Dave

Yup, a full tank is correct. Your previous alignments were done incorrectly.

othomasjr

Can just anyone align these things if they are properly ballasted? Or is it some special deal that requires Porsche tools, etc.????

996toomey

I didn't know that but suspected as much. I stopped and filled up before having my alignment done a couple of weeks ago.

Analog Theory

FWIW our Motorsport alignment including corner balance is a 1/2 a tank of fuel and driver's weight. Fuel level as a variable in this process is very significant.

mdrums

Yes but you can not corner balance a stock 997 or 997S. You need seperatly adjustable shock like the Bilstein Damptronics.

Hauser_III

Thanks for all the responses. It's good to know my dealership did it right this time, but Im still curious why they didn't do it on previous alignments for my '06C2S. Who knows, maybe I just happened to have a full, or nearly full, tank when I came in for the prior alignments? I've got a real good relationship with my dealer, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

WAC

So, if you want to corner balance your car you've got to modify the shocks. How does that affect PASM?

If you install new adjustable shocks how much more trouble is it to add in the required parts to make caster and camber easily adjustable? Any idea what that would cost?

Tony

Analog Theory

Yes exactly, but the point being that a baseline for fuel load is relevant to the process with or without ride height adjustability.

mdrums

If you have the Bilstein Damptronics installed you can set the ride height, corner balance the car and still use the PASM sport button to stiffen up the shocks.
If I was keeping my 997S for more than a year or 2 I would have this system on my car as my 1st mod along with the GT3 control arms so I can dial in more camber upfront...but i go to the track a lot so this is a great mod for me.