word.
i don't think i have any records on my car except for the bill of sale and ownership. i should prolly start keeping some. locked away where i'll never be tempted to add em up ever again.

 

IMO That's a great Price for an alignment on a P-car. If you liked the work they did stick with 'em, since you track the car it would be worth while to get the before and after specs so you can always get it put back to the way you like it.


A lesson that I learnt from my BMW... always check for worn suspension bushings before doing the alignment otherwise you have to do the alignment again after you replace the worn part.

 

Being a newbie Porsche owner, last year I had my wheels balanced and alignment at Downtown Porsche.
$160 for the wheel balance and
$295 for the alignment
Their door rate is $118 per hour ... Expensive and I had to take it back because they messed up the wheel balance. tried to give me excuses that it was becasue I didn't have approved "N" tires on the car. I had to remind them that the balance of a tire has nothing to do with it being "N" rated or not. It was perfect after they re balanced the wheels ... Thanks to this forum I now know about alternatives to save me from going to the dealer in the future.

 

I forgot to mention in my previous post, that the guy that screwed up my alignment
has been doing alignments for over 30 years. He does a good job in American Cars,
but not in German. He also has quality equipment (not laser though).

First thing I asked when I took it to the dealer was a print out of alignment: it showed
the numbers were severely off, both rear and front wheels.
The interesting thing is that the steering really feels loose with a bad alignment; it is almost
as if you have a flat left tire, followed by a flat right tire, and then dances loose back and forth.

I was very puzzled as to what had caused such a big difference, right when I got on the Highway,
right after the Indy alignment.

Same guy had previously aligned my POS perfectly well.

Conclusion: P-car alignment, take it to Porsche dealer, and pay the extra $100.00 or so.
John

 

ALSO, here is a tip:
Make wheel alignment on a full tank of gas only.
If tank is around half full, for example, they will put a couple of old batteries in the trunk,
to simulate the full tank weight on the front wheels.

Soo, it is more accurate to have the full tank, than the "simulated" weights, in a quick
"simulated" position somewhere in the trunk (mechanic will not measure exact location either,
just throws them in the trunk somewhere).
Not that it might matter much, but if you are **** about accuracy, I am just mentioning it.
John again

 

^ good points John.
i remember when i had G-Tek do my corner balance a few years ago, we did it with roughly race fuel amount in the tank (i think half).

For street driving, i shouldn't need to have my car re-corner balanced do I?

 

+ 1 on Mantis. Just had mine done there (no affiliation, etc) last week. Great shop, but busy right now. They are building a bunch of race cars - one being a 996. They can do corner balance too.

4 wheel alignment was quoted at around $200 for my '91 C4.

 

Omar deadSmarteye, what I read about corner balance, was that it is more important if your suspension is lower.

The analogy I was given, was to picture a 4 legged chair, that would wobble
on a concrete floor, but not so much on a carpet (carpet being softer and higher suspension).

So, if you track the car, and your suspension is lower, you could benefit
from corner balancing, and make sure you are in the driver's seat when it is
being done. It could take a few hours until it is "perfect".
John

 

IMO it's not required for everyday driving most peeps may not feel a difference unless your tracking the car or you're really particular about having it done so your baby is perfect.

 

Which is what I said if you read the rest of my post:

"...So, if you track the car, and your suspension is lower, you could benefit
from corner balancing, and make sure you are in the driver's seat when it is
being done. It could take a few hours until it is "perfect".
John "

John

 

Alignment done on a full tank? Seriously? Wow... I always use half a tank.

For many years I thought that you need fancy racks and laser alignments equipement and all that stuff. Then I had the fortune of meeting somebody who gave me the best alignment I ever had all done with strings and bubbles on a crooked concrete floor, a jack and no turn plates... and this was a touchy car to begin with.

Also, I have seen more then enough "Porsche" mechanics simple put a finger on a mirror and have thier buddy shoot the alignment figures. The customer gets a good read out and walks out happy that they overpaid for a crappy alignment. As long as the thrust angle looks good, they get t off the rack and bring in the next sucker.

Take the car to guys like Courtney or Ernie(Mantis) or Bestline, who may take pride in thier work... The dealer really just wants your car out of the garage so they can make money from another car.

Hope this helps,
P

 

If you can drive around Mosport at about a 1:40 in a max 200bhp car, a corner balance is justified.

Otherwise spend your money on more track days or the much prefered coke and hookers.

 

the car was corner balanced when i was about 20 or so pounds lighter. can i leave it like that or should i have him zero it out?

also..ur quote is sigged

 

Really depends on how dialed in the car is... Your corner balance will change with something as little as a 1lb difference in tire pressure or a change in alignment.

If you are trying out a new ride height and new alignment settings, a corner balance may help. If you are in the ball park with corner balance you are fine. With a 20lb difference I wouldn't worry about it...

You will gain more performance if you buy and know how to use a:

-probe type tire pyrometer.

-durometer. (Tire softness tester!)

-Good tread depth guage.

-Very high quality tire pressure guage.

Then start charting the effects of your tire pressure changes on tire temperature, wear, and ultimately performance. Once you have that data, and you modify your alignment to capatalize on your tire performance, a corner balance becomes critical at that time.

If you just want to have fun and learn how to drive fast without a headache of data and BS, get the car in the ballpark once in it's life and have fun at the track.

Just as an FYI... At the Ice Race track, I have seen people adjust thier corner balance with concrete blocks.... No joke!

Hope this helps...

 

A good track set up is never the stable in a straight line on the road. You have many considerations like the crown on the road surface. Call Bestline Auto Tech @ 905-482-3955 if you have any questions. We charge $300.00 flat rate for a complete corner balance and alignment. We have over 35 years Porcshe experience and have set cars for Grand AM, PCA, Regional races and DE cars.