Got corner balanced and Aligned. What kind of improvement?

WolfeMacleod · 08:11 PM

Should I expect?

I always knew the alignments was a little off...sheduling an appointment was a pain...little free time.

Took the car in final,y to get a corner balance and alignment for "Performance Street" use.

Three days ago, I finally got John Walker to drop in some new Bilstens. HD's in the front, and Sports in the rear. The improvement on that end of the spectrum alone was remarkable.

At Autocross, it always seemed a bity wobbly...not quite as sure-footed as I had expected it to be, but still much more so than any other car I'd ever driven.
Understeer during AutoX was pretty bad around hairpin turns...
It always pulled very slightly to the right...or so I thought..... the guy at the shop (TruLine in Bellevue) said "actually, it pulls a lot to the right..."

Here's the sheets for the balance and alignments showing before and after specs. It drove pretty nice on the way home...buit what sort of improvement might I expect during Autocross and other spirited driving?

Jandrews · 04-11-2008, 07:29 PM

Just curious, who did the work and do you mind telling us what you paid? Do you know if they had to re-index either front or rear bars to achieve the new specs?

Thanks,

JA

85eurocarrera · 85eurocarrera's Garage

I can't comment on the numbers, but sure is a nice print out. I will be doing the same in about 2 weeks... I hope. Same car, and about the same driver weight. Look forward to your comments.

911s55 · 04-11-2008, 08:05 PM

That looks like a print out from "Trueline" in Seattle, that's who John W recommends, they did mine as well.
Nice to see those front corner weights right on!

WolfeMacleod · 04-11-2008, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jandrews

Just curious, who did the work and do you mind telling us what you paid? Do you know if they had to re-index either front or rear bars to achieve the new specs?

Thanks,

JA

TruLine in Bellevue, WA. Total cost was $379. Plus the two movies I watched while waiting (Horton Hears a Who and 21) and popcorn and a drink I spilled on the floor.

Both movies were good.
I think he did say something about the bars, but I don't recall what.

We have an Autocross session tomorrow, so I'll post a report on the new handling and some in-car video.

Joeaksa · 04-11-2008, 08:17 PM

Regarding your comments on the feeling of the car, with Bilsteins it will take a month or two before the shocks settle down. Right now they are riding high and the car will not feel normal. Give it some time...

Glad you like the new shocks. Really made a difference on my car as well!

Joe

WolfeMacleod · 04-11-2008, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

Regarding your comments on the feeling of the car, with Bilsteins it will take a month or two before the shocks settle down. Right now they are riding high and the car will not feel normal. Give it some time...

Glad you like the new shocks. Really made a difference on my car as well!

Joe

TruLine says the car is now at Euro height. It was slammed pretty low before. It's settled a little bit since they were put on...almost right away, really. I'm hoping it doesn't settle quite down to what it was before. It was nice, but I had to be real careful about driveways...

911pcars · 04-11-2008, 09:39 PM

On the print out, what does this section mean?

LEFT 1505 51.9%
REAR 1736 59.9% 2900 TOTAL WEIGHT
CROSS 1504 51.9%

I can see how the totals are calculated, but what is the significance of this combination in this grouping?

It shows the revised cross weight of 1504 lbs. It would be nice to show why this is "better" than the before.

MHO,
Sherwood

the · 04-11-2008, 09:40 PM

if the car is still "settling," won't that totally screw up the corner balance?!?

WolfeMacleod · 04-11-2008, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 911pcars

On the print out, what does this section mean?

LEFT 1505 51.9%
REAR 1736 59.9% 2900 TOTAL WEIGHT
CROSS 1504 51.9%

I can see how the totals are calculated, but what is the significance of this combination in this grouping?

It shows the revised cross weight of 1504 lbs. It would be nice to show why this is "better" than the before.

MHO,
Sherwood

That, I do not know...

Quote:

Originally Posted by the

if the car is still "settling," won't that totally screw up the corner balance?!?

Now THAT'S a good question. I did make sure to inform him that the shocks were brand spankin' new... He didn't seem concerned about it...

911s55 · 10:07 PM

Sherwood; I suspect the choice of this type of grouping is just a short cut in the print out instead of showing L, R, F & RR. The remaining not shown percentages are just the other side allowing the customer to do the math?

As far as the cross weight signifying being better, I don't see that. It's just the figure after acheiving the desired ride height, balanced front and 40/60 front and rear percentage.

David

911s55 · 04-11-2008, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WolfeMacleod

That, I do not know...

Now THAT'S a good question. I did make sure to inform him that the shocks were brand spankin' new... He didn't seem concerned about it...

I wouldn't be too concerned either, they're high pressure gas and if they do at all Truline should reset it for you for no charge, I believe it's part of the warranty.

David

Tyson Schmidt · 04-11-2008, 10:35 PM

Sherwood, they went for equal front weights. This is actually what all the pro race teams shoot for, rather than 50% cross.

vreference · 04-12-2008, 08:17 AM

That's fantastic. Any recommendations for the St. Louis area? My car is too low and judging by the way it ate the insides of the rear tires I'm sure it desperately needs attention.

911pcars · 04-12-2008, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyson Schmidt

Sherwood, they went for equal front weights. This is actually what all the pro race teams shoot for, rather than 50% cross.

Tyson,
I saw that. Just wondered about the extraneous information. Was that printed to impress or to provide helpful data? Those numbers alone did neither for me. Why does an observer have to extrapolate numbers if this was a computerized printout? Isn't that what a computer is supposed to do? Maybe the programmers had to insert data of some sort given a default 5" length of printout. "Yeah, let's group the total weight for just the left side, the rear end and overall. They can figure out the rest". This is considered a mild rant.

There's probably a simpler explanation I'm missing.

Sherwood