Centre Gravity - Probably the best Geo in the world

[porkyspecialist]

Ignore, frustrated that the wife has taken our son away for a week & I had a bad day at work.
I know the bloke knows how to set up a car.

Edited by porkyspecialist on Monday 30th July 21:55

Edited by porkyspecialist on Monday 30th July 21:56

[BIG GT2]

chris helped me set my old gt2 up at the start of 2009 for the porsche open. id lost the plot a bit and he helped me transform the car and win 7 races outright, the amount of times i rang him and asked him what to change when it was understeering or oversteering at different tracks and he would run through it with me, hes got the patience of a saint! he made me understand so much i can only thank him. it wasnt in the same league as paul mccleans gt2 evo or mr chamberlains car. but for the gear its got on it it was a quick old car.
its not a black art but the amount of people doing geos that dont care like chris does is astounding.
also people saying he doesnt know this or someone said he doesnt know the practical side blah blah blah. lets have a list of the cars that have won races that all you experts have set up......
mark

[sportsandclassic]

BIG GT2 said:

its not a black art but the amount of people doing geos that dont care like chris does is astounding.
also people saying he doesnt know this or someone said he doesnt know the practical side blah blah blah. lets have a list of the cars that have won races that all you experts have set up......
mark

If only we could post some real world home truths. Dangerous does not even come close! Pm me if you want any information.

My gt3 customers cars that go all over europe, the ring and spa ate pretty happy.

Mike

[BIG GT2]

my customers who do trackdays generally cant drive a stick up a cows arse, you could give them 3 wheels and they would do the same time , but love it and think they are vettel at the same time. 2 went to spa the week after i raced there in june,1 of them is slower round spa in his 997 gt3 on slicks than i do on cups in my old gts. he was doin 257 if i remember right. the other in near identical car was a lot quicker. we got 1 quick guy who keeps threatening to race and i wish he would, hes silky smooth and fast. id say theres a lot of quick people who do trackdays but many more who arent, but think they are. my point being id like to see whos set a race winner up, i know a few other racers that use chris but its all hush hush, incase anyone else finds out and uses him, then they think they might get beat. i dont even know how to pm on here, ive just started emailing lol. if you know some horror stories then i cant say its not true, you cant write much on here though. to tell us what they are.
anyway i went back to setting up the gt2 and gts with a few things chris taught me plus what i already new, so i guess im safe either way. gotta geo our cayman racer soon, that should be fun.
mark

[NS80]

Porkupine said:

+1

However, having been there several times I can see why there are antagonists.

First of all - yes he is a great guy and does a great job, BUT you can clearly see if you think about the whole process, that he knows exactly how to make sure you will never go to anyone else again. (And that includes me). I think at times he can come across as just an engineer - but in fact he is far more than this. . . I think he is very clever man in terms of a business sense, which is not immediately obvious - it is a little difficult to explain!

An example I will point out...why does he not check tyre pressures when you get there BEFORE he takes you out on a drive? He does this at the end just before he takes you on the final drive to show how it is improved. Of course, if they were slightly out to start with, he has instantly made the car feel better by adjusting the pressures to factory setting, without turning a spanner!


Also would be interesting to see how many people end up roped in with the extra replacement parts...and corresponding extra labour to fit them!!! I am not saying they are not needed - but may not be fully worn at the time, but seeing as you are there and have booked him and will have to pay him the £300 geo fee anyway, you may aswell spend the extra couple of hundred and stick the part on! Would be silly not to wouldn't it!?

Please nobody take this the wrong way - I am not knocking him, he provides a great service and has done for years. he has many regular customers and is booked for weeks! That speaks for itself! Just pointing out a couple of pointers which may partly explain the antagonists...

Interesting (and astute) observations. I am not an engineer, nor do I set-up race-cars, so I cannot comment on the nuances of Chris' work. However, I can say the following after Chris worked on my 911:
1) Good customer-service and attitude;
2) Cares about his work;
3) Good business model (as mentioned in the thread above);
4) I'd be happy to have him work on another Porsche of mine.

Niro

[BliarOut]

sportsandclassic said:

BIG GT2 said:

its not a black art but the amount of people doing geos that dont care like chris does is astounding.
also people saying he doesnt know this or someone said he doesnt know the practical side blah blah blah. lets have a list of the cars that have won races that all you experts have set up......
mark

If only we could post some real world home truths. Dangerous does not even come close! Pm me if you want any information.

My gt3 customers cars that go all over europe, the ring and spa ate pretty happy.

Mike

Competitor in getting competitive shocker

[sportsandclassic]

BliarOut said:

sportsandclassic said:

BIG GT2 said:

its not a black art but the amount of people doing geos that dont care like chris does is astounding.
also people saying he doesnt know this or someone said he doesnt know the practical side blah blah blah. lets have a list of the cars that have won races that all you experts have set up......
mark

If only we could post some real world home truths. Dangerous does not even come close! Pm me if you want any information.

My gt3 customers cars that go all over europe, the ring and spa ate pretty happy.

Mike

Competitor in getting competitive shocker

[agtlaw]

Porkupine said:

Also would be interesting to see how many people end up roped in with the extra replacement parts...and corresponding extra labour to fit them!!!

having read a silly number of COG is the best in the world threads, there appears to be a common element to most. i.e. billy turns up at the place, the car is looked at and billy is told various new parts should be fitted. new parts are purchased and fitted and the car is "transformed". best place in the world thread then posted on PH. £300 geo turned out to be a £2000 new parts and geo exercise. nice work.

[Gibbo205]

agtlaw said:

having read a silly number of COG is the best in the world threads, there appears to be a common element to most. i.e. billy turns up at the place, the car is looked at and billy is told various new parts should be fitted. new parts are purchased and fitted and the car is "transformed". best place in the world thread then posted on PH. £300 geo turned out to be a £2000 new parts and geo exercise. nice work.

When Chris did my Mustang, the first time he'd ever seen one, he transformed it. All he did mention is that I should go with rear adjustable lower arms as the current ones with fixed none adjustable.

I got the parts myself, fitted them myself, took it back and he made the adjustment free of charge which completed the car and for the type of car it was, well it was superb.

I think people have to realise no one is perfect or a master, but in my experience with COG and friends who have used him, they've being very happy.

I must also say I used Mike at Sports & Classic on various occaisons and again he gives fantastic service and when it comes to working on anything Porsche he really knows his stuff. Not many people can rebuild gearboxes, differentials, thats a special art and one Mike is very good at.

Anything I don't have to take my car to Porsche for, it goes to Mike at S&C, unless I can do it myself. If I wanted a GEO setup I am very lucky, I can either visit Chris at COG, Mike at S&C or my mates at Powerstation as all are capable of doing GEO's.

[RatBoy M3CSL]

..trying to geo a car with worn out bushes is a waste of time, and if you consider there are what 8 joints on each corner inc droplinks/turret top bushes..?, there's a pretty good chance that some of them will need changing before a geo.. so I would expect a £300 set up to be a lot more by the time it's done..

[SonnyM]

I knew the part needed replacing because I hit a kerb at 50mph. The part cost £60 and 1 hour labour even though it took two hours to fit it and move the misaligned sub frame.

The geo was well out before I hit the kerb.

Anymore criticism from the naysayers?

[monthefish]

sportsandclassic said:

This really is not rocket science and as someone has already said about not being good with the practical side I can vouch for that on a number of levels
Mike

What do people mean by 'the practical side'?

[uktrailmonster]

BIG GT2 said:

its not a black art

I think it is actually, but it shouldn't be! I've dealt with a lot of damper/geo setup gurus professionally and most of them are out with the fairies (not aimed at Chris, who I have never met). In all cases I've seen "transforming" a car doesn't involve anything more or less than pointing all the wheels straight, replacing any worn joints/bushes and making sure the dampers and springs are working properly. From all the positive comments, I imagine Chris does a great job of this and manages to come across as a genius. Nothing wrong with that to be honest.

[BillyB]

My 2p-worth, what Chris does well is communicating with his customer and explaining why parts need to be replaced to achieve the desired outcome. I doubt very many of his customers get just a geo. Most/all will have parts replaced at the same time. The "genius" is that Chris (rightly, IMO) explains why this is necessary and persuades them to do it. And he does this without concern that he will be seen as giving it the hard sell, in confident knowledge that it is the right thing to do.

[I've not used his services but have spoken to him at length. I expect to use him in the future though]

[ian_uk]

SonnyM said:

... 1. Chris identified small shavings on the front left tyre that were not present on the right. This was caused by a damaged inner rod that resulted in excessive play causing tyre wear. He replaced the rod and the play was eliminated...

You might want to think about changing where you have your car serviced as excessive play in a track rod should have been picked up during a decent service or pre MOT check. Should have been picked up by the MOT as well.

SonnyM said:

... 2. The Geo was outside of Porsches tolerances by quite a margin - the front wheels were both pointing outwards, the rear right straight ahead, and the rear left inwards. Chris worked continuously making adjustments to the various settings to bring them within a range that works well for my A and B road driving. The settings are now within Porsches recommendations...

Handling shocker!!! Car handles correctly after ensuring settings are within Porsche's recommendations.

SonnyM said:

... 3. Chris identified the cause of the creaking to be stones at the bottom of the front right spring which he cleaned and lubricated. Creaking gone.

Again you might want to think about who services your car.


Chris has done a good job on your car and is well regarded by many but to elevate the above to "Probably the best Geo in the world" is stretching things...

Ian.

[williaa68]

I was there yesterday. Up at 530 to drive from Kent. I left yesterday afternoon a happy man - the only additional work being the front bushes. The car was heaps better (and the first thing he said when we did the inspection was that the front passenger tyre pressure was a bit low and that wouldnt have helped).

He has a new chap working with him, Pete, who was a delight to deal with too. I wish them both, and Jayne, every success. I am not an engineer and so I can't compare him to anyone other than my OPC who were almost as expensive and rubbish!

[Some Gump]

Just my 2 pence, but IMO when people say they are ahppy about company 1, and company 2 comes on to a public forum and badmouths them, it makes me much less likely to go to company 2 for anything.

[tr7v8]

Some Gump said:

Just my 2 pence, but IMO when people say they are ahppy about company 1, and company 2 comes on to a public forum and badmouths them, it makes me much less likely to go to company 2 for anything.

My thoughts entirely!

[BIG GT2]

^^^ thats what i think. also if you havent had a bad experience yourself why come on sayin thats not rocket science etc.
i dont think im being competative sayin what have you experts won with your cars? im only sticking up for chris cus hes such a nice guy who doesnt need bad mouthing. in answer to my question nobody has stepped forward and said hes crap and i set up so and so's car. the only person who said hes not all that and what they do is the guy from sports and classic whos got a good name anyway from what ive read

mark

[NJH]

I don't think there is any debate about him being good Mark, more the fact that these threads pop up on PH on a fairly regular basis claiming that he is some sort of god or genius and that CG are literally the only place in the UK to take your Porsche. Its just not a fair reflection of reality. For my own car (944) he has a decent rep but then so do EMC who do all their own setup work and Promax who likewise have their own rig.