996 c4s geo - northwest specialist?

[MrTickle]

Hi, a friend of mine needs to get his geo set up sorted on a 996C4S.

Anyone know the best place near south Cheshire to get it sorted.

What sort of price should he be paying?

[smj996c]

Sports & Classic in Knutsford for a geo set up, Mike has all the equipment (Hunter Wheel Alignment Machine) and corner weighting.

Had my Turbo done a few times both for road and track applications .... there and a lot of the local guys with track orientated cars also get mike to set their cars up also.

[MrTickle]

Thanks for that - yes, Mike is who I had originally suggested to him. He also looked at JMH who are £40 cheaper and also look like they know their onions.

Car is only 6 months post 111 point check and geo from OPC Bolton, so surprised he needs it doing already. His rears are evenly worn but his fronts are 4,4,1mm suggesting something not right (although they were Pirellis, but now switched to Michelin). Do you think a full geo is necessary?

If so, he may as well get the car set-up more to his liking at the same time, rather than OPC standard I was thinking?

[smj996c]

MrTickle said:

If so, he may as well get the car set-up more to his liking at the same time, rather than OPC standard I was thinking?

Agreed - at least your friend will be able to discuss his requirements with Mike and get the car set up accordingly rather than a 'one size fits' all from OPC.

[Ian_UK1]

MrTickle said:

Thanks for that - yes, Mike is who I had originally suggested to him. He also looked at JMH who are £40 cheaper and also look like they know their onions.

Car is only 6 months post 111 point check and geo from OPC Bolton, so surprised he needs it doing already. His rears are evenly worn but his fronts are 4,4,1mm suggesting something not right (although they were Pirellis, but now switched to Michelin). Do you think a full geo is necessary?

If so, he may as well get the car set-up more to his liking at the same time, rather than OPC standard I was thinking?

My experiences of geos done by OPCs are that the results have never matched the print-outs. Usually not even close. The problem seems to be caused by a combination of bad operator methodology and poor equipment maintenance.

As a (very recent) example: back in October, my girlfriend bought an 18-month-old 987 2.9 from a North West OPC. Only 4000 miles or so from new, nice car, but didn't 'feel' right, despite a 'full 4-wheel alignment' having been done by the OPC prior to delivery. A trip to Center Gravity revealed that whilst the rear axle was in tolerance, the front had ZERO camber on the right and 30 mins negative on the left whilst both front toe-ins were at 9 mins. You can imagine how odd this felt (not to mention it was getting rapidly worse as the front tyre wear went beserk due to the odd alignment).

I've seen similar, odd, alignment errors on 3 other Porsches I've bought from OPCs over the years, so it wouldn't surprise me if your friend's car has large camber and toe errors that need to be corrected at both ends of the car. IMHO, if you buy from an OPC, having a full geo done by someone with a solid reputation for getting them right isn't just necessary, it's essential.

smj996c said:

Agreed - at least your friend will be able to discuss his requirements with Mike and get the car set up accordingly rather than a 'one size fits' all from OPC.

This ^^^. Mike has a really good rep and will be able to set-up the car to your friend's requirements.

Edited by Ian_UK1 on Thursday 3rd January 13:04

[keep it lit]

smj996c said:

Sports & Classic in Knutsford for a geo set up, Mike has all the equipment (Hunter Wheel Alignment Machine) and corner weighting.

Had my Turbo done a few times both for road and track applications .... there and a lot of the local guys with track orientated cars also get mike to set their cars up also.

+1

[thegoose]

Mike can definitely do the job but there's also Robin @ Ninemeister and Danny @ Unit 11 (who used to do geos for Mike before he bought his own kit), who both really know their stuff and will consult properly on what the owner requires. They've both set up my (winning) race cars.

In addition to what Ian said, OPCs often provide print outs that may have been correct and accurate when they were printed, but if this is before everything's tightened back up again the final settings may be somewhat different once they are.

[MrTickle]

Thanks Marcus, ninemeister list £116 as their price on the web too! Seems good value!