Centre Gravity - Probably the best Geo in the world

Centre Gravity - Probably the best Geo in the world

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SonnyM

Original Poster:

3,472 posts

193 months

Sunday 29th July 2012
quotequote all
My RS60 has been transformed after an 8 hour Geo at the hands of Chris at Centre Gravity!

OK the Geo was actually SIX hours and removal of the sub frame to replace a damaged drumstick took two hours. That was a whole Saturday and the Geo cost the same price regardless of the time spent... Chris said he does not stop until the job is done - I am very impressed.

Here's a brief non-technical breakdown (I have only listed the key points but Chris did a lot more than this)...

PROBLEMS:

1. Skittishness and instability at moderate speed on B roads
2. Bumpy ride on A roads regardless of PASM settings
3. Creaking in steering at slow speeds

SOLUTIONS:

Chris did a thorough analysis of the problems and general setup of the car, tyres etc with an initial test drive highlighting problems (such as understeer), then making adjustments, and taking the car out on another test drive to demonstrate the differences.

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.

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. In the post test drive he demonstrated that the understeer had been eliminated, the car followed the natural camber of the road (which it wasn't doing before), and the ride was much better (PASM button on and off). The latter has given me much more confidence when pushing on whereas I had to back off on tight twisty roads as the car was all over the place.

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.

The car now drives better than it ever has after 35k miles and 3 years ownership. My problems have been solved and I can HIGHLY recommend Centre Gravity to all of you, as I was initially skeptical about what a Geo could do for my car but now am a firm believer after experiencing the results!

I took it to Silverstone yesterday, and although I didn't get to take it on the circuit, the RS60 behaved as predicted on the ice hill and kick plate just as the new Porsches do.

I am very happy.





SonnyM

Original Poster:

3,472 posts

193 months

Sunday 29th July 2012
quotequote all
hornetrider said:
Not being funny, but why on earth would a geo alignment take all day? There's no need for a before test drive either as surely he has known settings for stability, oversteer, fast road, track etc?

Just ask the driver what kind of setup he wants, get the car up on the ramp and adjust away.
There were a number of issues with the car and I was talking a lot so that may have extended the time taken... smile

I don't know about not doing a before test drive but I found it highly valuable as a customer because I didn't know it was doing some of the things demonstrated - such as understeer at low speeds, not following the right camber, etc. Seeing the before and after was eye opening IMO. It was also a way of eliminating other problems first before applying the Geo which makes sense.

SonnyM

Original Poster:

3,472 posts

193 months

Sunday 29th July 2012
quotequote all
tr7v8 said:
Looks good. Excessive toe out is always going to make the car feel weird! What tyres do you run??
Thanks. PS2 N2s all round - with 6k miles on them currently.

SonnyM

Original Poster:

3,472 posts

193 months

Sunday 29th July 2012
quotequote all
No it is not rocket science, but it is engineering - Chris is passionate about achieving engineering perfection and I understood this by watching him and discussing the same educational background we share.

The most successful people I have met give their absolute best to what they do, and it is clear Chris does the same. He has fixed my car, given me fantastic service, and I am very happy - he will continue to get my custom and I shall continue to recommend him to everyone.

smile

SonnyM

Original Poster:

3,472 posts

193 months

Tuesday 31st July 2012
quotequote all
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?

smile

SonnyM

Original Poster:

3,472 posts

193 months

Monday 23rd June 2014
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Awesome smile

I'm going back to see Chris soon to have my new AMG fixed too. Can't wait !