My geometry & corner balancing day

A few weeks ago I booked into Center Gravity, after reading this write up by AshBHP. First thing to note, the price has jumped to £450. That said, it's the best money I've ever spent on a car

Right so you can read in Ash's thread what happens, so I'll cut to the short version...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Facts & Figures:

For info, my Supe weighed-in at a smidge under 1500kg with half a tank of fuel in it.

The car was too low, would 'teeter' about like a table with a leg too short - gripping one moment then letting go the next and almost unpredictable in the way it did it. It wheelspun even in 5th on a dry, straight road and gave me no confidence at all.

Now it's a transformed car, with insane grip levels. I went for a mid point between stock settings and the Lance blahblah settings, after discussions with Chris about exactly how I wanted the car to handle and react.

I'd recommend Chris at Centre Gravity in a heartbeat. He works with what you've got (I have TIEN somethingorother adjustables) and answered all my questions which really moved on my knowledge and understanding. Afterwards he test drove my car (don't worry he's insured up to a car value of £300k IIRC!), as did I, then I let him have a little WOT play. I have never been so scared and amazed before; the car was doing things I never thought possible even in race cars, so both feelings (fear & amazement) were felt in equal measure. What the car can now do honestly astounded me, there is no way I could overstate how amazed I was and how pleased I am the result.

What was even better, was Chris said it was on par with a 911 GT2 (he's a porsche suspension enthusiast/expert), easily a GT3RS beater, and that he could dial-in a bit more front end grip when I'm ready he could make it faster still (but slightly tail happy as a result). I had decided to keep the car just understeery, although less so than stock, whilst I get accustomed to the big power I now have Vs my stock TT.

Get in.

Don't dick about with anything power/braking/handling related unless you KNOW your geo is right. Making it right will give the car back to you and reap HUGE gains Vs most of the modifications talked about on this forum. That's not meant as critisism, just emphasising that you need to get the fundamentals right above all else.

See me at the track day for passenger rides and you can feel it for yourself.

EDIT: Measured from the centre of the wheel to the edge of the wing, the front ride height is approx 36cm, and the rear is approx 37cm. That's my best guess after messing about in a badly lit garage with a tape measure.

Readig stuff like this makes me think I need mine doing, over the moon you're happy with it Steve

Nice work

Once my single install is complete, with new brakes and tyres, i am going to start and obtain the stock suspension components i need, plus TRD LSD and ARBs and replace the lot, then take to it Centre Gravity

Readig stuff like this makes me think I need mine doing, over the moon you're happy with it Steve

Transformed is the word mate, it's insanely grippy now (it's mental that Chris said he could & would make it faster if it were his (because he can drive a feck load better than me!!)), but that grip isn't at any great expense of tyre wear. I said to Chris, obviously I'd like more grip, but not so I'm binning tyres every 2,000 miles. He reckons the wear rate won't be that much different to stock, and I'm sure it'll be much, much better than it was before the geo as the tyres are effectively sitting 'flatter' to the ground as it's not so low any more.

Jake found previously that the tyres would be near bald on the inner edges and the outers will looked relatvely fresh. I shouldn't have that issue as it should wear more evenly now, grip being generated by aiming the tyres at each other (toe). Silly camber levels, at least on a Supra, just buggers it all up.

It was low enough so the wishbones would invert slightly over a big compression and when that happens I'm under the impression that everything goes to pot!

CW states this constantly. Your first pic said the car was fashionably low, your write up says why it shouldn't be. Fantastic advice and now there's two people, sorry three, proving it.

Hang on though 150 quid hike in a month wow.

See me at the track day for passenger rides and you can feel it for yourself.

What, no test drives?

I had mine done today although not as in depth as that.

My last set of tires were almost canvas on the inside edge and almost full tread on the outside.

Took it into Northampton motor sport, 2 hours or so later and the difference was immediately noticeable (iv always been skeptical about this kind of thing).

I have a printout of the figures but i have no idea what any of them mean. lol

CW states this constantly. Your first pic said the car was fashionably low, your write up says why it shouldn't be. Fantastic advice and now there's two people, sorry three, proving it.

Hang on though 150 quid hike in a month wow.

Ash went last year, not this. I had to book 3~4 weeks in advace, I guess word has got out since Ash went, that he know's his stuff. He's a magician!

What, no test drives?

Hmm let me think about that one....

What were the before and after ride heights?

I had mine done today although not as in depth as that.

My last set of tires were almost canvas on the inside edge and almost full tread on the outside.

Took it into Northampton motor sport, 2 hours or so later and the difference was immediately noticeable (iv always been skeptical about this kind of thing).

 

I have a printout of the figures but i have no idea what any of them mean. lol

Corner weighting - and doing that with a representation of YOUR weigth in the car, is quite key. Basically you adjust the height of the suspension at each coner very, very slightly until FrontRight + LeftRear = FrontLeft + RightRear. When that magic 50/50 weight distribution across each diagonal is achieved, you know it'll:

a) handle as well as is possible in both left AND right hand bends

b) not teeter about as weight is transferred and give you any nasty scares

What were the before and after ride heights?

It was approx 2cm below stock F&R (whatever that is, Chris checked his big book of cars fresh-from-the-factory geometry settings.)

Now it's about 8mm below, F&R. The rear should always be slightly higher (~10mm) than the front, otherwise interesting things happen at high speed!

Great write up Steve, great to hear yet again what a transformation a proper allignment can do

This is already marked the first thing I'll be doing once my car is running. Just not sure whether to use Wheels in motion (London), Chris Wilson or the guy you used (still have them on the list after Ash's thread last year)

Good write up Steve

Would you be able to measure the distance from the wheel centre to wheel arch and post details?

Nice one Steve. Was the first thing I done when I got mine.

Good write up Steve

 

Would you be able to measure the distance from the wheel centre to wheel arch and post details?

Yeah sure, I'll do it this morning whilst I'm cleaning the car.

Glad you happy with the set up Steve.

What a pleasure it is to have work done by a friendly pro.

I've been meaning to give this guy a call since reading the thread AshBhp wrote last year. Shame I didn't really because its going to cost me an extra £150 now

This sounds great. Although I am very happy with the way my supra handles, it can always be better. I will be looking into this.

Yeah sure, I'll do it this morning whilst I'm cleaning the car.

Hi Steve

Did you get a chance to measure the ride height?

cheers

Im going there on tuesday next week to get the supra checked over

Good luck dunk, steve was really happy with his.

Good luck dunk, steve was really happy with his.

Cheers m8, ive not got adjustable platforms just Eibachs and 19's so should be a doddle for them to track it up and adjust the camber a tad

Jane the lady who dealt with my enquiery was very profesional so hope that continues

Nice write up Steve and thanks for the info, im gonna book mine in there soon as i get it back:)

Hi Steve

 

Did you get a chance to measure the ride height?

 

cheers

Doh!

No I didn't, I will do tomorrow. Not much else I can do with this rain we're having.