Had wheel alignment done

[Adrian E]

Thought I'd post this here as it's probably of general interest rather than D2 specific

I dropped the car in last Friday as I've not felt the handling was as it should be ever since having my upper front arms changed 5,000 miles ago (that was in October '12 though!). I knew it wasn't right as the steering wheel was slightly offset to one side but the steering seemed very nervous just off straight ahead. I knew my tyres back then were well over half worn so probably partly to blame but as we get near summer I wanted it sorted - especially as I wanted to rotate the Michelin Super Sports I've been 'running in' on the rear since last September moved onto the front ready for the other pair to be changed in the Spring.

Here's the before and after print out:



I was quite surprised how far out the rear wheels were in terms of toe - the geometrical driving axis is basically how badly the car is 'crabbing' - both of which will at least in part explain why my old rear tyres took such a hammering on the inner shoulders!

The camber on the front they weren't able to do anything about - it's most likely worn bushes if memory serves of the explanation when I picked the car up. The track curve and toe were also out on the front, which explains the wayward handling just off centre and under braking - so glad that's sorted!
The track curve is a tiny bit out still but it's in the measurement error difference so happy with that. The total toe value I reckon might result in improved fuel economy as it must've been scrubbing a fair bit at speed.

Numbers are all well and good but I could instantly feel the difference when I drove off in the car which is what I was hoping for. Just goes to show that not all alignment kit is created equal. Cost a fair bit (2 hrs labour) but will hopefully save me a load in premature tyre wear and allow me to enjoy the car properly again

ETA - don't worry about the quoted wheel size - according to ElsaWin it's only used to check track width which wasn't required as the car hasn't been smashed! It's just the default value for the model.

Adrian