Hunter Alignment

[StuartK]

I cannot recommend enough how important a decent 4W alignment is.

I recently noticed the inside edges of my front tyres were wearing out fast!

My car was a bit skittish and really drifted around a bit.

Decided to get a hunter alignment and cannot believe the difference it has made. The car feels more planted and handles a million times better.

Get it done!

 

[ricky s]

Lots of people have the hunter equipment, and I would agree it is well worth sorting the cars out for basic set up wise, but given the performance related AMG cars here, if you want to have a performance car set up, Centre Gravity is a company you should look too, its absolutely not a 2 hour in and out attendance, I was there all day and the attention to every detail was eye opening, they looked at multiple settings of the car, many road trials and, discussions, all taken on board to your exact requirements, and many aspects included in the final assessment and final set up. Yes it cost some money, but I personally felt over a general alignment, it has been money well spent, on the road, but more so when I go on track, big difference, the car is much more planted
Centre Gravity are more renown for tinkering with Porsches, but they did a great job with my W211

 

[StuartK]

Lots of people have the hunter equipment, and I would agree it is well worth sorting the cars out for basic set up wise, but given the performance related AMG cars here, if you want to have a performance car set up, Centre Gravity is a company you should look too, its absolutely not a 2 hour in and out attendance, I was there all day and the attention to every detail was eye opening, they looked at multiple settings of the car, many road trials and, discussions, all taken on board to your exact requirements, and many aspects included in the final assessment and final set up. Yes it cost some money, but I personally felt over a general alignment, it has been money well spent, on the road, but more so when I go on track, big difference, the car is much more planted
Centre Gravity are more renown for tinkering with Porsches, but they did a great job with my W211

Where are they mate? I paid £75

 

[AMGeed]

Where are they mate? I paid £75

Let me google that for you

Not far from you Stu:bannana:

 

[rossco964]

A few years ago I went to centre gravity with Porsche owners club for a demo day. The guy who runs it knows everything about suspension settings. If I wanted my car set up a certain way or wanted coilovers I'd go there

 

[brigadier]

Hunter or any other equipment are only as good as their users. Most kwik-fits have hunter, but most don't have a clue - ended up doing the adjustments myself.

 

[rockits]

I use Wheels In Motion/Blackboots in Chesham. Not cheap but very very good. Really know their stuff, have top equipment & know how to use it. They do lots of high end geometry work for highs end cars and motorsport.

The have the latest Boss touchless tyre changing machines from Italy. I think they had 2 of only 5 in the UK!

Was recommended to me from one of the guys on the Sports Maserati forum & they were perfect so ideal to trust them with my Maser. Would certainly use them again.

 

[Mrhanky]

I use Wheels In Motion/Blackboots in Chesham. Not cheap but very very good. Really know their stuff, have top equipment & know how to use it. They do lots of high end geometry work for highs end cars and motorsport.

The have the latest Boss touchless tyre changing machines from Italy. I think they had 2 of only 5 in the UK!

Was recommended to me from one of the guys on the Sports Maserati forum & they were perfect so ideal to trust them with my Maser. Would certainly use them again.

Agree, no body knows sprung and unsprung geometry like Tony Bones.

 

[Kersidan]

I use Wheels In Motion/Blackboots in Chesham. Not cheap but very very good. Really know their stuff, have top equipment & know how to use it. They do lots of high end geometry work for highs end cars and motorsport.

The have the latest Boss touchless tyre changing machines from Italy. I think they had 2 of only 5 in the UK!

Was recommended to me from one of the guys on the Sports Maserati forum & they were perfect so ideal to trust them with my Maser. Would certainly use them again.

+1 for WIM and they know Mercedes chassis set up requirements. I had them go over my S212 soon after I bought it, cost £75. Well worth it.

Mark

 

[nickjonesn4]

Yep wheels in motion know everythig about Mercs

 

[flango]

Yep I drive over 150 miles to go to Tony and the boys at WIM. Do it right do it once is my motto and WIM do that every time I wouldn't dream of going anywhere else

 

[st13phil]

A few points:

1. The Hunter Hawkeye system is just a tool. Just like any tool, it can be misused
2. If your car is on standard suspension and standard wheels and tyres, a competent operator can use the Hawkeye system to set your car's geometry to meet the manufacturer's standard specifications which will give a good result
3. If your car is running non-standard suspension or wheels and tyres, or you wish to achieve a different balance to that given by the manufacturer's settings, you need to use a specialist who properly understands suspension geometry and can interpret what feedback they get from road testing

 

[GLK]

Had them do my old W168, right after they opened an MK branch - great job.

Need to take my A200 to them, but want to get the wheels refurbed first.

 

[ricky s]

I have used WIM twice in the past and are it seems well thought of, but to compare them to Centre Gravity, is chalk and cheese, both companies give a detailed experience, but Centre Gravity are in their own league, albeit it's not cheap though, but hopefully you get what you pay for,

 

[nickjonesn4]

I have used WIM twice in the past and are it seems well thought of, but to compare them to Centre Gravity, is chalk and cheese, both companies give a detailed experience, but Centre Gravity are in their own league, albeit it's not cheap though, but hopefully you get what you pay for,

Centre Gravity is about £300 vs £100 at WIM

They spend about 2 hours on the job at WIM

Have driven porsches set up by CG and they have been excellent.

WIM have massive experience with Mercs so for most people I'm not sure its worth the outlay unless you are planning track days

 

[sirius9]

Yep I drive over 150 miles to go to Tony and the boys at WIM. Do it right do it once is my motto and WIM do that every time I wouldn't dream of going anywhere else

That's true to a certain extent.
With the condition of UK roads and amount of potholes lying about, 1 hit and the alignment may be out again!

 

[ricky s]

Centre Gravity is about £300 vs £100 at WIM

They spend about 2 hours on the job at WIM

Have driven porsches set up by CG and they have been excellent.

WIM have massive experience with Mercs so for most people I'm not sure its worth the outlay unless you are planning track days

Centre Gravity is far more expensive than you quote for a full set up, my own car, with myself was there for 9 hours, some Porsches are there for days, but the W211 Mercedes rear end is very limit to alterations to its geometry set up, it was not a 2 hour in and out, multiple road tests, many measurements, setting the suspension levels, (renntech lowering module set to premium requirement) and discussions, to finite the client, in this case myself, needs.
Yes very much agree that WIM have very much more Merc experience, in fact CG said They have very few Mercs in, but CG are more detailed about the finer points of the geometry set up and the clients needs, and yes track days are why I was there, you benefit on the road, but see the big plus on track, but if your just roading your car, WIM will be good enough for your own needs.

 

[flango]

CG used to do our race cars and were brilliant but they would be totally OTT for a road car not worth that precision and expense for something you could never exploit on UK roads

 

[Mrhanky]

Must say I'm not sure a W211 would be many people's choice of a track day car.

 

[ricky s]

Must say I'm not sure a W211 would be many people's choice of a track day car.

LOl, as people say you never know till you try!, you would be surprised how many on the US forum track their W211,s and within this forum, members on previous track days at Goodwood we previously organised here, several E55, SL 55, SLK55 and CLS55 members have tracked their cars, if you have not done a track day or performance event yourself, your missing out in making the most of the performance of your own car, no point in ripping up public roads with a VX corsa or such, to my eyes, no point in owning a 55/63 and not enjoying it's full potential on track or Vmax type event, but appreciate it,s solely my own opinion here. There is a group of us going to Goodwood on the 18th June if you,d care to try it out