Group Buy Geometry - Wheels in Motion, Chesham, April/May

rc944 · Post by **rc944** » Wed Mar 05, 2014 1:55 pm

Quick update as promised in my earlier thread. Now moved to events as ive spoken to the owner of the business mr Tony Bones.

Ill let you guys decide whether they are the right firm for you as there are plenty of testimonials on various car club forums but Tony and i spent over 40 minutes discussing geo and im certainly keen to get stuck in. they get good press with the mazda, ferrari and maserati crowd and the guy who set up my porsche 964 (chris franklin, centre gravity) refers those in the south east/west to Tony (those that have had the pleasure / pain of getting chris to set their cars up will know that this is high praise indeed)

Im discussing with his team the best way forward so to firm things up id like to get a feel for interest

we would potentially be looking at a few hours on a saturday or sunday morning where they do a live set up with my car and walk us through the art and science of geometry with some beverages to hand (working on the bacon rolls but cant promise!)

the kds II machine used by bmw is a customised hunter hawkeye so for all intents and purposes its the same technology. but the fundamental difference is the skill of the operator and desire to work hand in hand with the driver to reach the desired outcomes. they insist on having the drivers by their side to develop an accurate picture before commencing their work. the procedure will likely entail establishing your requirements and intended application for the car (ie daily driver, track day weapon, race car, etc) and your basic driving parameters (quick / slow turn in, twitchy / planted rear end) to then determine the most apppropriate target values. in my case im only keen to get the car set back to alpina factory spec.

they are working out a suitable group buy package but to make it as compelling as possible it would be good to draw in as many cars as possible. the standard price depending on the current vs target set-up and the adjustability of the car in question is probably around the 130 plus vat mark as a guide

id suggest we try to get something in the diaries for around late april / early may to give us plenty of time to plan and to ensure as many people can join as possible.

depending on interest we could combine the session at wheels in motion with a drive and cafe pitstop at around midday but id need to hand off control to someone more accomplished with satnav on that front!

i have the following potential names so far

Polynesian
AG
rc944

Please add your name to the list if you're keen. sorry for the long post!

Post by **Charles** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 10:13 am

Thanks for the information.

However, I won't be taking part as I am able to get a full Hunter alignment using ALPINA specs for Â£75 + vat in Reading, here

I appreciate that this may not be a convenient location for many people and that there is the additional opportunity of a "meet up", but I thought some might find the alternative of interest, perhaps.

rc944 · Post by **rc944** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 11:15 am

good idea charles i know chesham wont suit a lot of folks so good to offer the alternative

do you know if grosvenor are applying ballast to the front and rear seat and torquing up before they print out the final actual settings or after?

id hazard caution about comparing the two offerings until its clear whats in scope

ill hope to have a detailed specification following my conversation with the wim team this week and post it up here so everyone can make an informed choice

rc944 · Post by **rc944** » Thu Mar 06, 2014 4:21 pm

Spoke to the team and they have offered a group buy at their trade rates but need ideally 8 cars but at least 5 to be tackled on the day itself

The pricing options would are based on whether the front camber needs to be adjusted.

Rear camber and caster, front toe and castor - 75 plus vat

Rear camber and castor, front toe, castor and camber - 95 plus vat

Its the full monty so ride height will be measured, and the car loaded with ballast as required, before and after print outs etc

Note the adjustment points wont be tightened up just because the machine shows the reference values to be within range. they are trying to get it bang on the specified degree and minute and will torque up the adjustment points before settling on the final values (settings can change after the adjustment points have been torqued up which is why its better to have it done afterwards - if the values are not right after they torque up, they release and repeat until its right)

GRP · Post by **GRP** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 6:56 pm

Give me a couple of days so I know whether the engine problems have left me destitute. If not, I'd be up for this. I've yet to get a really satisfactory result on alignments I've had done. Since I'll shortly be springing for new summers on all four corners, it'd be good to give them the best chance of lasting.

rc944 · Post by **rc944** » Tue Mar 11, 2014 7:08 pm

Sure no probs best of luck with it....

Are you looking for new tyres also? ive been looking out for deals but alas such a thing for michelins does not seem to exist as i too need all 4 replacing and would like to do it at the same time as a wheel refurb...

GRP · Post by **GRP** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 3:25 pm

Not a lot lately. I did some digging earlier in the year and was going to look at prices closer to the time i.e. now. Didn't see any bargain Michelin's then either.

Simple · Post by **Simple** » Thu Mar 13, 2014 5:13 pm

I would be interested in this. Also gives me a chance to meet some owners as a new arrival to the Alpina world

GRP · Post by **GRP** » Thu May 15, 2014 3:29 pm

OK, so I'm destitute but still needing to revisit the alignment thing. What happened to this thread? Did it all peter out or is there still interest here?

rc944 · Post by **rc944** » Thu May 15, 2014 10:44 pm

nope still here... im due to get my wheels back next week so need to see who is still keen...

rc944 · Post by **rc944** » Thu May 15, 2014 10:49 pm

so based on responses earlier i think this is who is in...

grp
simple
Polynesian
AG
rc944

pls let me know guys if you are still game.... realistically id need to push this out to june now as ive been out of the country with work so need to catch up with the family!

shaziman · Post by **shaziman** » Fri May 16, 2014 10:37 pm

Shame about location for me, but i have cars done in South Wales for Â£40 at the place i use now or Â£57 inc VAT at a race prep place.

I would have come just for the meet is it was closer!

rc944 · Post by **rc944** » Mon May 19, 2014 4:47 pm

for most things we get ripped off down here... just to get new tyres on ive had quotes of close to 20 per corner!

GRP · Post by **GRP** » Thu Jun 05, 2014 5:28 pm

PM'd you. Still interested.

Geoff.