Centre of Gravity - big thumbs up!
#1
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Centre of Gravity - big thumbs up!
Having just swapped to 17" wheels and the MZs, I decided it was high time the suspension was reviewed and adjusted as necessary. The car is over 10 years old, of which I've had it for 8 and I've lamented the withdrawal of Bridgestone's S02s for too long. The final straw was when I found myself struggling to keep up with some of our continental cousins on the Euromeet. The car's done 48k miles, always been garaged and I had an altercation with a kerb about 5 years ago that almost resulted in the assessor writing the car off even though it was only one corner that had been damaged
Booked the car into CoG after numerous recommendations on here. My son's DC5 had also been worked on by Chris and was consequently frighteningly quick around corners and I was hoping for the same for me after I'd been feeling more trepidation than thrill at cornering at high(ish) speed. TBH I wasn't even sure if it was my age getting the better of me that was causing me to bottle it on fast bits
Living where I do, it's important the work I have done is right first time as it can get very expensive and time consuming if I need to re-visit. There is nobody on the Island who can do this type of specialist stuff with the experience of this car available at CoG.
Given the car's age, I was expecting the worst when it came to seized adjusters and had booked the car in for a day and a half to allow for all the cutting time. Therefore I was amazed that either easily or with a bit of persuasion 9 of the 10 adjusting bolts were freed, leaving only one to be cut off and two compliance bushes to be replaced. Also, I was reassured to find everything was square within very small tolerances in view of the earlier repair that had been effected to one corner of the car.
The old set up was out everywhere and quite a way out at the front, not deliberately so, but as a result of the car 'adjusting' itself with usage on our bumpy roads. eg I had loads of toe out on the front. Chris was going to put on some 'safe' settings as I wouldn't be easily able to pop back to have it tweaked next week and he went to great lengths to understand where my lack of confidence at high speed was coming from and explain to me the effects of the changes he was making.
The obligatory test drive confirmed everything I wanted and what Chris had described - more confidence mid and late corner and the eradication of the feeling the back end was going to break away. Entering corners at higher speeds than I had become used to and powering around bends was like having a much better car. Carrying more speed around corners, I found myself going faster on the straight bits that followed when I had time to look at the speedo
I've waited to post this write up, because I wanted to see how the car behaved on roads and road surfaces with which I am familiar and after some driving last week and particularly today, I can say my confidence in the car has been hugely boosted, from someone who thought he was maybe getting too old for this thing, to someone who looks forward to chucking the car into corners. The grip levels are there to use - maybe they were there all along, but I didn't have the confidence to exploit them - and I'm entering corners faster and with more commitment than ever before and the car behaves itself throughout, even when making steering corrections mid-corner with the wheel or the throttle. The whole experience feels much safer to me.
All in all, the best money I've spent on the car. Ever. Chris is a really decent bloke who you can chat to and learn from, who does a very thorough job and the cost was a lot less than I had thought due to the ease with which the adjusting bolts were freed (I'm sure this is down to our unpolluted air here and that I don't usually drive on roads that have been salted!). He seemed to use all the experience he has accumulated from working on a lot of S2Ks, for my benefit (I can only guess how steep a learning curve this must have been) and if anyone hasn't done this with their car yet, I can't recommend Chris highly enough. IMO his prices represent great value, in my case about the cost of a set of tyres and if I ever want the setup checking/changing in the future I won't have to worry about any seized bolts.
And if you have to include a stopover, like I did, you could do worse than stay at the Abbey Farm B&B which is about 80 seconds from Chris's workshop
Booked the car into CoG after numerous recommendations on here. My son's DC5 had also been worked on by Chris and was consequently frighteningly quick around corners and I was hoping for the same for me after I'd been feeling more trepidation than thrill at cornering at high(ish) speed. TBH I wasn't even sure if it was my age getting the better of me that was causing me to bottle it on fast bits
Living where I do, it's important the work I have done is right first time as it can get very expensive and time consuming if I need to re-visit. There is nobody on the Island who can do this type of specialist stuff with the experience of this car available at CoG.
Given the car's age, I was expecting the worst when it came to seized adjusters and had booked the car in for a day and a half to allow for all the cutting time. Therefore I was amazed that either easily or with a bit of persuasion 9 of the 10 adjusting bolts were freed, leaving only one to be cut off and two compliance bushes to be replaced. Also, I was reassured to find everything was square within very small tolerances in view of the earlier repair that had been effected to one corner of the car.
The old set up was out everywhere and quite a way out at the front, not deliberately so, but as a result of the car 'adjusting' itself with usage on our bumpy roads. eg I had loads of toe out on the front. Chris was going to put on some 'safe' settings as I wouldn't be easily able to pop back to have it tweaked next week and he went to great lengths to understand where my lack of confidence at high speed was coming from and explain to me the effects of the changes he was making.
The obligatory test drive confirmed everything I wanted and what Chris had described - more confidence mid and late corner and the eradication of the feeling the back end was going to break away. Entering corners at higher speeds than I had become used to and powering around bends was like having a much better car. Carrying more speed around corners, I found myself going faster on the straight bits that followed when I had time to look at the speedo
I've waited to post this write up, because I wanted to see how the car behaved on roads and road surfaces with which I am familiar and after some driving last week and particularly today, I can say my confidence in the car has been hugely boosted, from someone who thought he was maybe getting too old for this thing, to someone who looks forward to chucking the car into corners. The grip levels are there to use - maybe they were there all along, but I didn't have the confidence to exploit them - and I'm entering corners faster and with more commitment than ever before and the car behaves itself throughout, even when making steering corrections mid-corner with the wheel or the throttle. The whole experience feels much safer to me.
All in all, the best money I've spent on the car. Ever. Chris is a really decent bloke who you can chat to and learn from, who does a very thorough job and the cost was a lot less than I had thought due to the ease with which the adjusting bolts were freed (I'm sure this is down to our unpolluted air here and that I don't usually drive on roads that have been salted!). He seemed to use all the experience he has accumulated from working on a lot of S2Ks, for my benefit (I can only guess how steep a learning curve this must have been) and if anyone hasn't done this with their car yet, I can't recommend Chris highly enough. IMO his prices represent great value, in my case about the cost of a set of tyres and if I ever want the setup checking/changing in the future I won't have to worry about any seized bolts.
And if you have to include a stopover, like I did, you could do worse than stay at the Abbey Farm B&B which is about 80 seconds from Chris's workshop
#3
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Interesting. I suppose it would depend on what adjustments are available on the R8. You always think the grass is greener, I suppose, but in my case it really was
#5
Chris knows his stuff.
On face value - he is not the cheapest out there.
But you do get a 1 hour test drive to explain how your car handles. Which is built into the cost of the work.
You learn a lot in the time you spend with Chris.
Far better value than bolting on girders to you car
On face value - he is not the cheapest out there.
But you do get a 1 hour test drive to explain how your car handles. Which is built into the cost of the work.
You learn a lot in the time you spend with Chris.
Far better value than bolting on girders to you car
#7
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I don't know who would be the cheapest and to me I'm not sure this is a price thing as such. Let's be honest, buying any car and then spending money on it like we do is one of the worst financial decisions anyone can make!!
What I couldn't afford was to spend more time than was needed and/or return home with a setup I couldn't live with; that's why I'm glad I chose CoG and am happy to endorse their work.
Girders?
What I couldn't afford was to spend more time than was needed and/or return home with a setup I couldn't live with; that's why I'm glad I chose CoG and am happy to endorse their work.
Girders?
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#8
#9
UK Moderator
Originally Posted by Hbomb,Sep 27 2009, 09:52 PM
Seen a few write ups about this place since I got mine, do you have the number/location at all? Google isn't my friend on this one..!
Contact details are as follows:
center gravity limited
Academy workshop
Unit 2, Plot 14 Brindley Close
Holly Lane Industrial Estate
Atherstone
Warwickshire
United Kingdom
CV9 2GA
Tel: 01827 718800
Email: info@centergravity.co.uk
Bharat