Best place to get 4 wheel alignment?

[scoss]

Not has this done before. I've seen quite a few people recommend ATS and the Hunter system. Is this the best place to go for 4 wheel alignment?
I assume other garages have the same hunter tech?
I've been to national tyre but I was waiting for over 3 hrs today and they said they only had time for the front wheel alignment!

Is it worth opting for a £60 4 wheel alignment at a place such as ATS?

Thanks

 

[Don76]

http://www.alignmycar.co.uk/start2/?gclid=COf6_tfv0dECFUQo0wodu4wMpQ

Go to an independent listed near you on the attached fella.

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk

 

[AudiNutta]

I've always used a place with a Hunter alignment setup and can never fault it.

I keep thinking mine is out on the S3 after a few months, but I think it's just the camber of the road having an effect. I will have mine checked / aligned after 6 months.. I'm in debate whether to use Audi who also use Hunter, or whether to use the company that I use for my dyno runs as they have Hunter too. I'm thinking that the poerformance centre might take more time to get it just right.

 

[scoss]

I've always used a place with a Hunter alignment setup and can never fault it.

I keep thinking mine is out on the S3 after a few months, but I think it's just the camber of the road having an effect. I will have mine checked / aligned after 6 months.. I'm in debate whether to use Audi who also use Hunter, or whether to use the company that I use for my dyno runs as they have Hunter too. I'm thinking that the poerformance centre might take more time to get it just right.

When you say camber are you speaking of the natural angle of the road? And due to this your steering wheel is never truly centred due to having to compensate for this?

 

[AudiNutta]

When you say camber are you speaking of the natural angle of the road? And due to this your steering wheel is never truly centred due to having to compensate for this?

Yes, the angle of the road. I seem to find myself on roads that always dip to the right and 90% of the time I am applying compensation with a left hand turn. I never noticed it in my A3, I am just thinking perhaps it's the S3 set up a little taughter and it follows the road more? It's only slightly but the wheel always looks to be turned to the left if you look closely. I'm trying to forget about it, the more I think about it the worse it seems haha. Well my car is booked into Audi for condensation in the rear tail light on Tuesday and I will ask them to do a tracking check .

If I do have it done, I'm drifting more towards the performance centre that specialise in setting up Japanese cars with some serious power, race cars included.. they might use smaller room for error in their setups.

 

[scoss]

Yes, the angle of the road. I seem to find myself on roads that always dip to the right and 90% of the time I am applying compensation with a left hand turn. I never noticed it in my A3, I am just thinking perhaps it's the S3 set up a little taughter and it follows the road more? It's only slightly but the wheel always looks to be turned to the left if you look closely. I'm trying to forget about it, the more I think about it the worse it seems haha. Well my car is booked into Audi for condensation in the rear tail light on Tuesday and I will ask them to do a tracking check .

If I do have it done, I'm drifting more towards the performance centre that specialise in setting up Japanese cars with some serious power, race cars included.. they might use smaller room for error in their setups.

It's not just you. I'm quite OCD and find myself always looking down at my wheel. Totally does my head in! I've been quite happily driving the car for 6 months and then this week, much like you I realised that my wheel wasn't dead centred and that when my OCDness crept in. The actual steering is totally fine. In theory if a car is correctly aligned then on most roads the wheel will never truly be centred due to the camber. I keep telling myself this

 

[AudiNutta]

It's not just you. I'm quite OCD and find myself always looking down at my wheel. Totally does my head in! I've been quite happily driving the car for 6 months and then this week, much like you I realised that my wheel wasn't dead centred and that when my OCDness crept in. The actual steering is totally fine. In theory if a car is correctly aligned then on most roads the wheel will never truly be centred due to the camber. I keep telling myself this

Funny that, I use exactly the same mentality as you haha. It is right though, if the car is set up perfect then it should follow the road and you should need to compensate it. It just seems that I'm always turning slightly to the left. The roads around here haven't been as bad as they normally are with regards to pot holes but I have hit 1/2 nasty ones, horrible.

I will have to come back with some feedback once my alignment has been checked! I thought it was out on my A3, but it was perfect when Audi checked it.

 

[richinsoton]

Mine is centred 100% after having a four wheel geo adjustment... slightly off centre is worse than miles out rofl !.

 

[f1nny]

I'm on my 3rd A3 8V and everyone straight from the factory has had the steering alignment slightly off (Steering wheel ever slightly right). On the first occasions on all 3 cars I have took it to Audi, who have also come back that it's within tolerance.

Not being happy with this I have taken all 3 cars to garages with Hunter Wheel Alignment. And all 3 times they got it perfect despite Audi saying it was within tolerance. That tolerance made all the difference as I do a lot of motorway driving so I notice slight chamber road changes. They even let me sit in the car and straighten the steering wheel till I see it straight, then they made the adjustments (Toe only).

On my latest car I took it to my local Kwik Fit who believe it or not were brilliant. They also offer a 30 days guarantee should you not be happy and want to go back and have further adjustments.

I have to say thought all my cars have had the torsion rear axle not independent like the S3.

 

[scoss]

Mine is centred 100% after having a four wheel geo adjustment... slightly off centre is worse than miles out rofl !.

When driving on a motorway with an obvious camber you must have to compensate for this with your steering and thus it won't be dead straight due to the nature of the gradient of the road?

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Factory setup is probably biased to left hand drive vehicles and different camber?

 

[richinsoton]

When driving on a motorway with an obvious camber you must have to compensate for this with your steering and thus it won't be dead straight due to the nature of the gradient of the road?

TBH 95% of my driving is up/down the M3 which has no visibly perceptable camber (on the straight / level sections) compared to local roads which tend to have much more exaggerated camber due to multiple repairs / layers. If I release the steering wheel the car will gently track left with the camber of the road surface over 100's of metres before you would need to correct it / stray from your lane (Whilst on the M3 this is), so it's not enough camber to have to apply more than fingertip pressure to keep tracking straight ahead (I must admit to checking my tyre pressures fortnightly which also helps! SE spec car with SE spec suspension running upgraded 18" alloys rather than standard 16" for comparison, I assume an S3 with magride etc could differ to my experience). IIRC it was slightly right previously as f1nny states his was.

 

[AudiNutta]

Well I asked Audi today to perform a tracking check, they said they cannot do a check only actually carry out the alignment for £120. "Do you want us to do this sir?" no thank you!! I could have been paying £120 for no adjustments. The local garage to me has a Hunter setup and charges £55.

Strange though, at Cardiff Audi they did it for free with a health check. Bridgend Audi say that they can't do a tracking 'check'. Looks like I am taking it back to the supplying dealer, Cardiff and ask for a free check and hope they don't fiddle the results as that would be easy to do to make money. But what I will say is when they have done my A3, they never once said it needed alignment.
I have found the service department at the supplying dealer is a shower of s**t. Reason why I drove half an hour further today to Bridgend.

 

[f1nny]

If it's under 6 months old or 6000 miles they should check it for free. I'd just say your steering wheel is off centre. They'll have to do an alignment check then.

On my latest A3 i took it to my local dealer instead of the supplying dealer and they happily looked at it for free under warranty. Second time they actually made adjustments despite it being within tolerance. It still didnt make it right as the steering wheel was off centre the opposite way. Took it Kwik Fit and paid £50 out my own pocket.

Sometimes it's worth the cost to get it perfect.

Here's an extract from Audi's warranty terms and conditions;

Mechanical adjustments after six months or 6,000 miles are also excluded from Warranty cover such as:

• Adjustments to doors, flaps, boot lids, bonnets, sunroof and hoods
• Brake adjustment
• V belt adjustment
• Headlamp adjustment
• Steering geometry adjustments
• Wheel balancing.

 

[ACWKGYTO]

Ive just booked it in with Ninemeister Warrington, will let you know how I get on.

 

[Snake Pliskin]

Same here ... my car was out too and my local Kwik Fit did an excellent job

 

[kpm278]

does the 8v need a four wheel alignment - is there any adjustment on the rear? mine is a 2014, non quattro

 

[scoss]

does the 8v need a four wheel alignment - is there any adjustment on the rear? mine is a 2014, non quattro

Adjustments can be made to the rear of need be. They’ll print out the work done after it’s completed.