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Two Days at Center Gravity & Ohlins Fitted

DucatiRob

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Joined
22 Jul 2015
Messages
2,236
Had a great couple of days at Center Gravity on Thurs & Fri for my Ohlins R&T fitting and full geo! Was a little worried about the weather on Thursday morning, -7 degrees and a really heavy frost but no snow and traffic wasn't too bad, was a little late but there was a mug of tea waiting for me when I got there :thumb:

I can only confirm what others have said about CG on here, they really do know their stuff, but it's the friendly attitude and passion about what they do that makes the experience all the more satisfying and you know you are in good hands. Both Peter and Chris go out of their way to explain exactly what they do and what can be achieved.

I was well looked after by Peter, starting with a test drive on a route they know well, Peter confirmed straight away that my car was not behaving quite as it should. The steering feel hasn't been what it used to be, but I guess over a period of time it's hard to pinpoint, particularly if you don't have experience of driving other 911's!

Back at the workshop Peter got busy dismantling the suspension whilst I make myself at home in the office/reception with a tv, kettle and my laptop to catch up on a little work! You are welcome to pop into the workshop any time and the office has a great view of what's going on.

There is a fair amount of work to replace all the components I had bought, lower control arms all round, front diagonals, top mounts/bearings, drop links and inner tie rods & track rod ends! Luckily, the only things that needed doing that I hadn't bought with me were front anti-roll bar bushes that Peter ordered from Porsche and delivered on the Friday morning.

My top mounts were shot, front control arms not great and n/s inner tie rod was the worst Peter had seen :eek: explaining the nadgery handling over bumpy surfaces. By the end of Thursday Peter had the Ohlins built and fitted and nearly all the other bits on the car, leaving Friday for the set-up, corner weighting and full geo.

My car was already quite low at the front, probably down to tired springs, 119mm front axle height so 14mm lower than it came out the factory, rear was pretty much spot on. You can have pretty much any height dialled in with the Ohlins, I wanted to drop the car by around 20mm, I already scrape over speed bumps so this seemed a good compromise. As there is limited camber adjustment, none on the front, any lower and Peter explained tyre wear would suffer. We ended up with 105mm at the front (28mm drop) and 133mm at the rear (20mm drop). Pretty much a the same as a GT3 ((108/133).

Ride Height - Final tweaking
DSC00764.jpg


The final step is a test drive on the same route as at the start, initially Peter taking the controls to check everything is in order then handing over to me. Wasn't quite sure what to expect, particularly with new shocks and various components.. what a revelation!! Even just pootling along it feels a difference beast, easy to control with just your fingertips, I wasn't aware how much the car was fighting against me before! Even on the nadgery B road so easy to steer and loads more feedback, turn in feels much more positive and direct. Hard to give a detailed review in just a few short miles, and my drive home was all motorway but overall I am absolutely delighted :thumbs: The Ohlins have transformed the ride, they are obviously stiffer that the PASM(off) but so much smoother and more comfortable on the road. The motorway journey home was almost pleasurable, in fact there seems to be less road noise now too :?:

Overall I am over the moon with how the car feels now, cannot fault the the service and hospitality form Pete and Chris (Holly and Jayne too), in my opinion fantasic value, they didn't even charge me for the courtesy car as I was only staying a mile down the road.

Can't wait for some warmer weather and dry roads to give it a thorough shakedown :drive:

One very happy customer :thumbs:
 
Nice write up.
What sort of money were the Ohlins & full geo if you don't mind me asking please?
Could be my next mod.
 
Nice write up... all sounds very familiar!
Great guys, great service.
 
Kettmark said:
Nice write up.
What sort of money were the Ohlins & full geo if you don't mind me asking please?
Could be my next mod.

I bought the Ohlins from Design911, with their seasonal discount they were the cheapest anywhere in the UK, about £2,200! I think CG estimate around 6 hours for a full geo at £75/h+VAT! If you give them a call or drop them a line they will give you a good idea of what expect.
 
CG :thumbs:. Nuff Said.
 
Good news Rob, glad it was a good experience. I'm due back there in a few weeks, I will try to persuade them to move 150 miles nearer to me on the south coast (joking)!
 
Counter Of Beans said:
Good news Rob, glad it was a good experience. I'm due back there in a few weeks, I will try to persuade them to move 150 miles nearer to me on the south coast (joking)!

Luckily only an hour from where I am, traffic permitting! Good guys, just wish some of the Indies I've visited would take a leaf out of their book re how to treat paying customers!
 
Nice one!

As you say they are great guys with superb knowledge.
Your car will drive better than when it was new now.
 
boardingnath997 said:
Need more after photos!

Took a load of pics while I was there, when I get a minute will upload!
 
Sounds awesome Rob. I'll bet it's better that a new one now. :thumb:
 
Only hear good things about CoG :thumbs:

Might have to book in at some point too :thumb:
 
KJD said:
Sounds awesome Rob. I'll bet it's better that a new one now. :thumb:

It almost feels like a new car Kev, will certainly be making a visit there maybe every other year for a health check, has brought it home to me how much of a difference small adjustments can make and how important it is on a performance car. You just don't notice the deterioration over a period of time!
 
Took the car out for a good blast yesterday, it is definitely quieter than before, much less road noise, which is strange as the standard PASM struts have a thick squidgy buffer between the spring and the top mount! The Ohlins just has an aluminium spacer!

A bit too cold for a really good test, but driving on a few roads I know well the difference is huge, feeling and feedback is so much better than before. I had told Peter that I'd been a little disappointed with the Michelin PSS when I had them fitted, he'd suggested that it was nothing to do with the tyres and that was clearly the case, even though the temperature was too low to push the car much it's now clear that the grip and feel from the tarmac is way better than it was before, and I thought it was already brilliant! :thumbs: way :)
 

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