Editing Geo Setups (section)

== Setting your own geo ==
Whilst a race prep specialist can charge £200 for a Geo you can DIY castor, camber and toe settings. With a lot of variability in quality at alignment centres (and Lotus dealers !) for the best results put the effort in yourself and build a string based alignment rig which can be more accurate than a computerised laser system. To make a DIY geo/alignment rig see:[[Geo Alignment Rig (Home Made)]]


1. The Hunter computerised laser alignment system is one of the best (the variability is quality of the operator) http://www.alignmycar.co.uk will find a local place with a Hunter alignment system who will provide a setup sheet showing castor, camber and toe (probably in dd:mm:ss rather than decimal degrees) for £15 and can set the front and rear toe for another £30.


2. If you are going to DIY you must have the relevant S1 or S2 service manual suspension sections. Setting castor and camber is straightforward as a caster washer and camber shim have fixed values, whereas toe is delicate - which way do you wind the flats and a quarter turn of the track rod can alter the toe by 2mm (e.g. just tightening the locknuts).


'''Absolutely critical to getting a good geo is having the right ballast in the seats e.g. for a 780Kg race Elise the difference between empty and an 85Kg driver is 5mm ride height, 0.2° camber and 1mm toe. (Depending on Spring rates used) Don't let your alignment place guess'''