4 wheel alignment

James cupra 290 black

Active Member
Apr 9, 2020
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I have a 2016 Leon cupra 290. When I first got the car it felt so planted. It felt amazing on the road despite having shite tyres on the car. In April I bought 4 Michelin ps4s. I had a 4 wheel alignment done. The car really didn’t feel right. I was expecting it to feel even better not worse. Since then I have had it redone 3 times and different garages. After 12 thousand miles I need two new front tyres again. I think I am going to try again with the 4 wheel alignment. Does any one have a print out of the correct settings. Has anyone had a similar problem with feel after new tyres fitted?

any advice will be very helpful.

thanks in advance
 

James cupra 290 black

Active Member
Apr 9, 2020
71
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I needed new tyres because there is only 2mm left on the front tyres now and it’s winter. She really doesn’t grip all that well lol. When I first got her with the cheap tyres the car wheel hoped every time I put my foot down even at 30 mph so they had to go. Plus I wanted it to handle as well as it would coming into the warmer months. Hence the wheel alignment.
 

BoomerBoom

Active Member
Jun 1, 2018
702
252
The worn tyres should give you a good idea if the geometry is out, if they are wearing unevenly then something is wrong. It could just be the brand of tyre doesn't suit you, as four alignment checks in 12k miles is more than usual.

Also, 2mm is well below what I'd keep on a car - even at moderate speed in the wet they will aquaplane very easily.
 

James cupra 290 black

Active Member
Apr 9, 2020
71
29
yes I agree. They are wearing evenly. But when you push it very hard it just doesn’t feel as planted as it when I bought it. With Michelin tyres they wear very well unlike some tyres I have used. Even at 2mm they handle great. But do slip when pulling off. My point is I have had three alignments done and every time the car feels different. Has anyone got a print out of there wheel alignment.
 

adam davies

Active Member
Dec 30, 2019
338
138
My car felt like **** was very tail happy, had new ps4 fitted to rear and had full alignment car sticks like glue now turn in much better also.
 

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James cupra 290 black

Active Member
Apr 9, 2020
71
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Glad to hear you got it sorted. My cupra suffers a bit with lift off oversteer to be honest. With the diff though you can keep your foot planted and it will pull you round even in the wet with 2mm of tread left ??. Thank you for the printouts but unfortunately I need the settings for a cupra. I believe they will be different. I understand for what I have read that they are different. Also slightly different if the car is fitted with ACC which mine is.
 

martin j.

Active Member
Feb 11, 2007
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Fife
My alignment guy has all the settings for cars set in the software of the machine, input reg no and it knows what its dealing with, surely others should be the same?
 

Damo H

Remind me, what's an indicator?
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Oct 3, 2012
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Out of interest what machinery was used to do the alignment? A decent Hunter 4 wheel alignment should cost you close to £100 if its being done properly.
 

James cupra 290 black

Active Member
Apr 9, 2020
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I am not sure what brand they all used. I am 100% sure they put the car and model in and not the reg as they asked me every time what it is etc. They ranged between £80/£90.

It’s not at slow speeds where the issue is. It’s when you push on where the car feels strange. Somehow it feels different every time it’s been done again. I am sorry it’s a bit vague.

Thank you to everyone so far.
 

James cupra 290 black

Active Member
Apr 9, 2020
71
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I found these on the web. I am pretty sure the last time it was done it said G13 on the paperwork. Unfortunately I can’t fine it now. I am pretty sure it should be G12.
 

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black_sheep

Active Member
Mar 10, 2013
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Alignment is G12 on the Cupra - below is a link to a previous post that I made on this subject:


I’ve also considered purchasing the collars listed below, to improve the accuracy of the alignment in future:

 
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RUM4MO

Active Member
Jun 4, 2008
7,823
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South Scotland
I think that the oversized bolt holes is just to allow correction of alignment when cheap manufacturing methods are employed and also when slight body/suspension damage issues need to be cheaply resolved.
I initially considered buy a service kit of eccentric dowels to let me return the front cross member to the original position on a 2002 VW Polo when its horrible ARB plastic end stops broke free, I gave up that idea and when that car was just over 4 years old I handed it into a VW dealership to swop over the ARB for a new one with metal welded end stop collars, that repair included a full 4 wheel re-alignment, shortly after that I replaced all 4 tyres only to have that car fail its next MOT 11 months later for excessive wear on the inner edges of both front tyres, how did I miss that!! A pair of new tyres followed by another proper 4 wheel re-alignment sorted that issue out for the rest of that car's life with us, ie 13 years and 135,000miles - it was the same VW dealership that carried out the second full 4 wheel re-alignment, so all I'm offering here is, any 4 wheel re-alignment is only as good as the bench and the operator - that sloppy first re-alignment cost me 2 new 15" Michelin Exaltos but I did not think that I had anything to gain by complaining as that car could have been bad abused over the follow 11 months from the first 4 wheel re-alignment - very annoying!
I also had a very bad 4 wheel re-alignment experience from a SEAT dealership, older daughter bought a used Ibiza 6K, one side had +ve camber and the other side had -ve camber, "no fault found, car okay" I said not so, next attempt "no fault found workshop foreman has checked and driven the car", I demanded that the foreman came out and looked at the car, all he said was "okay it is out", then took all day to find a place that had a full set of working bench cables!! Sometimes you end up dealing with idiots who are masquerading as competent highly skilled techs, they might have the paperwork, but can't do the job!
 

AndrewJB

Friend to SEAT UK & Cupra Racing
Aug 16, 2007
11,210
484
Maranello
I needed new tyres because there is only 2mm left on the front tyres now and it’s winter. She really doesn’t grip all that well lol. When I first got her with the cheap tyres the car wheel hoped every time I put my foot down even at 30 mph so they had to go. Plus I wanted it to handle as well as it would coming into the warmer months. Hence the wheel alignment.

What I was trying to get at is did it need new tyres due to uneven wear (which would suggest alignment was out) or just general wear, sounds like general wear to me.

Alex @ AKS Tuning always tweaks the OEM alignment settings he did my Cupra and Porsche.
 

James cupra 290 black

Active Member
Apr 9, 2020
71
29
What I was trying to get at is did it need new tyres due to uneven wear (which would suggest alignment was out) or just general wear, sounds like general wear to me.

Alex @ AKS Tuning always tweaks the OEM alignment settings he did my Cupra and Porsche.
No it didn’t need new tyres but because of the wheel hop I decided to put 4 Michelin pilot sport 4s on. As they were very expensive I thought I might as well get a 4 wheel alignment done to preserve them for as long as possible but also to extract every ounce of performance out of the car. As far as I can remember the original tyres were all wearing evenly.

Maybe it’s the tyres but I did a lot of research and everyone says the Michelin’s respond well on cupras. It’s just odd that it felt different every time I had it re done.
 

Damo H

Remind me, what's an indicator?
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Oct 3, 2012
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I moved to the Michelin PSS on the 280, and they were that good, on the 4drive the Continentals felt awful, so swapped them for PS4S within 2 weeks of getting the car. Never regretted it.
 

SuperV8

Active Member
May 30, 2019
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I found these on the web. I am pretty sure the last time it was done it said G13 on the paperwork. Unfortunately I can’t fine it now. I am pretty sure it should be G12.
Did you/they check the ride height is correct? as this can through out the settings. If not matching the required spec, sand bags should be added to correct before alignment.

Also:
• Tyres inflated to correct pressures.
• Vehicle unladen.
• The fuel tank should be full
• Spare wheel and vehicle tools are stowed in correct locations.
• Windscreen washer fluid reservoir must be full.
• When checking wheel alignment, ensure that sliding plates and turntables are not touching end stop.
 

James cupra 290 black

Active Member
Apr 9, 2020
71
29
Thank you for the reply’s everyone. I have found the print out to my last wheel alignment. It’s definitely the wrong settings. They have put it down as an estate with no adaptive chassis control and code is G13. Very annoying. I will look at the paperwork properly next time ?.
Could I just confirm with someone who has a cupra and have had the wheel alignment done that it is G12 and not G13.
 

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black_sheep

Active Member
Mar 10, 2013
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There is no difference between 5dr and ST geometry settings on the Cupra according to the ‘Running Gear, Axles, Steering’ workshop manual.

(Pre-FL) 2013-2016 Cupra PR No for DCC Multilink Suspension is ‘G05 + 2UG’

(FL 2016+) Cupra PR No for DCC Multilink Suspension is ‘G12’.

The only difference between Pre-FL and FL DCC Cupra geometry is rear axle camber:

Pre-FL: -1 deg 40’ +/- 30’ & max 30’ difference between sides

FL: -1 deg 30’ +/- 30’ & max 30’ difference between sides

The printout for my FL Cupra ST is here:

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