alnug

...as long as you're aware that's all that matters

I was just about to ask if it's got a hydrolock valve on it?

do i take it if you want to clean it you have to remove the bumper again?

so do i take it Jammy gets free geometry for life ...glad it's finally getting going.....and as I said things go much faster when you DIY

do I take it that the dealership just scribbled some numbers down with 0 written on them hoping that the customer be happy?!?!...also for the record I've never seen a car with 0 toe and camber in the rear either lol...any chance of telling us what the measurement you got off the car to tell us how it managed to scrub the tyres like that??

you can also try Gordon Tyres in Wakefield..they have a 4 wheel setup using cameras and price is only £40 odd....they use a John Bean aligner where the camera move up and down (this is the bit I'm wary off since this 'could' affect the numbers)...but if you want a proper setup i think Drury and TDI are the way...with the Fixed camera systems..but think it will be more expensive at Drury and TDI. If you want a quick check then Gordon tyres do it free..

surely with that amount of toe out the customer must know the car felt wrong straight off the bat? or am I missing something regarding IS200 handling??

as I suspected mate...i guess the tyres exhibit a certain wear pattern at a certain location on the car...so this leads me onto my next question...wiser to just leave the tyres where they are and replace fronts before rears rather than rotation?

yes it does...especially if it's multilink or similar that had many bushes supporting the suspension. you see if you tighten all the bits while the wheel is dangling loose once you put the weight of the vehicle onto the suspension there is no more give left in the bushes...this will mean that they could fail MUCH sooner than anticipated!

As the topic states...does changing tyres or rotating them necessity a new alignment? I have my own answers but want to hear from the experts....

sam you have pm

Hi there...that seems like a very good explanation to the novice ...now how about we get more technical. Specifically the Honda engine (as you would have guessed)...any chance you would like to try a shortish explanation why it is so hard to calibrate the Ivtec on the K series engine? is it primarily due to the DBW system? also any chance you can explain roughly why the IVTEC or indeed VTEC is so much more coveted compared to say the VANOS system in the BMW and the VVT system in Toyotas? looking forward to the replies...

DEFINITELY avoid places like ATS..they just can't spend the time required on something like this and as for the alignment from code:red.......you can spend that money and get the car set up MUCH more accurately and easily at places at TDI and drury which have the computerised equipment.......but it's your money at the end of the day and it's up to you....

HI all guess this is as good a place to ask as any....As many of you know tyres are expensive! and reading a few reviews there are plenty of cheaper brand tyres around...many of which do not really warranty any serious consideration!! However a brand which has caught my eye is Kumho..specifically the Ecsta KU31...it seems to have a fairly large following these days and is really trying to push the brand forward. I was wondering if anyone here has experience of these...specifically in terms of runout performance, roundness, and tyres characteristics as it wears. The Ecstas are cheap compared to the other well known brands but seem to perform equally as well.....any input is appreciated.

question about 3 and 4...so tony do i take it you DON'T recommend Tyre rotation and also the fact that switching lower thread tyres to the rear WON'T exacerbate any oversteer condition? I always felt that after tyre rotation the car never drove as well as before...maybe i have th eanswer now....

Tony to the rescue yet again

True Tony....pneumatic drift maybe a common complaint to people who have had the inclination to have found this forum or read up on the subject, but i would say there is a HUGE amount of education that needs to be made in this area. Generally people would think that alignment is out etc. The LAST thing they would suspect would be tyres especially if they are new........i would say that 9/10 tyre dealers probably won't know what pneumatic (or radial pull) is . Thing is once you've found a tyre with problems then you know that it's going to cost you (unless you've found yourself a good tyre place)...these days with directional tyres this is becoming more of a problem since there is really no where else you can put the tyre to compensate

the more i get to know about geometry, balancing etc the more paranoid i become...i get annoyed when people tell me my car might need 'tracking'........anyway it just goes to show you how knowledge is power here......for the less well educated they would probably have walked away thinking that what the dealership has done is a through job and that that is all that can be expected with the car when it clearly isn't! Just makes you think how many people are suffering driveability issues after going to an authority (their dealer in this case) who states that everything is fine and sends you on your way.....way too much book passing these days...that's why i've tried to learn as much about doing things around the car myself so then i know it's done right.........i get paranoid having anyone else touch it these days... ........anyway hope you get the car sorted soon TarkMalbot

this sort of thing makes you wonder...many a time the car is simply driven onto the ramp...they select the make of car it is etc neglecting the fact that some people have lowered the cars or use different wheels and then they just go about adjusting........really it makes you wonder what good is all the high tech equipment when the person doing the adjusting is probably knows nothing of the machine or how to use it..

ok i know this topic is old lol but i thought i would add my thoughts....how are the apexi springs wound? are they progressive? I did an experiment with my OEM Honda sports suspension which has progressively wound springs on the rear and what i found was that where the springs were wound closer they has some sort of plastic spring isolator on the coils...i removed theese and would get a knock on compression....my feeling is that the spring coils are hitting each other.....could this be the case with the Apexi's?...... this leads me to another thought if the spring coils are knocking when they are removed....surely even when the isolators are in place (which eliminates the noise), they are still knocking together under compression....and leads me to think....are the springs too weak for the car? I also notice that once the isolators are removed the car drops a further 1cm or so and ride is less harsh in the rear.....

The info came from a poster on the Civinfo forum who is from the factory. I do agree though, the latest rear suspension is definately a backward step being torsion beam. Back end is a bit harsh for my liking. Apparently they decided on that setup to increase the boot area. don't know if it's so much as boot space rather than the cost saving in all honesty ...also that coupled with the large number of suspension recalls for the dampers makes you wonder

I always wondered why Honda gave the new type-R torsion beam suspension...it is a great let down to the car and seems to me like they are trying to cut out the multilink rear suspension....seems like the latest Accord is the last of the mainstream Hondas to use the multilink rear. The way the older Type-r pummelled the newer one was a bit sad... So your comps are showing the Type-r is adjustable Tony?....

HI Tony thanks for that...just wondering have you any experience with the SPC? what I'm concerned about is the reliability of the Boot and ball joint on the SPC....cheers again Tony..

Hi Tony, I've lowered the car by about 30mm and rear camber is too negative I'm trying to get better turn in response with good tyre wear and to do this i need to bring rear camber into spec. ..mainly the car is for road use..about 60% motorway miles. At the moment i suspect it's going to chew the rear tyres and i feel the rear doesn't turn in as sharp as it does on my previous Accord. As I've said I've used Ingalls before but since SPC is cheaper I was wondering if anyone had aexperience with these

Hi Tony and all...just wanting your advice...I'll be visiting Tony soon and just wondering what advice you have regarding camber kits. The two I have in mind are SPC or ingalls to help adjust out the camber at the rear of the Accord. The SPC replaces the upper arm and incorporates a ball joint, this effectively adjust the camber leaving the stock cam bolt ot adjust the Toe. The other- Ingalls comes with two adjustable bars which replace two lower control arms and control both the Toe and camber. Any thoughts on either of these kits? My main concern with the SPC is the ball joint...i've heard that the boot/balljoint can be the weak link..also is adjusting these ok with you Tony? it's at the top and i think access is diffcult with the wheel on the ground. The Ingalls I've used before and since they are at the bottom of the vehicle they can be quite easily adjusted..but are a bit fiddly to adjust.....any thoughts guys? The SPC are half the price of the ingalls since it is only 1 arm per side......I'm after longevity...so if anyone has experience will gladly appreciate it!