Why you Cannot do a "Wheel Alignment" on the 6R polo

[Polo_GTI]

I recently had my coilovers installed and the guy's understanding was that if you can't do a proper alignment on the Polo because of the subframe setup, then the only reason to do any toe adjustment was if you adjusted the camber by way of camber adjustable coilovers.

Make of that what you will. I'm not sure what to believe to be honest.

I don't know whether I should do one or not now...

I think what i'll do is not get any wheel adjustment done as yet and then once the installation is finished i'll assess whether the car pulls to one side or steering shakes at speed. If yes, then i'll take it in and get the toe in/out adjusted.

[brad]

toe, unless massively wrong, will not affect the thrust line (left/right drift) or cause shaking.

It does affect tyre wear & how the car turns in to a corner.

You can check it with a tape measure if you don't want to spend the money.

[gavs]

Getting the toe checked is a good idea because hey, you have just altered the suspension geometry and for an extra $49, it's worth it over a new set of tyres 5000kms sooner than you should potentially need to replace them.

[brad]

If your suspension guy isn't quite sure whether installing coilovers needs a toe check afterwards then I'd be finding a new suspension guy. If nothing else, he can put it onto the 4-post hoist or over the pit & do a quick check with a tape measure & tell you if it needs a more accurate adjustment. I used to do this all the time - if it was one of my "rusted-on" customers I'd just do it for free as a toe adjustment was only 15 minutes work on my machine.

When I replaced all the OEM dampers with Konis on my mates 77tsi 6R (which only had ~3,000km on it), the alignment at Spinning Wheel took the tech ~40 mins & 3 goes on the machine to get it exactly how the tech wanted. Considering that it only took him 20mins to do front & rear adjustments on my Skoda, I think he might have done a bit more than adjust toe settings. BTW, we also set the steering weight to GTI specs and he thinks it's a much better car than came off the showroom floor.

[steveyoshi]

This is a bummer... I love to have a play with wheel alignment settings to get things how I like. Interesting concept only having slight toe in adjustments available.

[MooseCarlo]

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread. Just the information I was looking for. The wheel alignment on my polo 6R is out with steering is pulling to the left slightly. I took it to the local tyre place and they charged me $60. They didn't fix it and it's still pulling to the left. Now I know why. Does anyone know why the car would be pulling to the left? Is it something to do with wheels perhaps? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[Umai Naa!!]

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread. Just the information I was looking for. The wheel alignment on my polo 6R is out with steering is pulling to the left slightly. I took it to the local tyre place and they charged me $60. They didn't fix it and it's still pulling to the left. Now I know why. Does anyone know why the car would be pulling to the left? Is it something to do with wheels perhaps? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

All RHD cars should slightly pull to the left.

The idea is to minimise the likelihood of the car wandering into oncoming traffic if you fall asleep at the wheel.

However, it shouldn't immediately dart off a reasonably flat road as soon as you let go of the wheel, but gently list over some distance. You can often rectify excessive pulling, by swapping the front tyres left to right, and vice versa.

[brad]

Thanks everyone for contributing to this thread. Just the information I was looking for. The wheel alignment on my polo 6R is out with steering is pulling to the left slightly. I took it to the local tyre place and they charged me $60. They didn't fix it and it's still pulling to the left. Now I know why. Does anyone know why the car would be pulling to the left? Is it something to do with wheels perhaps? Any advice would be very much appreciated.

read this thread
6R Polo GTI steering pull problem

NB: not all wheel alignment practitioners have the same level of expertise & knowledge. $60 will get you about 20 minutes on an alignment rack which isn't enough to move the subframe or try & wrangle the rear end about.

Yes maybe it's your tyres& if they are non-directional you could try swapping the fronts L to R. Also check the tyre pressures.

What figures did the aligner read?

[steveyoshi]

In the Wheel Alignment specs what are the PR Numbers quoted? Pr08, Pr10, Pr 22 etc?

[shauno]

VW want $150 (will discount to $100?) to do a "4 point wheel alignment" on a 6R 77TSI.

Can't confirm how far alignment is currently out, or whether they'd adjust anything other than front toe.