This Mini is a track day car. The Dr. Seuss looking contraption on the front helps me run a string line along both sides of the car. Just like using string from the sides of a motorcycle rear wheel past its front wheel. The string projects the center line outside the edges allowing me to measure the front and rear of the wheels to calculate Toe angle.
The car wheels have been replaced by “Set Up Wheels.” They are set to match the height of the tires and have bearings on the bottom so they move easily when I make changes to the car set up. If you change any of the adjusters with the tires installed, the sidewalls flex taking up your change. Then you have to bounce and roll the car to see what difference your change made. Set Up Wheels save time and vast amounts of frustration.
Under the Set Up Wheels are four scales. Just like a motorcycle, the weight balance is critical for happy tires/car/driver. On a motorcycle you need to think about the weight balance front to back. With a car you deal with, front to rear, side to side and most complicating, Cross Balance. That is the left front to the right rear and right front to left rear. Of course, a change to any one corner effects everything else. On a street car with the driver on one side, compromise is the best you can do.
The scales are resting on stands that let me correct for the uneven floor and make it much easier to work under the car.
Say it with me: Ride Height, Caster, Camber, Toe, Corner Weight and Repeat.