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Blog · 5 min read

What is ADAS calibration — and why your car needs it after a new windscreen

If your car was built in the last decade or so, replacing the windscreen is only half the job. Here's the part a lot of cheap quotes quietly skip.

ADAS stands for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems — the safety tech that helps your car stay in its lane, keep its distance and brake before you do. On most modern vehicles the camera that runs those features is mounted to the back of the windscreen, looking out through the glass. Move that glass, and you move the camera.

Why a new windscreen changes everything

When we fit a replacement windscreen, the camera comes off the old glass and goes onto the new. Even a fraction of a degree out — a hair's width — and the camera misreads where the lane lines are and how far away the car in front sits. Calibration realigns the camera to the manufacturer's exact specification so the systems read the road truthfully again. It isn't an optional extra; it's what makes the safety gear safe.

A technician calibrating a windscreen-mounted ADAS camera with diagnostic equipment

Static vs dynamic calibration

There are two methods, and the right one depends on your make and model:

  • Static — done parked in the workshop, reading manufacturer target boards set at precise distances and heights. Controlled and weather-proof.
  • Dynamic — done on a road drive at set speeds, with the system relearning the road from live lane markings and traffic. Some cars need this; a few need both.

We work out which your vehicle calls for and do it properly rather than guessing — and you leave with a report confirming every system passed.

Which features rely on it?

If your car has lane-keep assist, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, forward-collision warning or traffic-sign recognition, it almost certainly has a windscreen camera that needs recalibrating after a replacement. Not sure? Tell us your rego and we'll confirm.

What happens if you skip it?

An out-of-line camera can brake late, steer toward the wrong line, or switch features off with a dash warning. At best the safety systems stop working; at worst they work wrongly. That's why we finish the relevant replacements with calibration on the same visit — no second trip to another workshop.

Booking a windscreen replacement? Ask about ADAS calibration and we'll fold it into the one job.

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