I am eligible for a $200 present from my friends. So, what should I get? I am a total n00b when it comes to suspension and would like to get a setup that'll help my autocrossing future. I think, it boils down to springs, sway bars, endlinks. But what to get first? Springs I really really want to buy Progress. If that is a bad idea, i guess i'll get prodrive. But prodrives are going to be over $200 Sway Bar(s) Do i need to get both F+R? or can i just get one? also which brand? Looks like people are running perrin, cusco, whiteline, helix..etc. Endlinks Seems as if it is a war between helix and kartboy? Ok as you can tell i am totally confused. If you have any suggestions, please also try to post links as i'll have to forward the links to my friends. PS: Autocrossing for the last weekend has convinced me to get wheels/tires myself.
Some of the early 02 WRX's came with larger rear swaybars from the factory than the later ones did. I'd check the size of yours and maybe just buy endlinks. But for sure I'd go for springs or wheels/tires first. I noticed the biggest difference changing those. Also, I noticed more of a difference putting in a rear strut tower bar (40mm cusco) than my front one. For rear sway bar if you get one, I've been looking into the progress rear sway that comes with the stronger mounts and perrin endlinks I found the combo from a vendor on NASIOC for $285 shipped. http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=940070
an adjustible 20-24mm rear sway bar is nice. I have a FHI 20mm...but I also have springs and also alignment to help me turn. You can later get the endlinks and stuff later when you have moe $$$.
I am buying wheels and tires. They can buy me either springs, sway bars, or endlinks or anything else for $200. What springs do you have? Yeah after i put everything in, i'll get an alignment. So, a larger sway bar is good? which one?
the springs are actually coilover sleeves. They were a trade for my OEM supper spring seats. I had to run these or else I wouldn't have any suspension, so I've been stuck with these for a long while. I'm looking to upgrade to STi Tarmacs though for my Impreza; '99 Impreza L Sport Wagon. Tires....well...it's fun to drive with OEM tires. You get to learn how a tire works in different situations. Going to better tires later you'll have more experience after playing with the stock tires. I started out with Bridgestone Eager all seasons, then had a change to play with some BGF KDW's, then finally some BFG Traction T/A High Perf All seasons. Learning how to control your car with sucky tires, then going up is nice. You LEARN A LOT! This is because you learn to break traction with the tires and work the tires to the limits. Also they have a lower limit so you aren't going too fast and still be safe. The sucky tire's howling helps you find the limit as well. With grippier tires, there's LESS HOWL and screech. The grippier tires will only screech when you're 9/10 of the way or 10/10. And once warmed up, they BARELY howl.
tanabe GF210s are supposed to be nice springs and u can get them shipped for 180 at evasive motorsports.. mine should be home on thursday
i vote for the prodrive springs, i had the same debate between springs about a month ago and i thought it over for well over 2 months, in the end i am EXTREMLY glad i went with the prodrives!
http://www.jscspeed.com/wrx/suspension/cusco_front_swayb.htm you have to get a larger one in front to balance it out. But you'd have to LEARN the sway bar too because it can bite back at you. The think is, with the equipment, you have to be willing to test it out and use it to its limits.
Do you autocross at all? hmmm.. never heard of them before. I will try to find more reviews.. that price is indeed very attractive. so a 24mm in front and 22mm in the back? I am sure that i will be testing it's limit on the course. But it would be nice to know what others are running or have experience with. Thanks a lot for the input guys. I am reading up on suspension a lot.. it actually is making my head spin as i type this!!
no i dont autocross, just drive aggressivley I know Jake has them on his wrx, he autocrosses ask him (jnorthwrx)
Where did you buy ur's from? how much, if you dont mind me asking. from reading more on them, looks like they are the most common among bugeye users. The prices I have found are out of the $200 range.
$279.99-299.99 shipped is the best price you are going to find, you can do www.oakos.com www.mauromotorsports.com www.rallysportdirect.com all of them will match online prices. i got mine from rallysportdirect becuase at teh time they were the only ones that physically had them in stock (not dropped shipped) i had them in about 3 days! awesome people
I was very impressed after installing my prodrives. Spring rates are great, and the drop was perfect... just enough to kill the ugly wheel gap.
I just put prodrives on my car this past weekend. What a difference in performance and looks!!!! HIGHLY recommend them :biggthumpup:
I'd save up and go for konis and ground controls. You can get the GC coilovers now and later on when you have a bit more saved up later get koni yellow single adjustables. Its going to definitely help you have the best driving car for autocross and good for the street too. It might be a bit more expensive but you can build the best possible suspension for your car piece by piece that way. Start with GC coilover kit, you can get any custom rate you want, but there are lots of theories on what works best for autocross, but you can also use the rates you can find for other popular springs as well. Then you can add koni yellow struts which are going to be the best possible strut for the car if you want something high quality and good for racing and street use. Basically theyre the best possible strut for autocross and track racing use and used very widely. Also available with custom valving etc. and have a lifetime warranty, so its the last set of struts you're ever going to buy fo the car. Once that's all in you need camber plates, again get them down the road when you have adjusted to the coilovers/struts and you have plenty to choose from, PDE, cusco and MRT all make very good choices. By the time you're done you'll have every component covered by a lifetime warranty (except the camber plates) Its kinda expensive, but you can do it in stages, and you'rell have pretty much the best suspension possible in the car, for about the same cost as entry/mid level coilovers
Yes, i knew you would respond to this thread. Also, I knew I would have no idea what you are talking about but I would like the sound of it!! :laugh: So, now that you have my attention. Give me more detail. Is this what you are talking about? http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/description.php/II=82/CA=25 So GC Coilover can be bought where? and can I install it when the car is stock and then get the Koni struts? heh, looks like if Zaak does not convince me, then i'll just buy prodrives.. This however, does not solve my problem. I still do not have any links/parts for my friends to buy. It looks like springs are going to be more than $200. So for now, should i ask them to buy me SB's or Endlinks? and which ones?
here are some pictures i took about 2 weeks of having my prodrives on http://mnsubaru.com/forums/vbgarage.php?do=view&id=82
I second what Zack said. But it will be pricey! Start out in chunks. Yes springs would be cool, but if I were you I would take that $200 odd bucks you would spend on springs and use it on going to as many autox events you can. Think about how much you improved from the previous weekend! And save for a greater mod...struts and coilovers. I could be completely speaking out of my ass, but from what I understand subies tend to push/understeer. I would work on that first. Brace up the back. Check to see which rear bar you have--it could be the 20mm which is a decent bar. Pick up a used bar from Nasioc--preferably adjustable, pick up the Helix endlinks--the only reason I recommend them is that at a lift day Zack was swearing by them. This will help rid the car of some of the oversteer. Get the front brace later...plus it will be more fun tossing the back end around. If you decide springs are the best bet for the time being--then I would highly recommend the STI Pink springs, they don't lower the car as much as prodrives but are designed to work with the OEM strut (meaning you will probably get more life out of them vs. with prodrives). Pinks are like $235 or so. A bunch of Saabaru 9-2x owners swear by the Pinks and the Konis. Either way, coilovers or springs, it is best to do struts at that time as well and you will notice a huge difference.
As much as I would like to do that, it would be hard to ask them to just hand me over the money so i could go to events. I will be going to all the events anyways. I think i will just have them buy me the rear swaybar. I just need to find which company and what size.
your 02 WRX should have the 20mm rear sway. they were orig equip on 02-03 WRX Sedans. the wagons 02+ have a 17mm. also all wrx 04+ have 17mm. What Zack said sounds to me to be the best setup. although it will be more expensive it will be exactly what you want it to be (not what prodrive thinks you need). having ground control make springs with exactly the spring rates you want is waht allows you make the car handle like you want it to. plus those Konis are supposedly great shocks. get your friends to buy you the JDM "IMPREZA" badging, and some whiteline bushings. hehe
The under $200 suggestion bin Front/rear strut tower braces= around $100 depending on source (ebay, whatever) Steering rack bushings=around $30 most vendors (whiteline) Hawk HPS brake pads=around $150 give or take Motul brake fluid and braided lines=around $150 Solid Endlinks=$80-100 depending on vendor (helix, whiteline)
Awesome suggestions!!! Tower braces= i have heard that they do not help much but they definitely are in the price range... which ones would you recommend? Pads=just changed mine to Hawks and they have a nice punch! Solid Endlinks= I am stuck between endlinks or RSB. I'll send em a link to whiteline bushings, whiteline RSB, and helix endlinks.. and then they can choose whatever they want. Just need to find a vendor that has all that in stock. :biggrin:
tower braces stiffen the car...you can tell and help keep that inside tire planted more firmly when cornering. You can spend big money on cusco and the like...or go generic. bigger bar=more oversteer, is that what you want? I have helix endlinks and a 20mm bar and am happy with that setup. For vendors..go to www.clubwrx.net and click on the vendor section and you will find one or two that will carry all this. Happy Birthday...and more importantly, Happy Installing!
Cool. Thanks again for the suggestions. I will get that rolling and after the wheels and tires are here, zaak will be bugged again! heh.
Strut tower bars are just decoration on GD chassis subies. I did a test and tune where i kept taking them out and putting them back in. I took them out for good at the end of the day. They didn't affect anything noticeable. On a GC however, I can hear the front end creak under hard turns, the mounting of the struts is much less solid.
Yea for strut bars I only noticed a difference with the rear, front I didn't notice jack. Then again I got the huge rear cusco one.
The steering rack on an '04 or earlier Subarus moves significantly under hard cornering. $30 for nice bushings from Whiteline or SuperPro helps turn-in immensly. I spent $65 for both a front strut tower brace, and a lower H brace. On a BC like mine (or a BJ, BF, GC, GM for that matter), I can use all the help i can get. Where do you think that extra 2-300 lbs went in the GD? http://www.bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=26679 I will vouch for H&R's quality. Prodrives are also nice. It all depends on if you want to keep your stock dampners, as some springs will take a toll on OE. Good pads should already be a given. I imagine that most us are tough on our brakes. The economy set from NAPA just doesn't cut it. Energy suspension kit <$200 but not for the uninitiated. Whiteline anti-lift kit <$200. Hard for me to say how much it helped since I did most of my suspension at once. My turn-in is really nice even with the old rack bushings. THe added castor helps in that respect, along with the stiffer bushings. Good brake fluid is like $15. ATE, Motul, Castrol LMA. Rear camber bolts. Nice hoops (rubber). I say stay away from springs/struts designed for a GC. The weight difference between the two changes what you'd want spring rates to be.
For SCCA classed solo you'll want to avoid an anti lift kit. It changes the suspension geometry at the control arm and is therefore illegal in almost every class. You can however use the bushings from it in the stock positions, which nets about half the caster. Whiteline began selling the bushings by themselves for people who want to do this.
Just to keep the facts straight, it's not the bushings from the ALK. it's a diffrent specially made offset bushing.
I guess i'm a bit behind the times. A few years ago people were just using the bushings from the ALK. And on the subject of ALK's, avoid the Perrin PSRS (an anti lift kit). Many people mhave had problems with them hitting front swaybars.
Well I sent them the links to RSB, Endlinks, some glasses, and the steering rack bushings. I will buy wheels and tires soon. i cannot find a lot of information on Ground Control coilovers. It seems as if eibach works with them to create the system for your stock strut. But then what setting do you get it at? also WHERE do you order this system from?? last but not least, when i upgrade to better shocks, do i need to buy a new system all over again? i know i have more questions.. but i'll save em for later.
