question for subie guys

fact5racer · Post by **fact5racer** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:21 pm

It's a sad day in North Hampton..........I sold my Z06 and have now gone to "the dark side" and bought a 04 STi. I am looking for some suggestions for new shocks and struts......It has 49 K on it and the suspension seems played out. Any suggestions on what to do, or where to take it for a good knowledgeable evaluation? gary

offcamber09 · Post by **offcamber09** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:33 pm

fact5racer wrote:It's a sad day in North Hampton..........I sold my Z06 and have now gone to "the dark side" and bought a 04 STi. I am looking for some suggestions for new shocks and struts......It has 49 K on it and the suspension seems played out. Any suggestions on what to do, or where to take it for a good knowledgeable evaluation? gary

ARRRG! What's next- sell the Cobra and buy a Miata ?

rajito · Post by **rajito** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:53 pm

Welcome to the club, Gary

Here are bad ass coilovers I had on my 04:
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthr ... st13823654

Suresh (the guy in the silver STi) pulled a 1:19.4 chicane/chicane with my car on those coilovers and an exhaust. I also clocked a 1:19.??? with a passenger in the car during NHIS open test session.

Other STi's are running Cusco Zero2R's and OEM struts with STi pink springs.

I suggest you attend Wicked Big Meet (we'll have a COM Booth there) this weekend - might be able to check out what people have done.

Raj

fact5racer · Post by **fact5racer** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:56 pm

Did you sell those? I am NOT going to do track events with this car! So I am looking for as comfortable ride as I can get. Maybe I should of got just a regular WRX??????instead of the STI?

fact5racer · Post by **fact5racer** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:59 pm

Actually Scott, I sold the Vette for 2 reasons....1. work is a little slow right now and it's hard to justify owning a "6 month, sunny days only car" when you also own a Harley. I really wanted to have something I could drive all year round, especially those Oct. Nov, Dec, March & April months.

rajito · Post by **rajito** » Wed May 17, 2006 11:05 pm

fact5racer wrote:Did you sell those? I am NOT going to do track events with this car! So I am looking for as comfortable ride as I can get. Maybe I should of got just a regular WRX??????instead of the STI?

Oh come on, you'll have so much fun in STGT with the other three STi regulars

I would definitely not recommend my set up for street ride. 10k/8k springs are just a tad too stiff.

OEM '04 struts are well known for failing - they inevitably start clunking and binding in the rear. This happened to every STi I know, and mine were replaced twice. Dealers usually fix them under warranty for the first 36K miles, but after that you're on your own.

Not quite sure what struts the aftermarket offers other than coilovers.
Raj

fact5racer · Post by **fact5racer** » Wed May 17, 2006 11:07 pm

I haven't found anything available yet. Any suggestions on who knows their stuff withthese cars. Also don't forget, I still have my Indycar almost done

fact5racer · Post by **fact5racer** » Wed May 17, 2006 11:11 pm

I might do the widebody kit on it this winter. I can't leave anything alone!

rajito · Post by **rajito** » Wed May 17, 2006 11:28 pm

Widebody, huh? Wow

The only struts I'm aware of are the KYB's:
http://www.gruppe-s.com/Subaru/subsus.htm

You might want to search/post on the STi forums. Seems like most people who replace the suspension go for coilovers. Here's a link:
http://www.iwsti.com

There are street coilovers available, but I think you'd still get a stiffer ride over stock.

Raj

TTA89 · Post by **TTA89** » Thu May 18, 2006 2:33 pm

I don't know what the stock suspension setup looks like on an STi but if moving to a coilover setup doesn't that change the stock spring location and thus bump you out of STGT into SPA?

Just curious what the stock suspension looks like on those, I can't seem to find a picture online.

rajito · Post by **rajito** » Thu May 18, 2006 3:57 pm

TTA89 wrote:I don't know what the stock suspension setup looks like on an STi but if moving to a coilover setup doesn't that change the stock spring location and thus bump you out of STGT into SPA?

Nope, not if you retain the stock mounting points. Stock suspension is also coilover, technically (spring on strut) but I guess I'm thinking coilovers as something that have height adjustment, damping adjustment, etc.

Stock suspension looks something like this:

Raj

kfoote · Post by **kfoote** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:00 pm

H&R makes a street coilover kit specifically for the STi. email me or give me a call if you want more info.

Kevin

TTA89 · Post by **TTA89** » Thu May 18, 2006 4:34 pm

I guess you could argue it either way, I know what the rules are saying but if you follow it to the letter I'd say thats not exactly the same mounting points and not legal in STGT. Not that I care, I was just curious what it looked like. Thanks

Post by **WillM** » Thu May 18, 2006 6:11 pm

TTA89 wrote: I guess you could argue it either way, I know what the rules are saying but if you follow it to the letter I'd say thats not exactly the same mounting points and not legal in STGT. Not that I care, I was just curious what it looked like. Thanks

In my interpretation of "stock mounting points", the above coilovers (nice TEINs!) are completely legal for ST. The "mounting points" are the locations on the chassis and suspension where the shocks and springs are attached (to the chassis and suspension arms, etc). "Mounting points" have nothing to do with the springs UNLESS we are not talking about coilovers, where the springs are attached to the chassis at a different location than the shock/strut.

While the coilovers above are completely different - from the pillowball mount to the lower attachment point, they still attach to the "stock mounting points" of the car/chassis, and therefore I'd consider them 100% legal in ST. :-k

offcamber09 · Post by **offcamber09** » Thu May 18, 2006 10:32 pm

WillM wrote:
In my interpretation of "stock mounting points", the above coilovers (nice TEINs!) are completely legal for ST. The "mounting points" are the locations on the chassis and suspension where the shocks and springs are attached (to the chassis and suspension arms, etc). "Mounting points" have nothing to do with the springs UNLESS we are not talking about coilovers, where the springs are attached to the chassis at a different location than the shock/strut.

While the coilovers above are completely different - from the pillowball mount to the lower attachment point, they still attach to the "stock mounting points" of the car/chassis, and therefore I'd consider them 100% legal in ST. :-k

Agreed. The club also got it right when they eliminated the coil over contingency that the coil over spring needed to be the same diameter as the stock springs. A little off the path here, but SCCA recently changed their coil over rule for Improved Touring. Where true threaded shock bodies weren't allowed- they are now. The previous rule helped develop the threaded "overlays" that went over the top of the shock body and were an economical way of getting ride height adjustments at all corners.
Back to the original point; if you wanted to nitpick you could probably argue that camber plates do change the upper mounting points of the struts- more so than the threading of the body of the shock. Of course camber plates are explicitly allowed.

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question for subie guys

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