im just making sure but does having ur car too low mess up any other parts of ur suspension like control arms or axles or anythign around that area? i mean i have my car aligned but i just wanna make sure that it doesnt mess up any of the other components down there

 

The primary part that lowering will affect is your struts. If you over-lower the factory struts, they will always been in a state of compression and wear out their seals prematurely (not to mention they will have lower travel and thus damp the springs less effectively). Over-lowering can put stress on all the other components as well, but the struts will be the first to go. I think the max you should go on the factory struts is 1" of drop (front and rear).

 

1" is, not coincidentally, the drop for the STi pink springs.

 

i have thet s-tech which is about 2.4" in the front and 1.3 in the rear, i kno the shocks need to be changed out in the future but how long do i have until something bad happens to any of the other components down there

 

length of time? there isnt one.. its all based on your driving habits.

s-techs? on stock struts? i say instead of replacing struts and other components.. get a set of good coilovers with dual perch i.e. tein flex or better


by having a car too low, you affect handling (because you do need some roll) which puts more stress on other parts of the suspension

 

I hope you didn’t buy those springs to improve handling. Here is a good 101 read on suspension geometry http://www.suspensionparts.info/show...p?threadid=294.

 

nah mostly just looks , im only gonna have the car for another year just wanted to make it look more agressive , no big plans on it so far, cuz ima trade it in not too long from now. il be getting a Z or a evo IX probably heh

 

Those are good discussions on suspension geometry; the last three issues of Sport Compact Car have also had very good articles on the same subject, dealing with camber, roll center and many other suspension set-up issues.

The truth is (and this is true for 80% of cars out there, most likely) that small changes in the factory suspension can have great positive effects, and big changes almost always have negative effects. Without a total component replacement (i.e. coilovers) you really can't improve on the factory design, because they are set up within relatively narrow tolerances from the beginning. Luckily the WRX and STI come from the factory nearly ready to race; I watched a stock RS clean up at an auto-x last week, his only changes being wheels, tires and STI springs. "Slamming" any car is a serious detriment to the handling, comfort and safety of the vehicle, be it Prelude, Escalade or WRX.

 

That’s the route I’m going right now with my Koni/GC setup. I’m not dropping the car very much (F 14.25” R 14” from wheel arch to the center of the hub) but unfortunately I don’t have much knowledge when it comes to rake settings on a WRX. Most cars like positive rake but from what I’ve read the WRX handles better with negative rake which is a bit ugly IMO. Since my garage floor isn’t level I tried to get as close as possible to some height values I found on Whitelines website.

subieguy83

Looks like you’ll be getting what you want then. I would love to drop my car more than my current setup since it would look better but my goal is to have a car that the wife and kid can ride in without getting brain damage that can also do decent at autoX events. My setup is fairly weak when compared to many others but like you I’m going for what works for me not what works for others.

 

hehehe, i did the big suspension no no. 4" drop on stock struts. lol. FYI they will lsat about 1 year like that. more or less depending on hwo you drive. surprisingly enough i have not maxxed out the travel on the suspension while turning, and i have noticed minor improvements in the handling/responsiveness of the car. this is most likely due to the increased spring rates.

since i am quite busy and have very litle time, and no place to fiddle with ride heght i have nto et gotten around to trying diffrent hieghts. however next i will try 1" below stock.