What are you opinions on the suspension on your cars? I am thinking about getting the SPT upgrade (struts and springs) and I want to get some opinions.

Mostly my car is a daily driver to and from the city of chicago and a weekend auto-xer and a once a year track racer.

Do you think this is the best set-up for what I do? How do you like the suspension on your car. How much diffrent is it from a stock wrx/rs setup. How rough is it? Do you have any quarks with your setup?

-Neal

My input is that your warrenty won't be void by using it.

Good upgrade. It is probably the best way to go right now without going up to a coilover setup. I like it alot. The ride is not harsh and it is still comfortable even over hard bumps. Some have said that it is comparable if not better that DMS 40s. It is definitely stiffer than stock. I have noticed that the steering is much more responsive than the stock setup after putting this on. I would suggest that you put the STI hardened Top hats on if you go with this setup. The car does lean a lot less and it handles much more neutral. Understeer is greatly reduced and the setup is much more predictable. I like it a lot as you can see. It is pretty much the only setup I recommend right out without going to coilovers. No quarks at all and I would not change it for anything else. Although when Prodrive does have their setup out. I would definitely want to try that setup out. If you have any questions about it feel free to PM me.

i concour
it is a good setup for the $$$

the take offs from AV motorsports is the best deal (about the same price but w/ top hats)

that said i bought eibachs and front and rear sway bars... it feels simmilar .. till you go over a speed bump

Has anyone added the aluminium front control arms? If so, a review would be nice.

~v6

Originally posted by Jaxx
i concour
it is a good setup for the $$$

the take offs from AV motorsports is the best deal (about the same price but w/ top hats)

that said i bought eibachs and front and rear sway bars... it feels simmilar .. till you go over a speed bump

LoL I got eibachs and a front bar... I love the ride, but its deffinatly not for everyone. Firm but slightly bouncy.

~v6

My experience is the same as RSdrivers and also suggest the STi top mounts as well. I dont have the front aluminum control arms either. you can get the SPT strut and spring combo and STi topmounts through avsport in AZ for a good price.

I do not recommend the front arms at all unless you are seriously going to use them strictly for a "racing only" application. The reason is because those arms are soo stiff that you could end up bending your chassis and not the arm. If anything were to happen, I am sure that you would rather have a bent suspension arm then a bent chassis. The steel arms give just enough flex so that a minimal amount of an impact will affect the chassis.

I saw Andys suspension today (Weasel 555) and it was lookin pretty nice. Im gonna send him a link here, his car looked beautiful and the car was stiff, but in a good way. He'll explain.

Pete

I guess what I described above is not good enough eh? :p

i have the suspension from a U.K. Prodrive/STi Car
V7 struts, STi top mounts and Prodrive springs rated for uk roads :) which work out very very nice for the roads i drive ....Spring rate is approx 3-5% softer than the STi springs
so yer filings don't fall out on cr*p made roads ....and the car is lowered approx 1.5inch :)

very impressed with it and a total plug and play set-up so i don't have to make my brain work like with coilovers ...0.02 worth

Andy

Originally posted by Weasel 555
i have the suspension from a U.K. Prodrive/STi Car
V7 struts, STi top mounts and Prodrive springs rated for uk roads :) which work out very very nice for the roads i drive ....Spring rate is approx 3-5% softer than the STi springs
so yer filings don't fall out on cr*p made roads ....and the car is lowered approx 1.5inch :)

very impressed with it and a total plug and play set-up so i don't have to make my brain work like with coilovers ...0.02 worth

Andy

Hey, post some pics, or link. Also, I doubt you'll feel the 5% difference between that setup and STi.

Originally posted by ImprezaRSDriver
I guess what I described above is not good enough eh? :p
Nope

I would seriously like to test out the difference between the Prodrive setup and the STi setup. I am really curious to know the difference.

Impreziv, that is harsh. :/

I like the sti set up (I have it now) for a dialy driver

Its much improved over stock

Also the sti is great over rough road - mega wheel travel

But for auto x or serious hard driving on smooth roads nothing beats coil overs - - it was much better when the car was very low and had stiffer spring rates

Originally posted by Alfriedesq
I like the sti set up (I have it now) for a dialy driver

Its much improved over stock

Also the sti is great over rough road - mega wheel travel

But for auto x or serious hard driving on smooth roads nothing beats coil overs - - it was much better when the car was very low and had stiffer spring rates

So is the STi suspension and Prodrive wheels your "winter" set up?

what's a good price for this sti setup? i do agree w/the handling and ride, a buddy swapped over to this setup from hotbits and really enjoyed it, the hotbits were a little harsh with not much room to play with.

A good price for the setup should be around 1000 - 1100.

since i don't know the exact spring rates of STi springs or the Prodrive springs i asked "vsigma" Victor what the difference was and that is what he quoted to me :)

as last time i mentioned what i had everyone was like well whats the spring rates ??

0.02 worth
Andy...

Originally posted by ImprezaRSDriver
A good price for the setup should be around 1000 - 1100.

including or not including the tops?

how much real difference is the sti units?

Originally posted by Dick Fitzwell
including or not including the tops?

$1100 would be w/o tops, add another ~ $275 for tops. Definitely go for the tops, the oe tops were designed for the oe spring/struts. The STi tops were designed to be used in conjunction w/ the v7 setup.

I ran DMS 40's (180/180, sti tops) for about six months and have recently swapped to the STi setup. It's a great setup-plenty comfortable for daily driving, up to the task for spirited driving. It's a well balanced/sorted suspension, then again it should be it's a oe setup (STi v7 RA). The spring rates are reasonable at 217 f/ 192 r, slight lowering (about 10mm for me), the struts are 40mm pistons w/ an inverted design- a very good all around suspension. I do miss the adjustability of the DMS, but not much more.

big sky

Are you guys refering to the 4 way adjustable STi suspension ? (pink) setup.

Originally posted by ugly
Are you guys refering to the 4 way adjustable STi suspension ? (pink) setup.

I'm refering to the dealer available STi/SPT setup, I don't think many are running the adj setup- pretty cost prohibitive at $2,000+ (that's w/o tops!).

Sorry, not including the top mounts. For the complete setup with top mounts you should not be paying more than 1300 for the complete setup.

Ihave the Prodrive, Bistein/Eibach setup on my RS and I think it's perfect for daily driving (I commute massively for work every day). They're stiff enough to get the job done, but well balanced so they don't feel that rough. But they're too soft for track/auto-x use definitely.

Nick, you still haven't pulled the trigger on that SPT stuff? What are you waiting for man. You know how much my car rocks, young man.

A guy on the NASIOC board just got the pink STi adjustables installed, and he likes them a lot. Another local guy on the same board just bought some of the adjustables, and I've already volunteered to help him with the install in exchange for a post-install flog, of course.

Kevin

Anyone have pics of their rex with the STi setup? Thanks

There really is no point in having any pictures of the car with the STI setup because it does not drop the car. Just picture the car stock basically. Only with firmer struts and springs.

Mine lowered ~ 1/2 " (10mm front and rear), pretty hard to notice by eyeballing. Measurements were taken from fender lip to center of wheel hub. Some reported a slight lowering in the rear, but no lowering in the front.

Big Sky

I thought the sti struts and springs are supposed to lower the car 1" front and back..... well i guess that's too little to be noticed. Damn i am not going to spend $999US if i can't even notice the car is lowered after struts and springs are installed!

Originally posted by GDA-EJ20
I thought the sti struts and springs are supposed to lower the car 1" front and back..... well i guess that's too little to be noticed. Damn i am not going to spend $999US if i can't even notice the car is lowered after struts and springs are installed!

The pink sport springs will, but the v7's won't.

Lowering a AWD, long suspension travel, rally influenced car never appealed to me much.

big sky

I also have the V7 struts, springs & STi tops. I got them from Rally Performance a while back. At the same time I installed Cusco F&R sway bars. I am running 17x7 Prodrives and 225/45 rubber with 0 toe F&R, -1.3 front camber, -1.1 rear. Like Big Sky says, drop is minimal - and that lets that long travel suspension work.

It is a very well balanced package and is phenomenal for street use on the curvy roads here, and allows for good tire longevity.

IMO, unless you are actually competing or spending an inordinate amount of time on the roadrace track, the V7 suspension is a good way to blow a grand and be pretty happy.

ok icic...... So what is the difference between the V7 package you get from dealer and the pink sti struts and springs for sell on some websites???? I know the pink sti struts and springs are around $999US but I don't know about the V7 package.... any ideas?????????? thanks.....

Ok. The V7 struts are the reds these are the same ones on the new age STi, The SPT Kit and sold on line for about $999. The pink struts are the adjustables and the struts alone are almost $1800. The adjustables have 4 settings with setting 1-2 being the same as the reds then stiffer from there. If you don't do the SPT dealer kit then you could change the springs. The dealer package comes with the black springs which lower the car just a little if you buy them seperate yu could get the pink springs which lower the car quite a bit. Hope this helps.

ok thanks a lot! I saw those pink sti 4-settings adjustable struts on some *** car magazine for 43000 yen per strut and 8000 per spring. So i guess it adds up to around 1800 like you said.
Has anyone seen the sti struts and springs for sell on Vividracing.com?? Those are not 4-settings adjustable right???

The only STi sport struts (pink) I'm aware of for the GD/GG is the 4 way adjustable ones, thus my guess is those are the 4 way adj ones. If he is selling the struts for $1000 and the springs for $400, that would be a good price for that combo. Give them a call. You might shop around on the springs, they used to for closer to $300 (try Cobb).

I agree w/ Gaspipe, that the v7 setup should handle most anything thrown at it. If your spending a lot of time at the track, then coilovers are probably the only real option- the ability to adjust damping, to corner weight and run high (and I mean in the neighborhood of 400 ft lb) rated springs are critical to a track dedicated car. Most of us would not want to drive this setup on a daily basis (at least not me ;)).

big sky

Originally posted by GDA-EJ20
I thought the sti struts and springs are supposed to lower the car 1" front and back..... well i guess that's too little to be noticed. Damn i am not going to spend $999US if i can't even notice the car is lowered after struts and springs are installed!

I seem to be one of the few people who have gotten an actual drop (3/4" down, front and rear on my wagon) from the SPT kit.

Just remember, when considering the SPT kit...it ain't all about the looks, kids.

Some wagon people are experiementing with STi adjustables for the GC8, which apparently fit. But if I were going to do that, I would get the STi GC8 adjustables, that adjust height AND damping. Pretty slick setup, but spendy, as you might imagine.

People are asking questions about the SPT kit on NASIOC, too, and one vendor chimed in with "coilovers (in specific a Tein offering) are better." I wondered if the Teins could be rallycrossed, etc. For all-around, hassle-free versatility (DMS annual servicing, anyone?) and excellent performance, it's looking more and more like SPT is it.

We'll know more once more people start using the STi adjustable kits, however.

Kevin