eastbaysubaru

iTrader: (9)

Getting ready to pull the trigger on the King springs. Has anyone else opted to run these springs?

-Brian

JourdanWithaU

iTrader: (39)

lol 2 years later...

Yuri has/had King Springs on his Outback... https://www.i-club.com/forums/norcal...y-ivan-260958/

chimchimm5

iTrader: (9)

I ended up buying them for my 06 WRX wagon and they were great (paired with Ohlins FPS)... but you have to understand what you're getting them for. On the 06, I got OE height Kings and it was close... maybe a tiny 5mm lift. Dunno. They were as stiff as the pinks in the linear region, with a little initial progressiveness. The result is that they were less precise than the SPT pinks I had on before, but sucked up the small displacement roughness of the rough; exactly what I was hoping to get with them for rallyx.

One thing I didn't quite understand was while the front was a nice 250lbs/in, the rear was like 200. This made it more understeery just like stock springs. This was easily fixed with upping the rear sway bar setting from "21mm" to "22mm" (front was 21.5mm). Perhaps it would have been good for rear stability on the rallyx but my car was destroyed by a dump truck who wasn't paying attention and crushed it with me in it.

So then I got a 2011 WRX hatch... and got Kings again... this time the lift version with 3/4, 1 lift (paired with GTWORX Bilsteins). This setup was a LOT better than the stock horribly underdamped suspension. This weekend is the Santa Rosa rallyx and I was excited to be able to finally try it out.... until I ruptured my Achilles tendon this past monday. This sucks to the nth power.

Again, for the 2011 WRX, the Kings have soft rears (~260 front, ~210 rear). I have stock 21mm front sway bar, and 19mm rear (STI). Surprisingly, this setup isn't as understeery as I thought it was going to be. Also, these GR kings seems to be a lot more progressive compared to the GD/GG Kings. I actually prefer the GD/GG kings for this reason.

I've commuted on the GR Kings and enjoyed them for DD. It kills me I have to miss this weekend's rallyx. I guess I have to wait for the next one in November.

technowrx

iTrader: (3)

I'm still running the King "stock" height springs on my 2008 WRX, still paired with Koni's. Car now has 82k miles, I put the springs on at 28k. They are surprising good at most things - decent ride on the street with the Koni's at 1/3 setting, predictable on gravel with dampers full open, work well on the track at 2/3 to 3/4. I do have Whiteline sways (22mm F / 20mm R) on there now which help a lot on the track and street, but cause a fair bit of understeer in snow or gravel.

chimmchimm - sorry about the tendon! Hope you don't have to have surgery for that.

eastbaysubaru

iTrader: (9)

Thanks for the in-depth description/review. I'm already running an adjustable rear sway so I'm not too concerned about that understeer issue. Your first paragraph pretty much has me sold on them. I understand exactly what I'm getting them for. I don't want a street focused car so the imprecision vs. the SPT Pinks is fine. I've run a relatively stiff setup on this car previously and am back to OEM springs and KYB Excel Gs right now so I think this will be a perfect middle ground.

Sorry to hear about the Achilles. I'm not running the RallyX this weekend (steering rack and wheel bearing need replacing ) but I'll probably stop by for a bit to talk to Paul and a few other heads.

-Brian

LxJLthr

iTrader: (12)

I will give my $0.02. I have the lifted King Springs paired with brand new Monroe shocks (OEM spec) and Group-N top hats. These are linear springs (I believe) with a ~1.5" lift. I cannot comment how they ride with no other modifications because the car had already most common bolt ones (bigger sways, strut bars, end links, bushings, etc). My biggest issue installing them (besides compressing the f*ckers) was only being able to reach and bolt up onto the softest sway setting, which worried me initially since the car always ran the stiffest. I chose alignment with slightly more negative camber over stock.

Anyways...I had them installed since April, but I cannot find anything to complain about. Thus far handling has been predictable and neutral without under steer issues (thought I have not auto crossed it like other set ups). Ride comfort/quality actually improved over the WRX set up it replaced. It is firm, but not harsh and doesn't play congas on your kidneys. It definitely passed the girlfriend test during a road trip.

Handling wise, it (understandably) does not feel as sporty as a lower stiffer WRX set up, but miles better than Outback and Forester suspensions I tired before (comfortable, floaty and imprecise). For off road driving, I do wish the shocks were beefier with better dampening and less prone to top out (if I understand it correctly), but I was really limited with my options. I only noticed the latter in rougher terrain/road conditions. I just expect the shocks to have a much shorter life span. The added height, spring beefiness and higher rates definitely made for worrisome giddy fun driving.

And I forget what the spring rates are...so I cannot comment on that. Overall, I would definitely recommend the lifted springs if you can get a shock to match. If I had to buy again for this car, I would instead go with a stock height/stiffer rate spring. I still have the car as it sits in the FS thread. I would happily lend the keys to anyone who wants to check out the set up...if I was not in Philly Metro area for work

DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional racer nor a suspension tech, so I hope my descriptions made sense...and in Soviet Russia car drives YOU!

de_engineered

iTrader: (24)

I haven't heard of people using these with stock struts, but I suppose they would work towards staying at stock height w/stiffer springs? Or am I not thinking right here?

At any rate, if you're in there cutting stuff up, may as well get the Konis/similar though.

d_rex Strut Extenders

JourdanWithaU

iTrader: (39)

Those D_rex extenders would be counter-productive for lifting the car...

eastbaysubaru

iTrader: (9)

I'm running KYB Excel Gs now (formerly KYB GR2s) so they should be a nice compliment to the slightly stiffer stock ride height springs.

Springs ordered! The wait begins (they're supposedly in a shipping container from AUS right now. Arrival date by Nov. 1 or earlier).

-Brian

de_engineered

iTrader: (24)

As said, wasn't sure. Most kids out there are trying to do the opposite.

eastbaysubaru

iTrader: (9)

Springs arrived last week. Should get to the install this weekend. Can't wait! Will post before and after pics once installed.

-Brian

queeg9k

iTrader: (11)

NoOneBetter

iTrader: (1)

nice. I did raised king springs with excel g's on my forester 2 weeks ago.

eastbaysubaru

iTrader: (9)

To a tee!

-Brian

sigma pi

iTrader: (6)

Dan Antoneli, he was a young un when I met him haha