Howdy! I have a 2002 WRX sedan with stock suspension. It has some aftermarket endlinks but other than that, it is 61k miles of bone-stockness.

My car is primarily a daily driver, but will also see occasional track time once I feel like it is up to the task (my transmission is singing to me). I hate the USDM WRX front wheel gap, but actually really like the way my car drives stock. I am easily able to lift throttle/rotate the rear and never experience the dreaded understeer that people talk about with WRXs. It's a lot easier to get this car to step it's rear out than some RWD cars I have had. What I want out of my suspension upgrades is: lose the front gap, better dampening control, and firmer springs (but not a jarring ride).

I have owned many different cars with many different suspension configurations. Based on this, and some talking with folks, I have come to the following list of parts for my car, and for my purpose:

Dampers: Koni Yellows
Coiled torsion bars: RCE Blacks for '04-'07 STi
Supporting gear: front '02 Group-N tophats, rear '04 Group-N Tophats, spacers required to adapt '02 strut housings to '04 Tophats for the RCE blacks
Extras: Whiteline ALK, and a huge sack of bright yellow bushings (rack, diff, all the useful ones), rear lock bolts.

I am not 100% sure all these parts will work well together, and I have no personal experience with RCE products. I have built probably 10 sets of Konis myself. One of my favorite suspensions I have had on a car was my 2004 VW R32 with Stasis Street-Sport coilovers (modified Koni coilovers). While there are some benefits of coilovers (wheel clearance, weight) I do not think I will go with coilovers on this car, unless I later modify my Konis with some GroundControl perches and springs.

So, does anyone have any comments on this parts list? Does anyone have a similar setup or even just the RCE blacks that I can check out or even get a ride just to see how it feels?

Cheers!

 

I think your list is perfect man. Seriously.

The only thing I'd consider beyond that is some fender braces.

Great start. Not excessive. Everything will be tight and you'll have adjustment in the sway bars and the struts... and camber... to get it set up the way you want.

Perfect.

 

I agree^

The biggest difference in suspension mods I have done to my car besides coilovers, is the Whiteline Rear Subframe Positive Traction kit. It COMPLETELY took away the boat like motion you get when shifting and hard driving, the car stays completely planted during hard driving.

 

The RCE Blacks won't really change much of the front wheel gap. They are a fantastic spring, but if you want the looks then you may want to consider the setup I currently have.

Swift Spec R Springs
Koni Yellow Struts
D_Rex Koni Strut Extenders
Turn in Concepts - Black Rubber Bumpstops
Whiteline Com C Top Hats (Front)
Group N Top Hats (Rear) (04+ Style to match the springs)
Group N Pitch Stop
Whiteline Heavy Duty Gear Box Mounts (i.e. Transmission Mounts)
JDM STI Titanium Front Strut Tower Bar
Whiteline Rear Strut Tower Bar
Whiteline 24mm Adjustable Sway Bars (Front & Rear)
OEM 04+ Rear Metal Sway Bar Mounts
Noltec End Links (Front & Rear)
Whiteline Front Roll Center Adjustment Kit
Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings
Whiteline Rear Outrigger Bushings
Turn in Concepts - Rear Diff Mount Bushings - Comfort
BigJap Fender Cowl Braces

 

^ The D_Rex extenders are good idea. Shame they don't fit on my car.


I'd suggest the GroundControl springs/perches. You can pick your rates, to mirror the RCE rates, and adjust the height, dial in exactly how much wheel gap you want.

 

That's a very well thought out set up... I noticed you have some cowl braces. LOL!

This set up is sick...

And yeah... for looks Swifts are way better. I am a huge fan of their springs. I usually recommend Swift first and RCE second.

When my pink wagon springs come off they're getting replaced with swift.

 

You don't experience understeer? Not pushing it hard enough haha jk

^^^he's got a good list

 

One mod I did that made a world of a difference for me was undoing the front sway bar. I'm all about slow in fast out granted my brakes allow me to do so.

What kind of tires are you using?

 

Switch to used 04 rear tophats, there's so little rubber in the rear hats it's not a big deal.

Use the extra for fender cowl braces.

Your list is very similar to my setup. It's very nice.

 

Indeed, that's a great simple set up. My only comment would be about the rear Group-N tophats. To me personally they weren't worth the cost ($260/pair new?) as I didn't feel like they made any noticable improvements. Certainly not +$200 worth over NAPA brand new units

Besides that I would suggest an H-Brace and rear strut tower brace to tighten things up. May be sway bars down the road, but I found endlinks made more of a difference in feel for me (which you already have). My $0.02.

 

I like my KYB GR2 strut and Whiteline Wagon-specific spring set up.

Wheel gap is slightly removed, but the ride is still comfortable for DD and spirited driving.

 

WTF? That's retarded.

Why not get a larger rear bar and keep your stock front bar?

I have an upgraded front and rear bar and have ZERO problems getting the rear to come around. Reducing stability is silly.

 

Yeah. I've read that a lot but if you've got the dough it's a good thing to get just to not have to worry about it. But that dough can definitely go a long way in other places.

As for the h-brace or the strut tower BEFORE sway bars.... no way.

Sway bars are probably more important to the handling upgrades of the car than upgrading the struts/springs.

Braces come last. People get strut bars and stuff first because you can see them... you feel cool. Look cool. Like hey... my ****s not stock. Doing it before upgrading the rest of your suspension is unnecessary unless you come up on a fat deal. They do help... some more than others. But not as much as an upgrade in the sway bar/endlinks situation.

 

You could match the max spring rate of the RCE Blacks with the Ground Control kil, but probably not the overall feel. RCE Blacks are progressive springs and the Ground Control kit uses linear springs.

 

Look at those parts... I want to make sexy time with your car