Excellent info. Thanks. Hadn't considered the group n strut tops.

 

I would just skip the MC brace and do a brake bleed and possible ss lines first. MC brace won't make that much of a difference as you would think. You will only feel the dramatic difference if you are full on weight stomping on the gas, or using enough foot power to actually cause the firewall to flex. Remember that the firewall does not flex consistently, just depends on how hard you push down the pedal.

I would get stiffer engine mounts and OR solid pitch stop mount. Tranny mount even if you want to go that far. Steering rack bushings for sure.


As for the squeaky windows, it could be that the padding that rests a long side the glass on the inside of the door is worn out, if that is the case then that part would be grinding on the glass when you raise and lower your window. You can take the door apart and replace those pads, I believe its 4 per door, with a new felt lining and some spray adhesive or whichever soft material you can come by for cheap. Some have used faux fur.

 

I don't think the sheet metal in the car got noticeably looser or weaker as a result of all those miles of wear and tear, at least not if you haven't been abusing and racing the car and stretching the limits of it's strength. I think you will see more return on investment if you replace all the rubber in the car and added some bracing in key areas.

I would worry that tightening up the car will lead to more NVH due to stiffer bushings, but at 250k your bushings must be so worn that you probably have nothing to lose. If NVH is a big concern then maybe consider getting OEM replacements instead of harder polyurethane performance oriented stuff.

Here is what I would look into/have some experience with:
- ALK replacement - the high-durometer poly bushings made for a very noticeable increase in ride stiffness when I put mine in, and I have the whiteline comfort version.
- other control arm bushings
- lateral link bushings
- trailing arm bushings (remember there are 2, one in front and one in rear of each arm)
- strut top-hats (though I see you put in STI ones at some point, they might be worn by now)
- Transmission cross-member bushings
- Roll Center Adjusters - from TiC site: "Great for a lowered car they return the control arm angle closer to stock to help bring roll center closer to CG. By doing this they adjust the outter portion of the control arm downward. They also help move the control arm so you spend more time in the "sweet spot" of control arm angle in relation to camber loss in due to the McPherson strut setup."
- Rear differential mount bushings
- Rear differenctial outrigger bushings

- rear subframe lock bolts - HUUUUGE "tighten-up" improvement in the rear, and I didn't notice any more NVH
- fender braces - another one of the best bang/buck stiffness improvements, it essentially does for the front end what the lock bolts do for the rear
- stiffer sway bars (and endlinks/mounts) - this can allow you to run a softer spring rate versus soft bars and high spring rate. (high spring rates increase NVH, but stiffer sways do not)
- h-brace/rear strut bar - most folks agree the front strut bar isn't much use, but reviews say the h-brace and rear bar are improvements (I've never tried an H-brace, but in my wagon a rear bar makes a nice difference)

That's pretty much all there IS I think... maybe some sound deadening material in strategic locations.

 

Already did stop tech steel braided sleeved lines. Fluid done also at same time.


Already did group n engine and tranny

This is def in the plan.


This exactly! I'll try find felt like material which is thin enough to fit the gap. Thanks very much.

 

Post of the year? Thanks for that. Some great info. I now have some homework to do on all of this to see which to get(aftermarket or oem)and in which order to do them.

 

maybe Cuzco trunk triangular brace.
I've noticed improvement in stiffness after installing harness bar

 

What is your current suspension setup (what's already been done on the car)?

When's the last time the brakes were replaced? How about the fluid?

Have you checked your ball joints & tie rods. You can check by doing the wheel shake test. Put your hands on both sides of the tire with the front of the car in the air and see if you can wiggle the wheel. Do the same for top and bottom of the tire. Do that on both sides of the car. If the tire is wiggling then you may have some loose / worn out suspension bits in there.

Some of the rattling you may be hearing might just be from the VIN plate up by the front windshield. It's just tack welded so it might make a bit of a rattling sound. I know mine will make a sound once in a while, probably just hitting the right driving conditions to get it to rattle audibly I guess.

If you do replace the suspension you might also want to consider the Whiteline Com C tops. Essentially the same rubber as the Group N Tops, but with additional Caster (and Camber if you desire that particular setup or not). It's a static setting, but it's worth getting over the Group N Tops. (If you are not tracking your car, you really don't need camber plates).

I'm not sure what your current alignment settings are at, but honestly if you are even still using stock alignment (or close to it) you probably have next to no front camber and probably understeer in corners. I'd recommend maxing out the camber on the front to the max even amount across both tires and Zero out the toe all the way around. Even with those settings you still should not kill your tires (remember the rear is already close to -1.5 Camber from the factory while the fronts are something like -0.3 Camber). So bumping it up really should not hurt your tire wear on the front, but will help with the handling, just make sure you have Zero Toe all the way around (along with proper tire pressure).

 

Great post, lots of good information. If you have questions on stuff, I really would talk to the guys at Turn In Concepts, they're great guys to talk to and pick their brains when they're not swamped in work.

One other thing, is while I have strut bars (cheap replicas a friend got me) I feel they're pretty useless. If I didn't get them for free, I never would have put on any strut bars on my car. Instead of those, look into the x-brace.

CarLabs Development X-Brace - Subaru GD

If you want a quieter, less bumpy ride. Look into softer comfortable tires?

 

damn dude. I have 177K on mine

original factory clutch motor and second tranny first one was done due to being towed.

 

Suspension/Brakes/Wheels/ride quality:
V7 JDM STi front/rear seats, WhiteLine 24mm RSB, WhiteLine solid EL, STi tophats, STi springs, Kyb struts, Stoptech slotted rotors, StopTech steel lines, Yokohama S drive tires, '07 WRX wheels, StopTech brake pads, V7 JDM STi Steering wheel, Stoptech brake fluid

stage 2 stoptech kit 1.5 yrs ago. The front pads could use a change soon.

Havent checked ball joints or tie rods. I do know a boot on my steering rack is torn but im not losing any fluid as of yet. Its probably just getting dirty in there over time. I'll check that for sure.

If i take hold of the engine pitch stop I can wiggle it back and forth. Fixing that will kill a bunch of the rattle. I think ive settled on the kartboy as its rumored to have the best hold with the least associated nvh. One of these days I'm going to take the dash out and knock out some vibrations which have always been in the car coming from where i can hear but not see. May be a good time to have Kyle flock my dash.

good to know. If I'm going to replace something, I'd rather do it pay a bit more and do it correctly the first time. I just dont want to be lower and chewing tires. Everytime ive been lower in the past ive had excessive camber wear.

I'm an alignment noob. Thanks for the info. I'll make sure ive got zero toe while i dial in the suspension and then focus on remaining camber settings as I'm sure suspension will alter that quite a bit.

 

I agree with this and would do X-brace before doing strut bars. RSB did however make a huge difference... but we werent talking about that

already did that. Went to 07 stockies with meatier tires. I've done some of the simple stuff to do which is why im looking more into the fundamentals of suspension, bushings, and other ride quality atttributes.

 

+1 call up TIC they are great. if they don't know the answer for a suspension question then the answer just doesnt exist haha.

 

i bought mine with high mileage and it ate bearings shortly after i bought. The rest is modding history. I'm on clutch 3.

1 couldnt take the moar powaaaa i was making with the new build
2 never really broke in. The clutch shudder was horrific
3.is great. Ended up with ACT stage 2.

 

so far in no particular order. This is what this thread has given me.
kartboy Engine Pitch stop
grimmspeed master brake bracket
very thin felt and adhesive spray for window noise
whiteline com C strut tops
Whiteline Anti-lift kit
oem control arm bushing replacement
oem lateral link bushings replacement
oem trailing arm bushing replacement
transmission cross member bushing
roll center adjusters
rear subframe lock bolts
rear dif mount bushings
rear dif outrigger bushings
fender braces
h-brace or X-Brace
ball joint inspection
tie rods inspection
check dashboard vin plate and under dash for causes of nvh
whiteline steering column bushings
RCE springs with tokico spec-d or similar strut
turn in concepts shifter bushings

this is a healthy list. I have a feeling it will keep growing the more i look into this

 

so funny everyone knows how to stiffen up your ride but no one knows how to fix the squeeky windows
replace the rubber squeegee seals that are on the doors with new ones - this actually wipes the glass when you roll down the window- your noise will go away,
they are supposed to have a felt flocking on them that wears off after years of opening and closing the windows.