after owning the 04 STi for 6 yrs, i'd say i m very happy with it....but 1 thing bothers me....from day 1 i got the car, the alignment was a bit off, took it to the dealers, they mentioned the car is like that...hard to make it align perfectly due to the hard suspension...tried re-alignment at some shops for the past a few years and recently at the captial subaru, it seemed help a bit more or less...but it never last....after maybe 6 months driving...it goes off again...and again and again...and i do not drive it hard i'd say.....

well....maybe i should just track it and f**k the alignment....

anyway, this just me...

 

Why not try taking down to Orlando at Auto Innovations at Milpitas? He's aligned all my cars, from the wife's daily driver to an aggressive AutoX setup on my car. He has a ton of experience with Subarus and gives it to you straight if what your asking for is not possible.

 

Take it to AI.


and it's perfectly normal for alignments to slip. Hell mine is all over the place. I had it done less than 6 months ago and they told me all they could hit was -1.3 or so up front. I went back a couple weeks ago and it was at -1.9. No wonder my tires were wearing and my car was so snappy. haaaa.

 

if you're tracking it that's when you'll really want the alignment dialed in. an alignment has huge effects on suspension and driving dynamics.

most recommend an alignment every year bc alignments slip. other shops say every 6 months.

too stiff to align is bs. don't go to whoever told you that. there's a ton of us on the board running stiffer than stock STi suspension running perfectly fine alignments.

 

Hit a pothole? Check your alignment. Tap a parking block? Check your alignment. Touch a curb while parking? Check your alignment. Drive? Check your alignment. Turn the wheel while you're stationary? Check your alignment.

Point is alignments will never hold for an extended period of time. Everything effects it. What do you mean exactly when you say 'a bit off'? You sure tire pressure isn't to blame? Road crown? There are a lot of factors.

I suggest having the alignment checked every 6-12 months.

 

Give Custom Alignment in Mountain View a shot

 

well I guess it's already been said multiple times, but yeah I get an alignment every 6 months, and every time it's off.

So I suppose driving around especially on bumpy bay area roads, the alignment getting quickly thrown off isn't abnormal

 

The Bay area has some of the worst roads in the country.

 

Driving westbound on 237 with coilovers at >70mph will own you

 

What exactly is "off"? Since you mentioned tracking, I would assume that you're having a toe problem. Custom Alignment set me up with uneven caster to compensate for the road crown, and my car tracks very straight now. Are you getting 2 or 4 wheel alignments? It could be that your thrust angle is off, and thus getting a simple front end alignment is not solving your problem.

 

Try driving University Ave in Berkeley going > 10mph

yeah....

 

what kinda tires are you running?

 

trying to get any further than 3 blocks in South of Market.

Auto Innovations - Milpenis
Custom Alignment - Mountain View
MachIII/Faxon Garage - SF

i believe all have the i-club pseudo stamp of approval.

 

thanks all for replying....looks like alignment every 6 months is normal....for subies...i will give all of those recommended shops a try...one at a time....
and no, i m not get rid of my sti....

 

Uhh, my recommendation? Firestone 175 for unlimited aligning. Get it done til its right. go 3x a year.