Does proper geometry really make a difference on DD?

I really don't want to do bags... If I do bags I will be tempted to hack up the wheel wells.

Why didn't I listen to Gagan?

 

Wear and tear on parts yes. Tires, Ball Joints, Strut Tubes, Wheel Bearings.
Steering Racks. Not so much if you only own the car for a short time and sell it. But long run you are going to cost yourself more money in repairs.

I think its what your ok with doing as long as you are safe. Because you need to understand that while you might be safe. You also need to be safe for the cars around you down the road. Failure to do that can cause hell for everyone with a Subaru.

 

Huh? Ball joints and steering racks make sense. But tires, strut tubes, and wheel bearings? Those seem more related to wheel/tire fitment and alignment settings.

 

When your angles are off it puts undue pressure on parts of the car not otherwise designed for it.

That's why you see these guys with super slammed cars having things like excess tire wear (not just from camber), blown out wheel bearings, torn CV boots, shot axles, rubbing sway bars, wheels rubbing on strut tubes, etc.

Once you take thing too far out of spec it starts to screw everything up. On top of that it has negative effects on turn in but I'll see if I can drag Gagan in here to talk some science on that matter.


That's why I'll put my car up against pretty much any of these hella flush cars for straight handling and my car is a mile off the ground compared to them.


Once I get two more parts on my car I'll be even more confident in it.

 

Haha I know one is an ALK...I highly recommend that for anyone with a subaru, its amazing how much better my car turns

What's the second thing?

 

^^^ ha and I'm on "crappy" BC coilovers

 

whiteline rear strut bar.


Everything else is pretty well set up though I will probably make changes when my car goes down for rebuild. I'll probably swap over to koni/swift and add some cowl braces.

 

Agreed. I had a track set-up on my Civic about a decade ago and all it had were Koni shocks, GC coil-overs with custom rates, a big rear swaybar, and nice wheels with R-compound tires and it handled great; neutral with a tiny bit of oversteer. All of that cost less than just one set of fancy "full" coil over systems.

 

You'll definitely like the cowl braces. You'll notice them pretty much immediately when you first turn or go over a "Sleeping Policeman".

 

You know I still do not have a rear strut bar. I have never felt a need put one on. I like the way the back of the car feels now.

The bump steer kits and caster kits make a big improvement on Subaru's if you have aluminum front control arms 1st. Then a nice underbody subframe I think would be next.


As far as wear on strut casings. You can side load the piston rod on the shock/ coil over and cause it to oval the seal and the casing. Causing a leak.
See if I can find a picture.
Also slamming a subaru can cause havoc on the CV axles and diffs. Just like lifting a 4x4 truck getting lifted. There is also a point where you run the risk of cv axle touching frame points. And when you are so low you just do not have suspension travel anymore. And then you are riding on bump stops. Or try and cut or remove the bump stops. Which then you can create even more damage.

 

x-brace ftw

 

I noticed improvement going from stock steel lca to ver8 sti aluminum lca, and the alk (whiteline street) made an even bigger difference

 

to be honest i have what i believe is the perfect street setup for a aggressive driver,
RCE yellows
JDM struts-confirmed this and still have zero clunk with over 40k on them.
group N top hats
ALK race
WL 29mmfr/27mm rear
group N mounts

handles great,rides great(road trips to disneyland)and i can drive on ****ty roads w/o my teeth falling out.

the way i figured it is,either spend 500 +/- a few dollars on feal OR sell the current setup,offset the cost of decent coilovers(under 1800)

 

but what about for a 06 sti? im limited to 1200 struts if i go aftermarket.

 

Interesting... I would like to achieve the same results that you have with the addition of adjustable ride height. I want to go as low as comfortably and functionally possible.

Given the different platforms (GD vs GH), I am probably going to have to take a completely different route.

I still need to call Koni and see how short of a shock I can get from them. I have also come to realize (and Gagan told me this from the beginning) is that 8k springs (BC) are too heavy for a DD. The new set-up will incorporate 5k or 6k Swifts.

Konis, GC perches, 6k Swifts, WhiteLine 22/22 Sways, and my Cusco Rear LCAs... I should be sitting pretty good. Only downer is that all of those goodies are going to cost a pretty penny. Not to mention wheels and tires... OH GOD wheels and tires.