WRX owners what's up? just installed a set of Tein h-techs on my 02 wagon. my questions are ( i question everything) do i need an alignment? do i have to buy a camber kit? front, back both? my tire size is 205/50 16r. i have the stock wheels on for now but plan on getting a set of O.Z's 16's because they're soo light. thanks in advance. peace

 

u have a wrx with 205s? wow, get 225s at least . SSRs r lighter than OZs! Don't quote me on it, but I believe that you "NEED" neither front nor back, but that its advised that you get camber plates for the front and bolts for the back. Not real sure though. As far as the alignment, I think your supposed to let the springs settle, then an alignment will help a lot, but if you do it before they settle, it'l handle better for a little while, but then become un-aligned as they settle. Good luck and get bigger wheels

 

thanks for the help? anyone else? opinions.. two cents...

 

Yes you need an alignment now. Changing wheels wont effect alignment, but the suspension does. You should probably have at least installed some rear camber bolts when you installed the suspension, that makes it far easier to have an alignment done properly (otherwise, the rear camber is not really adjustable)

 

I installed the h-tech's on my 04' about a month ago. i had an alignment done 2 weeks after the install. With the h- tech i did not need to install a rear camber kit. I wanted -1.5 degrees in the rear an thats what the factory spec is for the 04. It was right on. I also wanted -1 in the front and settled for -.9 because when they put it on the rack both fronts were already there. My toe however was way off, the fronts were pointing at eachother and the left rear was aimed in towards the right front the right rear was ok though. The man at the shop said that the toe was probably off from the factory and that he sees alot of newer cars that have the toe off. He said that they don't put every car on the alignment rack at the factory they just try to get it close. I have had no trouble with these springs, and they ride good and they make no noise at all. I would say to just get an alignment and forget about the rear camber kit. Also go with a 17" rim and tire, you won't be sorry. It'll look and handle better. Good luck.

 

-1.5 rear, -.9 front is in reality the opposite of what you want... You definatly want more front than rear camber with an Impreza, especially a WRX.

 

My car (-1 front, -2.5 rear) disagrees, but I am really a freak of nature when it comes to alignment. I also run toe out in the rear, and nobody is crazy enough to do that.

 

What other suspension mods do you have and what is your driving style? Does your car understeer a lot? The reason I ask is because my car (like all other WRX's) tends to understeer with more - camber in the rear but I can really pour it on after the apex. I have only tried 2 setups so far and I actually liked the feel of the car more before I got rid of some - camber in the rear. Then again Im a slow in fast out kind of guy and I guess driving style has a lot to do with what set up works for different people.

Thanks

 

Here are my suspension mods:

Prodrive World Rally Sport struts/springs
STi Group N strut tops
20-24mm Whiteline RSB
STi lower control arm bushings
Whiteline KLC26 rear endlinks
Whiteline subframe lock bolts
Whiteline diff bushings
Whiteline steering rack bushings
Whiteline rear strut brace
STi Carbon Fiber front strut brace
Rear camber bolts
17” Prodrive P1s in anthracite with Bridgestone Potenza S-03s 215/45ZR17 (street)
Stock wheels with Goodyear Eagle GS-D3 215/45ZR16 (autocross/track) <- not good tires for trackdays actually. Don't get them except for street/road use.

I tend to be slow-in-fast-out, but mostly I just try to make sure I'm using all the track and all of my tires (I kill them fast on the track). My car understeers like the average modded AWD car. Some, but not horribly. I think the reason my rear camber works well is the toe out, but beware the instability that causes. Don't do it if you're not confident in your ability to recover from kicking the rear out, and you're fearless enough not to lift when you go into a corner too hot.

 

I had to go with that much camber to get 215/45R17 S03s to fit on GramLight 57c wheels, they were badly rubbing my fenders. And with stock front camber bolts, I only get 1.2 degrees. IIRC I had 3/16" toe out with those tires when they were fresh. Not sure how many degrees that is, I never checked. I like how the car feels. It doesn't break loose easily (at least with the bar at my usual 22mm) but it really cuts down on the steady-state understeer.

 

They were 17x7.5 +48. I just hadn't rolled my fenders or even pulled off the lip at that point. Excellent wheels, I wish I still had 'em. It's a far cry from a "ghetto" setup. Oh, and this is on an '01 RS, not a WRX.

 

No, since my handling is great. It never steps out until provoked, and it doesn't understeer like most Subarus do. What else is there to do with alignment?