I have a 02 WRX with 225/45/17 s03’s (summer) 205/55/16 traction T/A’s (winter), SPT springs (a lot like the Eibach pro kit), a Whiteline bolt kit for the rear and my camber is set to -1 deg. in the front and rear (toe is at 0/ caster DS +3.5 PS +3.75). My car is a daily driver that will see some spirited driving on back roads and some auto x on the weekends.

I am thinking about buying an ALK, KYB AGX struts and adding .5 deg. of – camber to the front. The Whiteline sport ALK ($169) increases + castor .5 deg. and the GT Spec ALK ($120) increases castor .35 deg. and I was wondering if the extra .15 deg. Of + castor is worth the extra $50.

I was initially thinking about buying a Cobb 25mm tubular sway bar set http://cobbtuning.com/wrx/pr-swaybar.html and ALK but after being warned about how harsh the ride would be with the sway bars I thought Struts would be a better choice. If any of you guys know of a better way to improve handling and lose some under steer while maintaining a comfortable enough ride to keep my wife quiet on bumpy back roads for $600 please speak up. I am also interested in advice on camber settings.

Thanks

 

The front camber bolts of the WRX generally will not allow for more than -1.25 degrees of camber (there are those rare exceptions that are able to get-1.5 degrees). Whiteline suggests atleast -1.0 to -1.25 degrees camber in front and 0 degrees camber in the rear. But since your car is lowered a bit in the rear (I use to have SPT springs also), -0.5 degrees may be best to prevent rubbing.

As for swaybars adding harshness to a daily driven vehicle, this is true to an extent if you switch the front and rear swaybars to really thick ones like the Cobb 25mm front/ rear bars or the Whiteline 22mm solid front/ 24mm solid rear swaybars. However, the best bang for the buck suspension upgrade for the WRX is the rear swaybar. Switching to a 22mm rear swaybar will do wonders for the handling characteristics of your car and not add harshness to your everyday ride; turn in feels a lot better and you lessen the understeering of the WRX. As for the Whiteline ALK versus the GT Spec, IMHO I would go w/ the Whiteline Comfort ALK. The Sport ALK does transmit small and medium size bumps to the cabin because of the stiffer bushings. The GT Spec and Perrin PSRS are comparable to the Whiteline Sport ALK as far as bushing/bearing compliance. The Comfort ALK uses a softer bushing and was designed for people who wanted to retain the "comfort" of a near stock suspension but wanted the benefit of an ALK. I say get the Comfort ALK and a 22mm Rear swaybar and save yourself nearly $300 in the process. Just my $0.02 in.

-Soren

 

Thanks for the replies.

Soren

If I do go with the 22mm RSB what setting do you think would be best 1, 2, or 3? I went to whitelines site and found this http://www.whiteline.com.au/docs/bulletins/010barup.pdf and according to your site their RSB settings are 20-22-24 so according to my calculations (if they are correct) the first setting would be 23% stiffer than stock, the second would be 80% and the third 155%. Will diff lock bolts, diff lock bushings and steering bushings make my car ride a lot rougher? If I do go with the RSB instead of the struts I will have some extra cash.



BTW, my 17" rims have a +48mm offset and with my current setup the rear tires rub the fenders when I push hard in tight corners so I am hesitant of losing any - camber in the rear. Do you think the RSB could possibly help alleviate my rubbing issues?

john steele

I’ll look into the Auto x classifications before I do anything. What do you have your RSB set at?

Thanks