or can some, like h&r or eibach actually reduce it? would camber bolts like h&r's help the situation?

 

bump...cmon suspension people...need some valuable advice here

 

It depends on your sway bar spec, tires and allignment.

But generally, no.

 

hmm...well...if I've got cusco f/r bars and endlinks, 18" wheels with Fuzion tires, STi control arms, and group n bushings...and i'd get an alignment after installing springs of course...

I'd like a little less body roll, but honestly...I just want the drop...my car just looks so high right now...but I dont want to add any understeer. I simply can't afford struts right now.

Is springs with stock struts advisable in my situation, or should I just live with it for awhile?

 

i think alot of poeple just put on springs with stock struts, because many like urself dont want to spend the extra money on struts and all that other suspension stuff. if you only want the lowered look, its ok because thats what many do, for the look. for a subtle drop that wont hurt ur car too much, try the prodrive springs, they are around 280, drops like..1.5 or..well lower than that in the front, and .7 or so in the back, it just evens out the car and ..well search for some pictures. other springs that are good are eibachs and i hear bad stuff about the tien stechs. again, if u change ur springs, it will hurt ur stock struts, especially if u go lower than 1.5', they will make ur struts go even quicker. but the prodrives are desgined for stock struts, i think, so it wont break as fast, but still thikn about getting some aftermarket sturts, but for right now u dont have to worry about it.

 

From what I've seen in Neuspeed and H&R, yes. The spring rates in the front are generally higher than the rear. So this just adds to the understeering characteristics of AWD.

 

Not necessarily. Clicky. Reducing front spring rates relative to rear rates increases understeer.

 

just look at how the STX wrx's set up their car. they run higher spring rates in the rear. sure, you can offset it with bigger sway bars, but for racing that used for fine tuning.

reducing the front rates relative to the rear rates doesn't really increase understeer. it depends on what the spring rates are. if they are low (like almost stock), you'll get excessive roll and wash out the front tires. however, if you raise the spring rates, you can reduce the understeer.

 

Most lowering springs will dial out some understeer- the WRX comes w/ 168 ftlbs/119ft lbs rates (MT-sedan)- most lowering springs increase both the front/rear rates, but almost always the rear much more- this will dial out understeer- not add to it.

The STi almost always utilizes spring rates very close 188/173, 200/185, 217/192, 223/195 etc

Look at the setups that many of the top national stx drivers use- they actually are using firmer springs in the rear than front!

Big Sky

 

i know all that's true in general, but I have heard on the impreza specifically, lowering more than 1.5" or so will lead to a camber issue from the front control arms. So, are JUST springs and rear camber bolts an ok setup, or should struts always be used from a performance standpoint?

 

If you lower too much it will always be an issue, doens't matter the strut. A lowering spring that was designed w/ the oem strut in mind and that doesn't lower too much will be a noticable improvement in performance. The key is not going too low. Eibach, Prodrive (others?) offer springs that meet this criteria.

 

cool...i think thats what I'll do for now, and save up for some coilovers.

I like the h&r's b/c they seem to have the most even spring rates front to rear, and have an even drop front to rear, so ill probably pick up a set of those