I'd go with the v7 set up if you can. I have the v7 pink springs and pink kyb/sti struts all the way around and it a great daily. Only thing is I got the adjustable ones so you can adjust the damping/rebound 4 ways. The stance is not super low or anything, but the front won't look as low as the rear due to the fender well shape. Cons to the adjustable...$$$.

A 20 or 21 mm rear bar is cool. Originally, I got the Perrin rear bar and end links with heavy duty mounts. On the least progressive setting with the Perrin endlinks it seemed to cause snap over steer, which can really catch you off guard if you're not careful. I dropped the Perrin endlinks and went back to stock and that seemed to make it less snappy but it still had some over steer that I dialed out by adjusting my struts. So, I dropped the Perrin bar all together when I added the 6pc. STi rear set up (endlinks, trailing arms and lateral links). The endlinks didn't work with the Perrin rear bar due to the length of the endlinks and the shape of the bar (a little different than the stock oem shape), so I switched to the sedan 20mm non-adjustable oem bar. It was pretty much a perfect match to the front and the car seemed more neutral (equal front and rear with no over/under steer, with my struts set on 1 for all 4 corners). This is pretty much what I ended up running for about 6 months. Then yesterday I added a new STi 21mm 'pink' non-adjustable rear sway. Leaving everything else the same, just stepping up 1mm did make the wag slightly more tail happy, but it was totally controllable. If I need to I can change tire pressure or adjust my struts to balance it out if I end up not liking the small amount of oversteer it added. The main reason I wanted it was to keep my car flatter in the turns (less body roll).

I think that since my driving skills have gotten better the oversteer wont bother me and I feel that I can control it. But before I wanted the car very neutral because I didn't like the rear stepping out on high-speed corners or off-ramps. It's all personal preference as to how you want your car to drive.

A couple of other things you can do is change out some of the bushings with the groupN set or replace the actually parts themselves, i.e. trailing arms, lateral links, control arm bushings, endlinks, struts tops. The stock oem bushings are very soft and allow the car to ride a bit more loose. You can tighten up things with the groupN set or others like whiteline or energy. If you replace the struts, I would also get the STi strut tops while you’re at it.

The only thing I switch to may be a set of the Cobb front and rear tubular sways and heavy duty mounts. They seem to be a pretty sweet set up and you increase your swaybar size equally front and rear (further reducing body roll) and you get lighter due to the tubular factor.

I think you are doing the right thing getting the 17's with s03's for starters. That will make a huge difference compared to the stock RE's and 16's. You could actually stay with the oem 16's and just get the better tires (s03's). Just depends on what look you want and if you ever plan to upgrade you brakes to a BBK. I started with suspension upgrades right out of the box and then did brakes and power upgrades later. Suspension was the #1 priority!

Here is my set up for suspension (even though it's a bit on the pricey side) just for your info:

STi bits:
v7 kyb 4-way adjustable pink struts & v7 pink springs (wagon)
strut tops
front control arm bushings (some go with alk's here, I just went with STi's)
lateral links, trailing arms, endlinks (6pc set, pink)
front sub-frame brace
21mm rsb
front strut bar (titanium)
engine & tranny mounts

Oem bits:
20mm fsb
rear sway bar mounts
front and rear sway bar bushings
stock rear diff bushings (about $30 to go with whiteline, just haven't done it yet)

Whiteline bits:
steering rack bushings
front endlinks

Cusco bits:
rear cf strut bar

Kartboy bits:
shifter bushings
exhaust hangers

Late,

Lowball

P.S. coilovers...only if you plan on having a track car or want a ruffer non-daily-driver type ride...otherwise stick with a strut/spring combo. This is IMO and once having the Tein HA's.

P.S.S. Get a good alignment, espically after you add the struts. My friends STi was way, way, way off in the rear and you could really only tell at high speed corners.

 

lowball - DAMN! great setup... thanks for the writeup. Let me know if you ever want to sell your v7 setup

My driving skills are improving with the car but I'm still a bit wary about getting a larger RSB. I was initially thinking about getting an adjustable whiteline or perrin + solid endlinks but I think I'm going to go the 20mm sedan bar w/ OEM links for starters and then increase to the 21 STI one later.

 

yeah its the 1st setup I'm considering... there's some more info on nabisco on some guys that have just installed them and from their experience they are great springs. I'm just not sure if I should be running them w/ my stock struts.

 

I think the main things is that after awhile you may have to replace your stock sturts. I know some people have talked about the fact that the spring rates of prodrives are greater than oem springs and that it causes the struts to go bad after awhile...like 30 to 40k miles. I'm sure others have kept them on for longer than that without any problems. But they say it's better to get a matched set of springs and struts. Or struts that can handle the higher rates as I understand it. Someone please correct me if I'm talking out of my a$$.

LB

 

^^^^^

yeah what he said... i don't want premature strut failure and I want something that matches the higher spring rates of the STI pinks.

But as lowball states, I am REALLY talking out of my *** as proven by my response to kbyuan's thread about rota torques

 

Lowball - do not, I repeat, DO NOT run Cobb or Hotchkis bars on the 6-piece STi lateral link setup. This setup was designed with a 20mm bar in mind and the bracket holding the endlink will break or the the endlink will shear out with a bigger bar. My buddy has the 6-piece setup on his RS and recently traveling about 70mph in a tight bend, the rear endlink and bracket snapped using a 22-24mm bar set in the middle. He had instant understeer and slammed the front right of his car into the curb/retaining wall. He said it happened so fast and the effect was so instantaneous that he couldn't do a thing to steer out.

If you want to run a bigger bar on this setup I highly suggest getting the PolTec adjustable endlinks that come with the solid aluminum billet bracket replacement.

 

Cool Arnie. Thanks for the tip. I've see a few photos showing the endlink connection to the lateral link braking off. Some said the bar was off center and caused excess stress on the bracket and others just felt as you do, that it was the larger adjustable bar. Right now I'm running the STi 21mm pink bar. So well see how the bracket holds up. It's been great with the 20mm sedan bar, no problems at all.

Good looking out Arnie.

I have some adjustments to make since I added the larger bar. Its funny cuz the larger bar does make the rear step out a bit, which I use to no like at all. It's kinda fun for street now, kinda makes you have to control the car a bit more with the gas and steering wheel. On the track I like the feeling of no matter how hard I push it in the corners the car is pretty equal front to rear. I feel it makes me faster and more confident when the car sticks to the track and doesn't over/under steer to much. The only time I loose it is when I make a mistake...like early turn-in or coming in way to hot into a corner and getting off the track line. But 4-wheel drifts are fun

Lowball

 

i just ordered a set of Tein Flex w/EDFC for my 04 wagon. it should be here tuesday or wednesday. i'll let you guys know how it is. BTW: so far i have a a 20mm sedan RSB and 17" Rota Formels with 215/45/17 Kumho MXs. so similar to what you want to run, right doodoobrown?

 

Lowball - no problem. I really didn't think that a catastrophic failure of the endlink bracket could have led to such a dramatic and potentially deadly situation. So my friend was really lucky. Just wanted to make sure you were aware that it can get really ugly in the wrong situation. I also wonder if the adjustable bladed section puts additional stress on the part because it might orient the endlink in some weird angle. I hope you are okay with the STi 21mm. At the least its a single position piece. Heck, maybe it was the color, your piece matches the pink bits so it might make it okay! but yeah, I love the pink bits. They make the rear end just incredible. No grip-slip-grip-slip that you get at extreme g-forces. Just smooth traction or slide. Soo nice. They will be my final suspension upgrade.

Regarding the new Flex's...very short stroke! With the car on jack stands, the wheels at full droop give basically the same fender gap as the stock suspension with the car on the ground! but despite the high spring rates(400'ish?) they rode okay on smooth and lightly uneven road at lowere damping settings. I was surprised. I expected an instantly really harsh riding car. bigger bumps are very crashy but that's to be expected with such a short stroke. Makofoto is doing really well out here in SoCal autocrosses on this setup.

 

great info for all the wagon guys (<---me included). but sorry to say that now my choices have gotten more confused. Here's what i want, a ride not stiff and harsh, and great for 1320, daily driving, and the occasional scca/ autox . The last option is far down the road, but could someone steer me in the right direction. oh yeah sorry, it's a 04 wrx wagon. i don't mean to hijack anyone's post, but this topic seemed to turn into a forum of sorts.... thanks

 

Sorry to bring up an old thread but why should I not take my foot of the throttle when cornering?

WRXDad??