Here's some tidbits on the JIC coilovers that I installed (with chrisw's help) last weekend.

First off, the directions are only in Japanese . But, I figured it out anyways.

Install was pretty straightforward : unbolt the stock struts, bolt in the coilovers. We did a real basic alignment in the garage on it (set to 0 camber both F&R, 0 toe) to "safe" settings. For height, we set it up so that both F&R were 355 mm from the center of the wheel to the fender arch top (i.e. about 1" drop in back, 1.5-2" in front....sorry, no before measurements )

I then had the car cornerweighted today, plus the "real" alignment. Cornerweights (after) are as follows :

LF = 1039 lb
RF = 963 lb
LR = 761 lb
RR = 687 lb

Cross = 1724 (50.0%)
Left = 1800 (52.2%)
Rear = 1448 (42.0%)

Total = 3450 lb

Note that these weights were with approx 3/4 tank of gas, car "stripped" (i.e. no "stuff" in car, no spare), and lead weights on the driver's seat simulating my weight (275 lb.....no, I'm not a small OR skinny dude )

So, weight without "me" in it is 3175 lb.....pretty dang close to the "spec" weight of 3165 lb published by Subaru.

As for alignment, I had the rear set up with -0.5 deg of camber (both sides) and 0 toe. In front, it was set to -0.5 deg of camber with the bolts, and then "moved" to -2.0 deg using the camber plates (thus, a "final" camber of -2.0 deg). Caster came out to +3.3 deg, and toe was set to 0.

And the results : HOLY $$@!#$!!!! This thing REALLY corners on rails now Even on the RE92s (which it is on now), you can't safely approach the tire limits on a public road....the limits are that far out!

Only downside : I'm not sure my Rota Formels (17x7.5", 48mm offset, 215/45R17 tires) are gonna fit anymore due to coilover clearance in back. Hope to try it next week, and see what happens. But given a choice between this setup with stock wheels OR the 17x7.5's with stock struts.....well, the wheels will go up for sale

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

Okay, where did you have the car corner weighted?

How much did the alignment and cornerweighting cost you (I'm guessing $350)?

I know it's hard for you to say, but does the cornerweighting improve the handling of the car as much as the alignment?

Does the car grip equally as well turning left as it does turning right?

How much of a difference to the handling of the car does it make if you have a 200 lb person in the front passenger seat?

I know some are wierd (esp the last one) but I would be interested to hear the answers.

I am thinking about doing the Ground Control setup with an alignment and cornerweighting and I'm wondering how it will perform. Thanks in advance and congratulations on your project, it sounds like it turned out very well!!

 

Actually, that's stock . With caster plates (or setting up the JIC "camber" plates on the opposite sides so you can add both camber and caster with them) you can get close to +5° of caster!

FLT-A2s.....not sure JIC even has another model for the WRX yet.

Note that they are the same strut for both sedan and wagon....I asked the JIC "Subaru Guru" at the JIC booth about this at SEMA last year (I have his card somewhere....), and he (correctly) said they'd work fine with both the sedan and wagon.

Custom Alignment, Mtn View

Dang, did you see my receipt or something . Seriously, $358.....good guess

I would look at it as the whole "package".....and yes, it did make quite a difference over what they were set up from just "throwing them in" the car. To get your money's worth out of something like this, it really pays to pay the bit extra to get them set up right!

As far as I've been able to push it on a public road so far, yes.


You can tell, but it's still REALLY good .

 

Awesome, thanks for the replies.What I was really looking for in the last question was, if you have the car setup to oversteer at the limit with just you in the car, will it do the same with the passenger in the front seat as well?

The only reason I ask is that my car oversteers at the limit with just me in the car but pushes like a pig when I have someone in the pass seat. Just curious.

haha yeah, i catually had the same shop quote me for the same exact thing so i guess i cheated.

One last question, how is the rest of your suspension set up? Swaybars, ALK, endlinks, you know what I mean.

Oh and do you have a wagon or sedan?

 

Haven't really pushed it with passengers yet, but suspect it won't change much.

I am running the Whiteline bars, adjusted to 22mm both F and R. Also Whiteline endlinks, and Whiteline strut tower bars on both ends.

As for the last question, look at the thread title

 

duuuuhhhhh... my bad.

wagons rule.

 

Glad to hear another suspension setup works for the wagon.

And yes, WAGONS RULE

 

OK, I couldn't get the Rota Formels outta storage today (my storage unit was closed for MLK holiday). Should be able to get them on Wed or Thurs. However, I DID take some measurements with my new Rota Slipstreams (which do NOT have tires on them yet).

The Slipstreams are 16x7, 48mm offset (the Rota Formels are 17x7.5", 48mm offset)

With the Slipstreams, the wheel itself has about 1.25" clearance to the coilover. However, it's gonna be closer than that with tires on it, since the tires will be up by the shock body height adjuster (which sticks out approx 3/8" from the shock body itself). So, with the Slipstreams and tires (215/45R16 Azenis) it'll be probably around 1/2" to the coilover....whew

I suspect it's gonna be within a few mm (either way) with the Formels.

Note that I could get more rear clearance IF I set the rear camber up to closer to 0 deg (it's at -0.5 deg now) : that'd give an extra 4mm or so of clearance to the coilover if my trigonometry and units conversion is correct . But handling won't be where I want it (not to mention, negative AutoX tire wear affects) with 0 deg rear camber so that isn't an option for me.

 

A helluva lot stiffer and bouncier. Fine for my "daily" driving (mostly short trips), but it'd be hell if I had to drive for many hours on a bumpy freeway.