okay, i'm finally about ready to drop the dollars for a set of coilovers and i'm wondering what to do about strut tops. as i see it, i've got two options, as using the stockers really isn't an option as far as i'm concerned.

1) STi strut tops front and rear. unless i'm mistaken, these are not adjustable for caster and camber, you just install them and forget about them. they're stronger and stiffer than stock, with less play due to their hardened mounting points. i'm curious whether or not they provide more camber/caster than the stock pieces, even though they're not adjustable.

2) camber/caster adjustable fronts (i.e. MRT, Cusco, Noltec, etc.) and STi rears, pretty much all of which seem to use pillowball mounts. these are likely to be noiser and transmit more vibration through the car. my big concern is that these are not going to be a 'set and forget' part, and that they'll need to be adjusted on regular intervals. i'd rather not have to play with the mounts every couple thousand miles, that's more of a concern for me than the NVH increase. is the benefit of the added camber and/or caster worth it?

for referance, i'm currently running a Cusco rear sway bar on 22mm, Perrin end links, a whiteline sport ALK (the noise from that is no big deal) -- the front bar is in the garage waiting to be installed. there isn't anything on the car right now that bothers me in terms of noise levels. i'm curious to hear from people running one setup or the other, good or bad.

 

Well it's really up to you. There is no end all setup unfortunately

Do you want the ablility for camber and castor adjustments? Then the MRT/Noltec plates are for you. I dont believe the Cusco plates can do castor.

For many, they bought camber plates and NEVER even touch em for adjustment. Heck they bought it for more show then anything.



In my personal preference, I would get STi top mounts up front and leave the rear stock. Or if castor/camber adjustment is important to you, get the plates up front but again leave the rear top hats stock.

There isn't really a point in upgrading the rears as the return's are minimal at best. Upgrading the fronts though allows for a crisper steering feel.

 

i think if i went with the adjustable tops, i'd probably adjust them once or twice to get a setup that i was comfortable with, and then leave them alone. i have absolutely zero interest in making any modifications for show or for bragging rights, i'm only interested in making the car handle better and be more enjoyable to drive. that said, i'm not interested in changing the alignment of the car every couple of weeks. hmmmm.

 

Well in that case, most 'performance alignments' are usually able to be done with just camber bolts alone. So in that case, why get camber plates? Well one reason to get camber/castor plates would be to increase castor, but increased castor is debateable on whether or not it will help everyone in every situation.


Once you get your alignment done, do you really want to fart around with it again later?


BTW, I run Koni struts, eibach springs, cusco bars and have -1 camber all around and 0 toe.

 

if you plan on doing any auto-x, camber/castor plates are very usefull. get to the track, drop camber all the way, end of the day, put it back at your street driving mark to save on tire wear. they arent all that hard to adjust, and if you make a little mark on them with a sharpie you can tell where they were so its easy to put them back after you are all done with your race day.

 

my understanding is that camber bolts are more likely to allow the alignment to drift more over time, simply due to their design. i'd prefer not to deal with that sort of alignment drift if i can avoid it.

auto cross and track days are definitely coming up in the future, and being able to adjust the camber for those relatively rare days would be pretty useful. the MRT or Noltec plates are only like $100 more for the pair than the STi versions, so cost isn't an issue. are there issues with camber/castor plates letting alignments drift significantly more than stock -- that is, enough to make running them more trouble than it's worth?

 

Camber plates "drift" no more or no less then camber bolts. But like you say it's only a hundred dollar difference...

 

then am i way off base thinking that the alignment settings will drift with the camber bolts? i don't have any problem with the alignment going sour after 7k+ miles or so, but i'd rather not have to have the car aligned as often as i change my oil.

 

It's a bad comparison but I had a dodge neon with Koni struts and eibach springs. I had it aligned once and it didn't have to get realigned for about two years.

When I first lowered my WRX with whiteline springs, I drove over a year with an initial alignment. I tracked the car, I auto-x, and did driving schools. Not once did the wheel get off center, start tracking in one direction, nada.


Now if you are doing what Gary Sheehan does on the street, I would get it aligned more often

Just do as someone mentioned, mark your alignment settings with a marker or score the strut body.

 

well, it looks like i got worked up about nothing then. i've had my '03 WRX for about a year, and the alignment has been really quite good (except for when i let my Mom borrow my car, and she hit a chunk of roadkill, knocking the right front out of alignment) so far.

are you running camber bolts on your WRX?

 

stock camber bolts up front, and sloted struts at the rear. I had asked my alignment shop about camber bolts(I had them in my hand ready just in case) and they preffered to slot the struts.

After looking at my bill, I can see why

 

damn, i hate it when shops try and pull a fast one like that. it's one thing if it really is a significantly better option, where the cost is justified, but something else entirely when it's just to pad their bottom line.

right now i'm thinking i'll probably wind up going with front camber/castor plates, and STi tops in the rear. now i just have to figure out the differances between the MRT, Noletc, Cusco, Cobb etc. plates and make a decision....

 

It's not a big jump in price to get coilovers that come with camber plates included. Otherwise, it's $200 for a full set of STi plates, or ~$250 for front camber plates and $100 for STi rears. I happen to have a set of STi rear strut tops that fit a GD chassis that I'd sell for $50 shipped if anybody wants them. They were originally for a GC chassis, but were modified with a DMS adapter plate to fit a WRX.

 

yeah, but the Leda units that i've been looking at don't have that option -- though most of the Tein/Cusco/JIC hardware does come with that option.