Subaru Enthusiasts Car Club of the Sierras - View Single Post

A1337STI · 2006-04-10, 06:03 PM

So i've had it in my little head to get my camber adjusted. as recomended on here, i should go to Sids alignment and have it professional done. Or at the minium do it with someone and have it professional checked. (arg, nothing is close to tahoe)

Since if you change out springs, tops (and other parts) you have to get an alignment. i would think it makes more sense to change out a few parts, Then do the alignment.

So with that in mind I'm thinking of Springs / Tops/ Struts / Sways / Camber bolts (rear) / and a Whiteline autocross legal ALK insert bushing from my prefered whitelind vendor (which i don't have one yet) . I would guess the Sways and top tower strut braces don't require an alignment, but i'm just a webmonkey and i'm probably wrong.

So i was told /suggested (by uhm everyone) that Pink springs and Group-N top mounts would be a great combo for my stock struts. (considering my driving usage ranges from getting groceries in 2 feet of uneven snow , autocrosses, and hopefully a few track days) Which does sound like a good compramise with out having to go to a fully adjustable coil over setup.

I was doing some additional research on IWSTI.com and also found that prodrives are highly recomended for the stock strut, they are a 3way progressive spring. up to 25% stiffer then the stocks. specifically designed for the USDM STI , with a redesign for the suspension changes in the 05 STI. Also they are a bit cheaper (so far i've seen $265)

The reviews said they greatly reduce body roll, the bounciness, and bobblehead affects the car has. since they are progressive, and the first CM of compression happen at a softer then stock spring rate, would these be better on snow then the more linear Pinks ? IIRC you want softer springs for snow/dirt ?? (they do lower the car 20 mm, which i would think is bad for snow, but everything is a compramise)

Also i've seen Adjustable Cusco top mount which say you can adjust the Caster/Camber some . then there are Prodrive top mounts (i would figure they would be a good match for the prodrive springs, the marketing mumbo Jumbo on them says they hold up better then other brands for Rally use. which would make me think they are tough, and i plan to try out 1 Rally Cross (the school in June) (if there is no benfit and the group-s are cheaper, and basically same quality, well that's a no brainer

)

I belive that as far as strut towers/ sways go. the biggest increase/ bang for my buck is just to do a rear sway. (the rear sway would probably help more then springs) that's what i am currently thinking.

Knowing that, i still want to do strut towers 1st. I want to do the rear cuase i will do it at some point, and i need to know where it will be , so i can install my car stereo. i want to install the front becuase i've read on the web it gets rid of the window shield creek. I get that 4 times a day , entering, leaving my work and it just Really bugs me! The recomend item seemed to be strut tower braces with out hinges, and lighter is better (i'm not that concerned about a few lbs though)

Also the strut braces are suppost to help reduce the amount of postive camber gained when hard cornering due to the mcphersin strut design (mis-spelled). the combination of some postive camber while cornering + me over driving my car is Murdering my outside shoulders!
and then i would do the sways .

Hopefully there are some good combo deals, and or recomended venders i should be looking at. (at which point the sticker shock will probably force an alteration of my current plan)

** I'm also awear that doing any/all of that won't make me a better driver, but should still reduce my times slightly, and will greatly increase the untapped potential of my car which is already quite large**

I'm just hoping to come up with a plan, figure out what it will cost me, so i can save up for it

Thank you everyone for your help (and thanks for all the tips over the weekend auto Cross, after each tip i was droping seconds off my runs)

I have read the rules a few times now, specifically the Street Touring and Street Prepared rules. but i don't really understand what is meant by "shock absorber" and a few other techinical terms so i may be planning on doing a mod that bumps me beyound street prepared, and that's not my goal at all.

(any and all advice welcome, even a few wise cracks

)

2006-04-10, 06:03 PM	#1
A1337STI EJ205 Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Reno, NV Posts: 1,840 Car: Impreza and an Impreza Class: AS / CRS PerfStock "pedal on the right"	Suspension Mod Path So i've had it in my little head to get my camber adjusted. as recomended on here, i should go to Sids alignment and have it professional done. Or at the minium do it with someone and have it professional checked. (arg, nothing is close to tahoe) Since if you change out springs, tops (and other parts) you have to get an alignment. i would think it makes more sense to change out a few parts, Then do the alignment. So with that in mind I'm thinking of Springs / Tops/ Struts / Sways / Camber bolts (rear) / and a Whiteline autocross legal ALK insert bushing from my prefered whitelind vendor (which i don't have one yet) . I would guess the Sways and top tower strut braces don't require an alignment, but i'm just a webmonkey and i'm probably wrong. So i was told /suggested (by uhm everyone) that Pink springs and Group-N top mounts would be a great combo for my stock struts. (considering my driving usage ranges from getting groceries in 2 feet of uneven snow , autocrosses, and hopefully a few track days) Which does sound like a good compramise with out having to go to a fully adjustable coil over setup. I was doing some additional research on IWSTI.com and also found that prodrives are highly recomended for the stock strut, they are a 3way progressive spring. up to 25% stiffer then the stocks. specifically designed for the USDM STI , with a redesign for the suspension changes in the 05 STI. Also they are a bit cheaper (so far i've seen $265) The reviews said they greatly reduce body roll, the bounciness, and bobblehead affects the car has. since they are progressive, and the first CM of compression happen at a softer then stock spring rate, would these be better on snow then the more linear Pinks ? IIRC you want softer springs for snow/dirt ?? (they do lower the car 20 mm, which i would think is bad for snow, but everything is a compramise) Also i've seen Adjustable Cusco top mount which say you can adjust the Caster/Camber some . then there are Prodrive top mounts (i would figure they would be a good match for the prodrive springs, the marketing mumbo Jumbo on them says they hold up better then other brands for Rally use. which would make me think they are tough, and i plan to try out 1 Rally Cross (the school in June) (if there is no benfit and the group-s are cheaper, and basically same quality, well that's a no brainer ) I belive that as far as strut towers/ sways go. the biggest increase/ bang for my buck is just to do a rear sway. (the rear sway would probably help more then springs) that's what i am currently thinking. Knowing that, i still want to do strut towers 1st. I want to do the rear cuase i will do it at some point, and i need to know where it will be , so i can install my car stereo. i want to install the front becuase i've read on the web it gets rid of the window shield creek. I get that 4 times a day , entering, leaving my work and it just Really bugs me! The recomend item seemed to be strut tower braces with out hinges, and lighter is better (i'm not that concerned about a few lbs though) Also the strut braces are suppost to help reduce the amount of postive camber gained when hard cornering due to the mcphersin strut design (mis-spelled). the combination of some postive camber while cornering + me over driving my car is Murdering my outside shoulders! and then i would do the sways . Hopefully there are some good combo deals, and or recomended venders i should be looking at. (at which point the sticker shock will probably force an alteration of my current plan) I'm also awear that doing any/all of that won't make me a better driver, but should still reduce my times slightly, and will greatly increase the untapped potential of my car which is already quite large I'm just hoping to come up with a plan, figure out what it will cost me, so i can save up for it Thank you everyone for your help (and thanks for all the tips over the weekend auto Cross, after each tip i was droping seconds off my runs) I have read the rules a few times now, specifically the Street Touring and Street Prepared rules. but i don't really understand what is meant by "shock absorber" and a few other techinical terms so i may be planning on doing a mod that bumps me beyound street prepared, and that's not my goal at all. (any and all advice welcome, even a few wise cracks ) __________________ Fighting uphill battles, one bullet at a time!