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Originally Posted by Dean
In both the front of the rear of the GD sedan, there is a bulkhead immediately in front of or behind the strut towers, so IMHO ST bars have minimal value so those should be last on your list.
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In my RS, my rear windshield would creak when I went into/out of driveways. Adding the rear STB made that stop. But, in terms of noticeable handling improvement, probably not much until you've done a lot of other things, namely much stiffer springs, tophats, and assorted bushings. file STBs under "might or might not not help, but it's not hurting anything."
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Originally Posted by Dean
Springs are wound steel wire. Buy the cheapest ones with the specs you want from a vendor/manufacturer you trust.
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Wrong. Cheap springs will, over time, sag and go soft. Insert Dean-is-old-and-should-know-about-this joke here. They also have much worse quality control and are rarely what the packaging/eBay ad says the rates are, nor was any R&D done on any specific application whatsoever. They "fit," so on to the next ricer car dujour. For the STi, I would stick to the known commodities- Whiteline, Prodrive, Eibach, STi, Perrin, Tein, Tanabe, etc. would all be good. Browse the classifieds and buy the first good deal that comes along on a NAME BRAND. Most well-known springs in the US are made by Eibach, because they are very good at it. Dean will, of course, disagree with this, because he happened to buy one of the few quality suspensions available here that is not manufactured in part by Eibach.
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Originally Posted by Dean
As I understand, the legal ALK bushing is a pain in the ass and probably not worth the effort. If money is no object, go for it, but a sway bar would probably have more effect.
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Yes, huge pain in the ass to do yourself. I recommend der Khamissar's method of installation for these, as the added stiffness and caster helps turn-in and dynamic camber noticeably. My ALK was the only mod I really missed last year after switching back to DSP. Although, in the '05 you already have a lot more caster than with earlier models, so the benefit is reduced.
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Originally Posted by Dean
A serious front bar may and maybe an adjustable rear bar be an even better choice than a rear believe it or not with streetable springs. Minimizing front roll is key to maintaining negative camber.
http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=719115
For the rear bar as long as it came with upgraded rear mounts. Like springs, rear bar is a rear bar, but all endlinks are not created equally. My weapon of choice for the rear is: http://www.poltec.us/products/subaru..._end_links.htm
The adjustable lets you eliminate or add preload since you can't corner balance without coilovers. If you go with a smaller front bar, make sure it has adjustable end links. |
but with the exception that I'm still not totally sold on huge bars for the street. Nobody in our group is running a gigantic front sway on their STi, jsut the standard moderate upgrades. But, with a compromise car that has to be good at every kind of driving, I'd stay away from it for now.
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Originally Posted by Dean
And don't the STIs already come with teh group N tops?
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Not for '04, but that may have changed since then.
In terms of suspension, almost anything is legal for STU/BSP, except the repeatedly mentioned ALK. Sways, struts, springs, strut tops all are legal in anything but stock. You have to be careful about braces though- avoid anything that isn't a 2-point brace that goes from one topmount to the other side. There are a small number of other braces that are legal, but it's dangerous territory, so avoid anything that isn't specifically mentioned as legal by someone who is running that mod at Nationals or national tour events.