85 replies to this topic

[Adam]

Alexxx changed struts and springs, and had alloy swaybar links on it. but everything else is stock.. as far as i know. Struts/Springs are STI inverted struts and King springs, which i have bought replacement Bilsteins and sti springs for as of yesterday.

I run KU31s on there they seem to do the job for a high km daily driver i think they are good balance of grip/economy.. im onto my 3rd set since owning the car.

Look forward to your input Alex.

These mods have been a long time coming, the car just doesn't feel as sure footed as it used to!

And i think ill try source a SH GTB FSB to begin with.

[Xon]

What Marv said. There's not much point taking a car with rock-hard, unforgiving suspension to the track and binning it on the 2nd corner.

[acres]

Feel is something you can't really quantify, though. Depending on your cornering technique (and at what point of the corner you start accelerating) you can have different results.

Yep, fair point. I could probably explain myself better.
In comparison to the stock bar, I found the 22mm bar offered a sharper response to initial turn in due to less body roll. For me, this translated to a reduction in understeer without an increase in oversteer, creating a more neutral balance. This suits me as I have little interest in excess oversteer, preferring to accelerate through the exit of the corner, rather than into it.

If oversteer is your thing however than this possibly isn't your best option, as stated by others and their preferences.

[Alex]

What Marv said. There's not much point taking a car with rock-hard, unforgiving suspension to the track and binning it on the 2nd corner.

I wouldn't call my car rock hard.

[Alex]

I still disagree with you Marv and Xon. No point taking a bog stock car on a pan, without a single modification. You should have some bread and butter mods on board, even if its a strut top brace up front.

Bilstein will be an improvement over the KYB's in term of comfort.

KU31s by all reports are a good tyre, and if you're happy with them, stick with them.

Also, whilst playing with suspension, it wouldn't hurt to also draw attention to the brakes... even if its a fresh set of pads with free fluid.

But all in all, your list seems rather good, Adam. If there's any questions along the line, you know how to get me!

[Adam]

I still disagree with you Marv and Xon. No point taking a bog stock car on a pan, without a single modification. You should have some bread and butter mods on board, even if its a strut top brace up front.

Bilstein will be an improvement over the KYB's in term of comfort.

KU31s by all reports are a good tyre, and if you're happy with them, stick with them.

Also, whilst playing with suspension, it wouldn't hurt to also draw attention to the brakes... even if its a fresh set of pads with free fluid.

But all in all, your list seems rather good, Adam. If there's any questions along the line, you know how to get me!

Cheers Alex, had brakes done not too long ago, and am planning to flush fluid when I can be bothered organising it with Ben!

Time to gets me some prices

[alexGT]

Adam,

Rear sway bar (with mounts good idea on older cars), ALK, struts matched to springs.
if you aren't a track hack and do as many KM as you do it would be pointless for 99% daily driver.

send me a message with the part numbers and i can help out.

[Adam]

Will do Alex, sorry but i can't make sense of the first part of your post?

[Alex]

Rear sway bar (with mounts good idea on older cars), ALK, struts matched to springs.

I agree.

if you aren't a track hack and do as many KM as you do it would be pointless for 99% daily driver.

I disagree.

The reason being, that if we all wanted a daily driver, where it would be a waste to modify, we'd be all driving Yarises or some bog stockers.

We're all enthusiasts here. We all mod here. We can all agree that the standard suspension on any Subaru can be improved upon, and seeing that many of us drive our cars on a daily basis, I ask you - why not make the drive every day better?

Don't even start on economics.

[alexGT]

you won't feel the majority of the mods without pushing the car hard. they are all great mods there is no disputing that

i highly suggest doing the rear sway bar and mounts first and you will be freakin amazed at the difference it makes. if you order through me you can pick the parts up in w'gong or port.

castor is one of the best mods you can give a car, it helps with braking and understeer. the ALK is a very good piece of kit the amount of "nosedive" under brakes and cornering is greatly reduced. i'd suggest doing the RSB, ALK and struts+springs FIRST then reassess what more you want out of the car (these are also simple to install btw!), then proceed with further mods.

also dont forget one of the best mods you can do is a proper wheel alignment and correct tyre pressure, lots of suspension mods are wasted or undone because of poor alignment and incorrect pressures.

[Marv]

Adam - KISS. Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. Rather than make a thousand changes all at once try one at a time to see if you like them?

Alex (smoov), a stock car at a track day or pan is fine if youre not chasing lap times. Sure you have to drive around certain aspects of it (soggy brakes etc) but its important to learn that before you try flogging a car that has none of the compromise and will teach you bad habits. Everyone should cut their teeth in original minis or 1.6 mx5s to learn cornering speeds, braking markers and apexs. Otherwise you rely on turbo straightline speed like 50% of the n00bs in gtr skylines and 400kw xr6ts.

[Adam]

Alexxx, Marv. I can totally see where you guys are coming from. But if the factory bushes are shagged, then wouldnt it be less beneficial to not change them? And if im going to change them, why not upgrade them?

Also, Im only assuming the bushes are fugged because the car is loose under steering, and loves to follow the roads. Even after several wheel alignments from different places.

Can you guys suggest a good alignment setup?

[alexGT]

100% rule before doing any performance mods, if something is broke fix it first! or you will end up having to get multiple alignments. chuck the car up on the stands and have a good look at the bushes to see what you need before ordering any parts.

directional wide tyres will follow the road a lot more than standard asymmetrical tyres.

especially on picton road which has been ruined by trucks.

[Xon]

Adam - KISS. Keep. It. Simple. Stupid. Rather than make a thousand changes all at once try one at a time to see if you like them?

Alex (smoov), a stock car at a track day or pan is fine if youre not chasing lap times. Sure you have to drive around certain aspects of it (soggy brakes etc) but its important to learn that before you try flogging a car that has none of the compromise and will teach you bad habits. Everyone should cut their teeth in original minis or 1.6 mx5s to learn cornering speeds, braking markers and apexs. Otherwise you rely on turbo straightline speed like 50% of the n00bs in gtr skylines and 400kw xr6ts.

^

Sorry Alex, agree to disagree. Like learning any skill, it's best to start simple and work your way up. If you can drive a dunger quickly, when you get the mods you can really make the most of them, not use them to mask bad driving.

Although there's obviously exceptions like a baffled sump etc that can potentially save the car...

[RX25SE]

Adam, I have driven on the roads near where you live and all I can say is; err on the soft side.

I agree with Marv, small incremental changes.

[Alex]

Sorry. Still disagree.

Cars of this vintage will not only AUDM spec rubbish parts, but flogged out bushes. As Alexxx has mentioned, repair and replace as essentially required, but I believe some basic bread and butter mods should be carried out as soon as possible.

Xon - Start to get some mods happening on yours, and then we can talk suspension

[Xon]

Xon - Start to get some mods happening on yours, and then we can talk suspension

I've done all the suspension changes I feel my car needs for the way I drive it.
I still maintain the biggest gain was from a good set of tyres though.

[B4TT]

Another thing to keep in mind given you will be driving on shitty roads, The harder style bushes whilst improving handling will not cop the same punishment as softer rubber, they are more brittle and under rough conditions will give out a long time prior to rubber.
Just food for thought..... I weighed it up and have the WL having said that I need to replace the ones on my front sway bar as they are almost fugged.

A good set of tyres is a must, but best bang for buck handling mod for my car was swaybars.

[Marv]

Alexxx, Marv. I can totally see where you guys are coming from. But if the factory bushes are shagged, then wouldnt it be less beneficial to not change them? And if im going to change them, why not upgrade them?

Fix what is broken, then look at mods, mate. There is no point spending $2k rebuilding ALL your suspension if $300 in bushes will fix it.

As B4TT says, because sometimes rubber out-performs polyurethane. On smooth surfaces - like race tracks, where poly bushes were developed for - poly bushes are wonderful. On many regional roads, aka goat tracks, they're terrible. Not only does it result in higher noise, vibration and harshness, but they have a shorter service life than rubber. However, you can pick and mix what parts you replace with poly, and what parts you replace with higher rated rubber bushes.

I'd make sure my steering rack bushes and swaybar end link bushings were poly, while stuff like engine mounts and even control arm chassis rail bushes I'd consider leaving rubber and spending the money on rebuilding your shock absorbers (you will get 50,000-100,000km out of a shock before it needs a rebuild - especially Bilsteins) and putting another set of KU31s on the car.

Also, Im only assuming the bushes are fugged because the car is loose under steering, and loves to follow the roads. Even after several wheel alignments from different places.

Can you guys suggest a good alignment setup?

This can be tyre wear, flogged out tie rod ends, dud steering rack bushes, worn ball joints, a soon-to-die wheel bearing or a dud wheel alignment. hell, even tyre pressure can have an effect on it.

Wheel alignments I run are usually aggressive and result in some pulling/tramlining and they're twitchy at high speed (+160km/h), but the benefit is in how the car points and turns when you're on it. As I don't daily mine so I don't care, but if you're not whipping your car on a weekly basis I'd try looking at the following:

- As little static camber as possible. Won't be as "sharp" through the steering wheel, but should handle bumps/road imperfections a lot better
- Zero toe, or 0.5mm toe-in. Will also dull turn-in but make the car more stable at speed as your rear wheels try to drive the car in on itself, rather than toe-out which drives the wheels away from the car
- As much castor as possible. what you lack in static camber, you make up with dynamic camber

[Adam]

So much information!! I need to read some of this over and over again!

Will definitely do research before parting ways with cash!