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Hello mate, yep I've been chasing a teething problem since I bought the car which has been annoying me a lot. It has been losing the smallest amount of coolant from somewhere and every few days I have been having to add a small amount to the header tank to get it back to the right level. I know it's not head gasket consumption as I have been finding coolant on the floor in very tiny amounts and on the engine under tray, plus the coolant looks brand new inside the engine.
So it's been into the Subaru Main stealers once already just after I bought it and they did a coolant system pressure test and told me they found the smallest leak coming from under the high pressure expansion bottle coming from the lower surge tank hose. They put a new clip round the house and hoped they'd sorted it out and while I lost even slightly less coolant from doing this it kept slowly dropping. I decided to order a brand new expansion bottle from ICP at £120 and a brand new lower hose FROM AMERICA as they didn't have any in the UK or Europe. Give me strength. I then designed loads of 3D printed stopper plugs and when it all finally arrived a month ago I changed it all myself without losing coolant. I'm glad to say that the bottom hose had slight damage to it so that was certainly the cause of one of the leaks, the original tank was fine though.
So I ran the car for a few days and it lost even less coolant, but was still losing it regularly onto the belly tray. I put it back into Subaru again Friday just gone for a 2nd pressure test on the coolant system and they looked at it for 2.5 hours trying to find it. I'm pleased to say that we have finally located the leak. Which I'm not pleased to say is a pain to fix. It's possibly coming from one of the hard coolant lines on the turbo which has been bent and damaged somehow and definitely leaking from one of the banjo bolt fittings through the coolant lines into the turbo. I know why too and I'm not happy.
So the VF48 turbo has to come back off the car again now to get this properly fixed as it just can't be done on the car. I'm already £380+ down in costs trying to find this leak, albeit a very small one. To do this properly and if the turbo comes off then I'll need new hard lines, new banjo bolts, new COPPER washers, new coolant, new 10-60 race oil and filter plus Rich @ FB quoted 4 hours to do the job.
Alyn @ AS is currently quoting me for the parts and when I get these I'll either do it myself or get Rich to sort it if I don't get time.
So annoying, but at least I've finally tracked it down.
In better news this Saturday I have agreed with the wife that I can have a day to get all the suspension parts fitted to the car! Finally!!!!!
bloody hell mate what a ball-ache. how do you think it got damaged?
to summarise
new heavy alloys , more curb weight soon 1600kg with front mount
stretched tyres, how will get more grip? more bumpy like ****ing baloon
wtf , everybody in motorsport going lighter but You found new opposite way:lol1
You're such a tool Fawor. The new wheels are light weight.
Anyhow, I've reported your new account again so enjoy your last few minutes before your next ban.
Who’s is this clown popping up all over with new usernames last few weeks
It's Fawor. He used to harass everyone and troll people like mad then get banned for 6 months, come back, do it again etc. The admin have now banned his original username permanently so he's creating new accounts every day just to harass me and other longer members that know him and don't take his ****. He's such a Muppet. Already had 2 new username banned tonight.
Turbo shouldn't need to come off to swap out the hard coolant lines and copper washers? Unless they're in some ridiculously difficult position on a VF48?
Turbo shouldn't need to come off to swap out the hard coolant lines and copper washers? Unless they're in some ridiculously difficult position on a VF48?
Yeh they are a bit tight on the stock location vf48 and I don't think there is room to remove them with the gap behind the bolt heads. I may remove the intercooler and have a go at this myself anyhow, you never know. Suspect I'll need to get at it from underneath on a ramp ideally, but may give it a go.
Alyn @ AS Performance is going to get me all the new parts, plus more oil, coolant etc so I'm ready to get it done.
Ordered all my parts from Alyn @ AS Performance yesterday so I can finally fix the turbo water leak. So the running total for sorting just the leak is currently at £640+ and I still have to get the bits fitted which Rich @ FB recons is at least a 4 hours in labour on top of this. Madness.
On a positive note after negotiating with the wife for several weeks I've managed to arrange time this weekend to get all my suspension bits fitted to the car, so may finally get the new wheels on if I'm happy. May fit all the suspension bits, drive the car on the old wheels for 2 weeks whilst things settle, re-torque everything and then get alignment done with new wheels on. Not sure yet.
So Saturday I finally had an opportunity to fit some of my suspension bits. H&R MY15 lowering springs fitted to the original shocks, with rear bump stops trimmed down 1 notch. They have dropped the car around 25mm at a guess but it still rides very well indeed and doesn't crash about. These H&R springs offer the greatest drop on standard suspension you can get for these cars, but they are not easy to get hold of and I had to import these from the US. I wanted to start with lowering springs on this car as with coilovers you always get more road noise transferred through the solid top mounts. I wanted to keep this as a nice comfortable sports car for now. May still go coilovers in the future though.
Also fitted the Whiteline front camber bolts while I was at it, but ran out of time to fit the Whiteline rear camber kit and Whiteline rear subframe locking kit on Saturday. So these will get fitted this week before the tracking and camber gets done.
Few pics.
Last edited by BrownPantsRacing; 15 October 2018 at 02:04 PM.
Very nice car but experience has shown than an over lowered car will handle much worse on bumpy, real-world pot-holed UK roads.
Improved looks (see lowering, although this is subjective) and handling on real, bumpy roads (which requires ample suspension travel) aren't requirements that can be fulfilled simultaneously.
As long as your priority was improved looks and you have accepted to compromise on the handling sector, fair enough
Nice car but experience has shown than an over lowered car will handle much worse on bumpy, real-world pot-holed UK roads.
Improved looks (see lowering, although this is subjective) and handling on real, bumpy roads (which requires ample suspension travel) aren't requirements that can be fulfilled simultaneously.
As long as your priority was improved looks, fair enough
Thanks for the comments. You said exactly the same thing about my FSTI when I lowered that, word for word. However in my experience the FSTI was amazing, so much improved over standard from my setup it was madness. I had no issues and no negatives to report on my daily that was pushed hard at times.
At the end of the day, with the components I have purchased I can get the setup including camber etc dialed in just perfectly to get the car riding and handling just great. There are no real downsides to this setup except to say that the centre of gravity is lowered which is always a benefit. I push my cars hard and have never had a shock or suspension component ground out, ever.
You must have some super smooth roads by you, at that height the car would suffer serious damage on the roads I drive
LOL. Nope, they are rough as cr4p round here too. They just don't spend money on roads these days. There is far more internal arch clearance on these later shape STI models than older versions, which is why I have been able to accommodate 9.5" wheels without a single arch mod. To fit 8.75" wheels on my hawkeye and FSTI I had to roll the arches, run more camber etc etc..
The car is setup so the wheels still move up inside the arches without hitting so I can achieve full and decent suspension travel. Also contrary to how it looks there is still a decent amount of clearance. I have speed bumps, speed pillows and all sorts either side of my house and it goes over everything without a single issue.
This is my daily car and I wouldn't do a modification that made it useless or a pain to drive every day.
I am not concerned about arch clearance but suspension travel, i.e. the distance the stanchion needs to travel before it hits the bump stop.
This won't won't happen when going over speed bumps etc but hitting a bump or pot hole mid corner at NSL speed (I know people who have been caught out on unknown roads with overly lowered cars and have ended up in bushes).
My car came with KW v3 coilovers which are supposed to be the dog's danglies.
I am telling you they are not. I had them setup at max ride height but the suspension bottomed out when entering roundabouts at NSL and you could feel the Quaife working to stop the outer wheel that bottomed out from spinning on the exits.
The car felt awful, crashing and skipping.
After having them modified, removing their internal spacers and raising the car at OEM ride height (the front is slightly higher than OEM height in fact) it now handles as it should, the suspension doesn't bottom out on the same place it used to before. I've gained 2.5 cm of extra suspension travel by doing this which has made all the difference.
It is a well known fact that lowering a vehicle and limiting its suspension travel will have an adverse effect on handling on bumpy roads, please avoid misguiding people due to your perception or lack of experience how good a set of springs is that lowers the car by 4 cm.
If it was indeed so good why do OEMs or suppliers that make suspension components for limited edition vehicles (e.g. Prodrive) don't do the same?
I am not concerned about arch clearance but suspension travel, i.e. the distance the stanchion needs to travel before it hits the bump stop.
This won't won't happen when going over speed bumps etc but hitting a bump or pot hole mid corner at NSL speed (I know people who have been caught out on unknown roads with overly lowered cars and have ended up in bushes).
My car came with KW v3 coilovers which are supposed to be the dog's danglies.
I am telling you they are not. I had them setup at max ride height but the suspension bottomed out when entering roundabouts at NSL and you could feel the Quaife working to stop the outer wheel that bottomed out from spinning on the exits.
The car felt awful, crashing and skipping.
After having them modified, removing their internal spacers and raising the car at OEM ride height (the front is slightly higher than OEM height in fact) it now handles as it should, the suspension doesn't bottom out on the same place it used to before. I've gained 2.5 cm of extra suspension travel by doing this which has made all the difference.
It is a well known fact that lowering a vehicle and limiting its suspension travel will have an adverse effect on handling on bumpy roads, please avoid misguiding people due to your perception or lack of experience how good a set of springs is that lowers the car by 4 cm.
If it was indeed so good why do OEMs or suppliers that make suspension components for limited edition vehicles (e.g. Prodrive) don't do the same?
You obviously have your own experiences and opinions as do I. Mine are based on 25 years of building and driving cars and race cars and tuning suspension to suit my own needs. This is MY thread and MY car so this is how I have set it up to best suit MY needs based on MY experiences. I have also purchased cars with suspension setups that just don't work and just don't feel safe. Please feel free to do the research I have done before fitting this suspension to my car then feel free to comment again based on what you've found out. I don't take any upgrade path lightly and certainly don't buy things on a whim and a prayer.
You are entitled to your thoughts, as am I. I have never once commented on your posts on your vehicles. but you always seem to jump at the chance to comment negatively on all my vehicles. In fact, over the 3 years of ownership of my FSTI which was modified how I wanted it (too low in your opinion) I took many other interested people out for a drive, all of which ended up going for the same upgrade route as I did following my trials.
As already said above, I may well end up going back down the MeisterR coilover route again at some point with this car, but for now this works for me. I won't be driving round the Isle Of Man at 155mph in this car after I've dropped my kids off at School and I won't be doing track days as I have other vehicles for that. This is an every day car for me and will be treated as such.
Also, I am not reviewing or suggesting people copy me or buy what I have, so your statement above is totally unjust. This is MY build thread, recording MY personal upgrades.
We'll agree to disagree.
Don't take my comments on suspension as targeted to your cars, personally.
I am trying to share my experience and knowledge since suspension is my passion and I've tried seven different setups in my three Subarus coming to the conclusions I've mentioned above but hey ho, who am I am to know.
2.5 cm drop is much better than the original 4 cm you mentioned earlier.
We'll agree to disagree.
Don't take my comments on suspension as targeted to your cars, personally.
I am trying to share my experience and knowledge since suspension is my passion and I've tried seven different setups in my three Subarus coming to the conclusions I've mentioned above but hey ho, who am I am to know.
2.5 cm drop is much better than the original 4 cm you mentioned earlier.
I think from memory it is 40mm on the WRX (available in US) and 25mm on the STI. My mistake.
It may look excessive but it really isn't that far from how the car was standard. Also the spring rates are very comparable to the standard STI setup. It was a personal choice as Whiteline only offer 10mm drop on these cars, which seems to be normal. Plenty of people in the US use RCE Yellow springs which have fantastic reviews in general and offer the same drop as the H&R springs. I chose H&R on this occasion as they were more available and also seemed very positively reviewed.
I understand your points on suspension and I have had so many cars now with so many different setups over the years I know what can truly ruin a car and make it dangerous too. Also I found out that as standard my STI doesn't have bump stops on the front, only on the rear which I thought was interesting. I know the US spec WRX has front bump stops too and they actually perform as part of the suspension operation as per the hawkeye models, but seems not on the new STI models now.
I think from memory it is 40mm on the WRX (available in US) and 25mm on the STI. My mistake.
It may look excessive but it really isn't that far from how the car was standard. Also the spring rates are very comparable to the standard STI setup. It was a personal choice as Whiteline only offer 10mm drop on these cars, which seems to be normal. Plenty of people in the US use RCE Yellow springs which have fantastic reviews in general and offer the same drop as the H&R springs. I chose H&R on this occasion as they were more available and also seemed very positively reviewed.
I understand your points on suspension and I have had so many cars now with so many different setups over the years I know what can truly ruin a car and make it dangerous too. Also I found out that as standard my STI doesn't have bump stops on the front, only on the rear which I thought was interesting. I know the US spec WRX has front bump stops too and they actually perform as part of the suspension operation as per the hawkeye models, but seems not on the new STI models now.
Interesting.
Have you taken the stanchion out to check?
The front shocks are inverted and the bump stop would be inside the shock's housing if you know what I mean.
I find it really strange that an OEM would fit shocks without bump stops since at severe suspension compressions the shock will be damaged.
I've not driven in US but I believe a typical US road is much smoother and flatter than a typical bombarded B road.
Also I found out that as standard my STI doesn't have bump stops on the front, only on the rear which I thought was interesting.
Originally Posted by fpan
Interesting.
Have you taken the stanchion out to check?
The front shocks are inverted and the bump stop would be inside the shock's housing if you know what I mean.
I find it really strange that an OEM would fit shocks without bump stops since at severe suspension compressions the shock will be damaged.
I've not driven in US but I believe a typical US road is much smoother and flatter than a typical bombarded B road.
As you say the WRX STI has inverted front struts and the bumpstop is inside the housing and are replaced when fitting Pro-R springs.(previous model)
The WRX version has normal struts so bumpstop visible as they are on both models rear shocks.
Last edited by Don Clark; 15 October 2018 at 03:33 PM.
So Saturday I finally had an opportunity to fit some of my suspension bits. H&R MY15 lowering springs fitted to the original shocks, with rear bump stops trimmed down 1 notch. They have dropped the car around 25mm at a guess but it still rides very well indeed and doesn't crash about. These H&R springs offer the greatest drop on standard suspension you can get for these cars, but they are not easy to get hold of and I had to import these from the US. I wanted to start with lowering springs on this car as with coilovers you always get more road noise transferred through the solid top mounts. I wanted to keep this as a nice comfortable sports car for now. May still go coilovers in the future though.
Also fitted the Whiteline front camber bolts while I was at it, but ran out of time to fit the Whiteline rear camber kit and Whiteline rear subframe locking kit on Saturday. So these will get fitted this week before the tracking and camber gets done.
Few pics.
hi
that looks great buddy, a credit to you. how wide are your wheels/tyres? it still looks like they would swallow up another inch on the width quite comfortably which will give it more of a stance'd type look.
i really am digging these my15 shape sti's but im that far into my hawk financially that it wont be anytime soon that i will get one of these.
whats next for her buddy? underseal/paint protection/more power????
It was my understanding that when you lower a car, you need to increase the length of the bump stop, not shorten it. The bump stop is there to stop coil bind and is an active part of the suspension. Reasonably easy to fix though.
Interesting.
Have you taken the stanchion out to check?
The front shocks are inverted and the bump stop would be inside the shock's housing if you know what I mean.
I find it really strange that an OEM would fit shocks without bump stops since at severe suspension compressions the shock will be damaged.
I've not driven in US but I believe a typical US road is much smoother and flatter than a typical bombarded B road.
It surprised me too. No front bump stops on the new shape STI models.
that looks great buddy, a credit to you. how wide are your wheels/tyres? it still looks like they would swallow up another inch on the width quite comfortably which will give it more of a stance'd type look.
i really am digging these my15 shape sti's but im that far into my hawk financially that it wont be anytime soon that i will get one of these.
whats next for her buddy? underseal/paint protection/more power????
Thanks mate, the wheels are 9.5" wide. Personally I wouldn't go any wider than this or you start to need crazy camber etc that really does effect your handling.
Car is already undersealed. Next up is more power once all the rest of the suspension bits are fitted.
I've got a Perrin FMIC kit for it already plus a few other bits.
It was my understanding that when you lower a car, you need to increase the length of the bump stop, not shorten it. The bump stop is there to stop coil bind and is an active part of the suspension. Reasonably easy to fix though.
No not true, on modern springs you won't get coil bind. The bump stops are there to prevent the damper itself from hitting full compression at the very bottom of the stroke and damaging the shock.
09 October 2018, 05:56 PM
