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Custom made lowering springs for 2006 STi?

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Old May 16, 2022 | 04:03 AM
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Default Custom made lowering springs for 2006 STi?

Is there any way I can get specific springs made? I don't want to go coilovers as my dad is strongly advising against anything sub £1500 in that department, and also I'd rather keeps some money aside as a contingency for maintenence work should it need it. Attached below is my car and how it sits currently, There is EXACTLY half an inch height difference from arch peak to the top of the tyre between the front and back arches, so I'd need the front springs having around half an inch more drop than the rears.



Tein S tech as suggested in my other post where I asked for lowered hawkeyes, looked good but a near 40mm drop with my wheels being where they are, kinda scares me a little. I also don't want to drop too low as I live in a hilly area with sharp angle changes at the bottom of my street and such AND I don't really wanna ruin the handling of the car too much. All the other springs just don't give me the right look, they either have too much forward rake or look like a dog sitting down in the rear, I haven't found any springs that drop by only 25mm up front and like 15mm in the rear, especially on an STi, which is lower anyway and with most springs being advertised as for the WRX, they simply won't have the same effect.

JDM STi pinks are the Closest to what I'm after but again, it's like finding a needle in a haystack with how rare they are. If I could have custom springs made with similar spring rates, I would. Is this even possible? If not, if any of you know some springs that aren't too much stiffer than the standard STi springs, that drop 25mm front and 15mm rear (or close to that) then please let me know
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Old May 16, 2022 | 07:17 AM
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Speak to 2POT on here he might be able to sort out what you want
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Old May 16, 2022 | 08:41 AM
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As per above ^^^^

For reference:
Standard geometry settings for MY07 Imprezas


Wheel arch height is measured from the centre of the wheel to the underside of the arch lip.



Have you looked at this thread?

https://www.scoobynet.com/suspension...i-springs.html
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Old May 16, 2022 | 08:42 AM
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Is this for cosmetic reasons or because you believe it will help with handling?
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Old May 16, 2022 | 09:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Luke Kay
Is there any way I can get specific springs made? I don't want to go coilovers as my dad is strongly advising against anything sub £1500 in that department, and also I'd rather keeps some money aside as a contingency for maintenence work should it need it. Attached below is my car and how it sits currently, There is EXACTLY half an inch height difference from arch peak to the top of the tyre between the front and back arches, so I'd need the front springs having around half an inch more drop than the rears.



Tein S tech as suggested in my other post where I asked for lowered hawkeyes, looked good but a near 40mm drop with my wheels being where they are, kinda scares me a little. I also don't want to drop too low as I live in a hilly area with sharp angle changes at the bottom of my street and such AND I don't really wanna ruin the handling of the car too much. All the other springs just don't give me the right look, they either have too much forward rake or look like a dog sitting down in the rear, I haven't found any springs that drop by only 25mm up front and like 15mm in the rear, especially on an STi, which is lower anyway and with most springs being advertised as for the WRX, they simply won't have the same effect.

JDM STi pinks are the Closest to what I'm after but again, it's like finding a needle in a haystack with how rare they are. If I could have custom springs made with similar spring rates, I would. Is this even possible? If not, if any of you know some springs that aren't too much stiffer than the standard STi springs, that drop 25mm front and 15mm rear (or close to that) then please let me know
Prodrive RB320 springs
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Old May 16, 2022 | 11:28 AM
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Machine-made/cold wound springs ride heights are +/- 3mm. So you could be 6mm out, side to side, before you take into account weight distribution.
Hand-wound, one-off, springs will be less accurate.

You're failing to factor in that your current springs will have sagged, the rubber in the top mounts will have compressed, let alone the condition of the struts. Also, a full to empty fuel tank would make a further 9mm rear ride height difference, on your STI rear springs.

So, is your desired 25mm lower front, 15mm lower rear compared to ride heights when new? Which would leave you with 360ishmm front, 350ishmm rear (with a full tank).

Or, is it your current ride heights, less 25mm front, less 15mm rear? In which case, are we ever going to find out what your current heights are? Are you measuring wheel centre to metal arch, at the rear, not to the plastic arch lip protector (if fitted?). Remember to note how much fuel you have in the tank when the measurements are taken. Then we can work out if you will be riding around on your bump stops - like the STI pinks.

Or, get some coilovers and make the ride heights anything you want and forget about the ride and handling. However, if you corner weighted the car, to allow for weight distribution, then each of the wheel centre to arch measurements would be different.

Last edited by 2pot; May 16, 2022 at 04:56 PM.
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Old May 16, 2022 | 11:13 PM
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Originally Posted by hedgecutter
Is this for cosmetic reasons or because you believe it will help with handling?
It's mainly cosmetic, I know most people on here tend to roll eyes at stuff like this but yeah. I'd like to keep it like it is handling wise, or as close to how it handles now, which is why I don't want to drop it or differ the spring rates too much from standard STi spec. Just minor changes to dial in my fitment without messing up too much stuff
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Old May 16, 2022 | 11:33 PM
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Originally Posted by 2pot
Or, is it your current ride heights, less 25mm front, less 15mm rear? In which case, are we ever going to find out what your current heights are? Are you measuring wheel centre to metal arch, at the rear, not to the plastic arch lip protector (if fitted?). Remember to note how much fuel you have in the tank when the measurements are taken. Then we can work out if you will be riding around on your bump stops - like the STI pinks.
A drop from how they are currently. The car has done 94k miles, and when my dad bought the car it had I think around 70k? It had BC racing coilovers on it when he bought it and it tried to kill him countless times, so he did swap over to STi struts and springs but I have no Idea how worn they were. I know they probably were second hand from eBay but I have no clue how many thousand miles they will have had on. Since then its done 24k anyway so they are definitely sagging a little, but again I have no idea what a 2006 STi sat like from new. I will measure tomorrow from wheel centre to arch, I've only ever measured from the wheel rim to the arch. Like you said, I might just have to save up for a bit and go something like Bilstein coilovers to avoid all the messing about with bump stops and such
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Old May 16, 2022 | 11:35 PM
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Originally Posted by Gambit
Prodrive RB320 springs
Don't they need RB320 dampers too? I thought they didn't fit the standard STi struts
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Old May 17, 2022 | 09:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Luke Kay
Don't they need RB320 dampers too? I thought they didn't fit the standard STi struts
they fit std shocks also.

i ran RB320 shocks and H&R springs on my old Spec D but that would will too low for your wheel setup
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