5K:p

I think that's the point I'm making - you can get a Type RA and still have a lot of change left over. My plans are 3in TBE, Ecutek tune and air panel filter. Stage 2 would be PE1825F turbo and other minor mods. Type RA + Stage 2 is still cheaper than S204.

To illustrate the difference between the two in my eyes, I would modify a Type RA, I don't think I would modify an S204.

Now on the suspension, after some research here are the suspension extras for each:

S204 (see http://www.subaru-sti.co.jp/spec_c_R...2/index.html):

• STI 4-way adjustable struts and springs (the S204 web site mentions nothing of them being 4-way adjustable, however the description for the struts is identical to the 4-way struts - 15mm lower ride height and 50% more rigidity)
• STI Rear Lateral Link Set
• STI Rear Stabilizer
• STI Rear Trailing Link Set
• STI Yamaha Dampening arm (front and rear)

Spec C Type RA:

• STI 4-way adjustable struts and springs (see http://www.subaru-sti.co.jp/spec_c_R.../01/index.html if you want proof)
• STI Rear Lateral Link Set (see http://www.subaru-sti.co.jp/spec_c_R.../02/index.html)
• STI Rear Stabilizer (see http://www.subaru-sti.co.jp/spec_c_R.../02/index.html)
• STI Rear Trailing Link Set (see http://www.subaru-sti.co.jp/spec_c_R.../02/index.html)

So the only difference is the S204 has the STI/Yamaha performance dampening arms. The STI Spec C Type RA has a rear strut in place of the rear dampener. Based upon this, the S204 has one more suspension enhancement so yes S204 in theory has better suspension, barely, but that is assuming if you remove all the suspension bits the cars are equal...The question I pose is that are there other suspension bits exclusive to the base STI Spec C that are better than the base STI from which the S204 is derived from?

Just had a look at the suspension extras on the S203, they are the same as on the Spec C Type RA. So the only addition to the S204 over and above the S203 (and Spec C Type RA) is the front and rear dampening bars...

Now according to best motoring volume 16, there is no difference between the previous shape 2005 STI and the S203 on the Touge track....but it is well known the STI Spec C (and likely even more so the Type RA) are superior on the track than the stock STI.

So can those front and rear dampening bars on the S204 bridge the gap?

What is a dampening bar?

Must be important if you lot are judging a car buying decision by whether it has one or not. But I've never heard of such a thing.

When I first read it had a dampening bar by Yamaha I assumed it was a traslation thing and it meant Yamaha shock absorbers aka dampers.

Check out http://www.subaru-sti.co.jp/s204/tec...te/damper.html - in Japanese but has some graphics that kinda make sense...I guess it's kinda like struts with dampening capabilites for horizontal movement...

Nathan YFM :)

The S204 & Spec C Type RA are really nice factory special's both a significantly more the there base models so you just need to decide if the extras/exclusivity are worth it.

We've test both the MY05 & MY06 Subaru 4-way adjustable dampers on both the road and chassis dyno so if you have any questions please feel free to call anytime.

Regards

Iain

So it's damped top and bottom strut braces? Thanks for the link.

Seems pretty pointless to me then. Surely the shell itself will allow damped movement between the two strut tops? I thought the whole point of strut braces was to minimise any movement at all to allow the suspension geometry to work at it's optimum. Hence the additional work that goes into the rally cars roll cages. Don't see Prodrive designing in dampers between the suspension mounting points do you?

If anyones allowing the presence or not of one of them affect a decision on buying a £30k car then they've been suckered by marketing hype!

Can you get hold of any new type ra's?

Or have they all been sold?:cry:

Even if they have all been sold a spec C with the type 20 pack will be more than a match for the Ra :)

They are all sold out in Japan...

Here's a dyno of an S203 with the following mods:

VF42
Stock actuator
Stock turbo inlet hose
ZeroSports air intake hose
STi Intercooler
Stock Header - equal length
Custom 3" down-pipe
Ganador Racing Titan Titanium 3" cat-back exhaust system
Uprated injectors
Stock fuel pump

http://edge-tuning.com/phpBB2/files/s203_758.gif

And here's a dyno of v8 JDM STI with the PE1825 turbo and following mods:

PE1825
Stock actuator (modified)
Samco turbo inlet hose
AEM cold air intake
STi Intercooler
Stock Header - equal length
Custom 3" down-pipe
Fujitsubo 3" cat-back exhaust
Uprated injectors
Uprated fuel pump

http://edge-tuning.com/phpBB2/files/...dm_sti_506.gif

Looks like the S203 isnt producing its full power yet, do you know anything about the car that ran? if it were new it would be under power like this one is, even my Spec C pushes out more power than that S203, though look at the torque differences between both cars, the S203, in its standard form is producing much more lower down the rev range than the Bugeye (v8 car).

Tony:D

The graphs are Wheel HP and Torque - so the S203 is pushing 302WHP (say 400HP at the fly) vs 347WHP (say 450+ HP at the fly) for the PE1825 on the v8 STI. I know nothing about that S203, it does have a few mods so I'd guess it would at least 5000kms on the clock.

How much power is your Spec C putting down?

The PE1825 has a bigger compressor than the VF42 hence it is reasonable that it will have less low-end torque, although 260NM ATW @ 3000RPM is still reasonable.

Take a look at the following dyno graph, where I have scaled and superimposed the power graphs from the following cars:

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/%7Ejusti...Comparison.jpg

JDM STi Ver8 MY04 (Green):

• VF37
• Stock actuator
• Samco Hose
• Stock air intake
• STi Intercooler
• Stock Header - equal length
• Custom uppipe
• ZeroSports 3" downpipe with highflow cat
• Custom 3" mid-pipe
• Apexi N1 exhaust
• Lighten pulley
• Uprated injectors
• Uprated fuel pump

S203 (blue):

• VF42
• Stock actuator
• Stock turbo inlet hose
• ZeroSports air intake hose
• STi Intercooler
• Stock Header - equal length
• Custom 3" down-pipe
• Ganador Racing Titan Titanium 3" cat-back exhaust system
• Uprated injectors
• Stock fuel pump

V8 JDM STI with the PE1825 turbo (red):

• PE1825
• Stock actuator (modified)
• Samco turbo inlet hose
• AEM cold air intake
• STi Intercooler
• Stock Header - equal length
• Custom 3" down-pipe
• Fujitsubo 3" cat-back exhaust
• Uprated injectors
• Uprated fuel pump

If you compare with the PE1825, the PE1825 is still making better low-end torque and way more up top. This illustrates that the VF42 turbine modifications are quite significant, especially for low to mid range torque when compared with the VF37. I'd say the VF42 has a smaller turbine housing but maybe a slightly bigger compressor housing than the VF37 to keep top-end power similar.

Also the v8 JDM STI is the blob eye with twin scroll turbo as stock, not the bug eye (bug eye = v7 JDM STI, not sure why the version numbers got out of sync with UK).