05 Sti Ride Quality & Handling with Prodrive Springs?
 

Afternoon.

Anyone out there got any experience of the new 05 STi fitted with the Prodrive spring kit.

I know the 05 is a lovely handling car out of the box (compared with 03 & 04 models), with all the new suspension and chassis tweaks. I have my STi on order with the spring kit and need advice on if many of you guys think it's a worthwhile investment on the 05.


Have standard springs on my 03 car at the mo, and would like the lower stance an hopefully :) better handling on my new motor.

Opinions and experience would be gratefully received.

Cheers all,

Dan

I would suggest driving the new sti around for a while, get the alignment checked then see how you go.
After this get the prodrive springs fitted if you wish. You never know you may prefer the std springs.
Getting stuff like this fitted on a new car you've never lived with for a while seems folly to me. But hey that's just my way of doing things.

Dipster

Good point. I just think after seeing the car that it really does need lowering slightly to give it a much better looking stance.

I also hated the dreaded motorway "bounce" on my 03 and hope the springs help with this on the newer car.

I'm sure the new spings won't make handling or ride quality worse, but I am interested in anyone elses experiences.

Cheers

I have an 05 STI and was going to order them but the dealer advised against it. Having had the car for a few months now I would definately not change ANYTHING it handles brilliantly yet is compliant too...Try it as standard first!

Enjoy! You will believe me!

Dan

Unfortunately you won't get an answer as the springs aren't available yet!!

The 05MY STi has different struts, springs and arb's compared to an 04MY STi so we have developed a completely new spring kit specifically for it as the earlier one doesn't achieve what we wanted. The new kit will be available in about a month so you won't have any option other than to take it std at the moment.

Regards

Mike

Having the same dilemma with mine - MY05 WRX - looks like it's up on stilts at the moment even with 18" Rims. Hoping it's going to settle down a bit but I'm considering getting the prodrive springs on the 10,000 service but I'm also worried about compromising the ride over handling..

Bartop

As the 05MY WRX also has completely new suspension, we have re-evaluated the kit. The optimum set-up we found was to use our 04MY springs and the bumpstops we fit to all the other inverted monotube (STi type) dampers. Ride is not compromised but the handling is improved sa anyone with an 03/04MY car will hopefully confirm

prepares to be shot down in flames.....

Mike

Mike, I think the P1 suspension (which is retrofitted to my UK car along with a few other changes) is fantastically well judged for UK roads.

How would you say the 04 and 05 cars both WRX and STi with and without Prodrive mods are in terms of ride/handling balance? Are you willing to summarise for us what you see as the strengths of each of the setups on the new age cars? I for one would find this very useful indeed. What is your personal favourite setup for road use if you are willing to say?

Thanks for that Mike,

been in contact with my dealer and he is not aware the spring kit was not available as yet and is looking into it.

Am also thinking of ordering the P-FF7 18" wheels but again I have heard there has been changes to the 05 STi, meaning the wheels will not yet fit.

Can you clarify if there has been any changes that may affect this fitment and if so what are they are.

Thanks again,

Dan

There have been a couple of threads on this - the PCD has changed for the MY05 STi meaning the previous wheels didn't fit - I believe the new wheels are now becoming available.

Ah - Found a link
http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/showthread.php?t=387609


Mike - thanks for the info :) Can you confirm what difference there is in the ride height with the springs for the WRX MY05 ?

Cheers

Now there's a shock!

Dan the wheels are available! I have them on mine.

What colour have you opted for??

are you sitting down mate!!!!


WHITE :)

Wanted a white on my current STi but if I ordered it in Jan 03 I would have had to wait apparently till Oct. So went WR Blue.

Ordered last week for delivery Mar 1st due to one being available on a shipment just in from Japan. Well Chuffed!

Did consider the new Crystal Grey and Silver for a bit though!

what colour did you go for?


got any pics to keep me going till Mar 1st? :)


Cheers!

Dealer was nice enough to call me back, and confirmed springs aren't yet available and no confirmed date.

Oh well saved me a few hundred quid for now! :) :) :)

John

Several leading questions in there.... :)

Difficult one to answer really as quantifying how good suspension systems are is about as easy as commenting about how loud an exhaust is. We may be able to put a number against something but what does that mean? What some may feel is brilliant, others may feel is rubbish. It's all about striking a balance (if you'll excuse the pun!)

The set-up of the P1 and later STi's is decided really by the fact that we chose to retain the std dampers and tuned the spring to give us the ride and handling we felt was best suited to how most people would use the car. Generally we try to tune the spec so that there are only positives such as more weight in the steering on a WRX or a better ride on an STi and will only accept small compromises if the benefits they give are much larger. An example of this may be sacrificing a tiny amount of ride comfort on early WRX kits to get much better body control.


Dan

The PCD of the 05MY STi wheels has changed so we have re-engineered the P-FF7 wheel to suit and the std dampers have changed slightly to allow for a larger tyre on some STi models. This has meant that we can now use a slightly larger 18" tyre (235/40ZR18 95Y Michelin Pilot Sport 2) as it no longer catches on the front arch liner. The assemblies are in stock at Subaru in both gold and bright flitter. Note that the load rating of the tyre is higher than the std rating in this size as this was one of the ways we found to get the tyre to work as we wanted.


Bartop

The WRX is lowered by 15-20mm, any lower and the ride deteriorates significantly and understeer starts to become an issue as the car will be sat on the bumpstops.

Mike

Thanks Mike :)

Thanks also Mike.

Mike, I notice that the tyre width has increased to 235, but that the aspect (I think it's called?) has remained at 40%. Will this have any effect on the speedo reading as the rolling radius has changed, albeit a small amount?

Kevin

Thank Mike - I suspect this means more of my hard earned will be winging it's way to prodrive in the not too distant future :)

Kevin

The rolling radius has changed very slightly but this is so small that it it's almost unmeasureable and in any case it would only make the speedo more accurate by reducing it's over-read. I haven't got the exact numbers but it is within 1% of the std tyre's rolling radius.

Mike

Best modification you can do for the money IMHO (MY04 WRX). Car feels more planted and with alignment to spec more consistent in its responses. Hardly any deterioration in ride quality as well. Well pleased with it :)

Right - I'm deffo getting it done :)

Ian - would I be right in saying the WRX '05 kit is available now then ?

Also is it worth getting the prodrive geometry settings done at the same time as getting the springs or not ? Interested in peoples views and experiences please :)

I left mine a few weeks to settle down before I had the alignment done. Made quite a difference in itself. Seems to be a number of different views as to what alignment spec to use. I went for as close as possible to the Prodrive specs and am pleased with the results.

Guys,

so whats the verdict on the Prodrive Suspension Kit for an 05 plate STI?

What does the kit contain? I am getting mixed info, can anyone help?

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/j...ssurection.jpg

Which kit are you referring to?
Prodrive springs are far better than the STI springs, less harsh better ride.
Hawkeye STIs are particularly bouncy.

Not much, if any, difference.

I personally find the standard springs better on my MY05 sti.

(I did have Prodrive springs on it for a while)