Geometry Alignment - My Feedback
 

Had the 04 STi for 10 months now - and finally decided to get the geometry re-aligned.

Having read all the stuff on SN I decided to go to North Eastern Tyres (York branch) armed with the Prodrive settings. The local Subaru dealers do not have the alignment rigs so its no big deal going direct.

I have to say I was somewhat sceptical that such a simple job could have such an impact on handling - but I could not be more wrong. The car is so much more responsive, hugs corners much more tightly, you do not get the feeling that the front is washing wide all the time. Its response to steering inputs is so much quicker, overtakes almost take your breath away with the speed of car reaction.

To quantify this - on a regular run home tonight one blind corner that I have always taken at no more than 35mph (to keep on my side of the white line) can now be taken 5mph to 10mph quicker - with total stability. It feels pretty incredible I have to say.

So if you have any doubts like me - then I suggest you give it a try.

Total cost was £50 plus VAT.

Any downsides - yes - the car feels more fidgety, i.e. it reacts to bumps and lumps inthe road which means you need to be constantly adjusting. It tracks true, just when you get a bump or camber it reacts far more than before (hence the quick steering feel). For me this is fine, most of my driving is on N Yorks finest B roads - if you do a lot of motorway cruising however, it might be a chore. Secondly tyre wear is likly to be worse, but again the car already gets its fair share of aggro on the twisties - so again for me no bid deal.

If any of you guys are interested I can let you know what settings where changed.

Hope this helps

Do the prodrive settings still give you improved handling if you have increased the wheels size and lowered the car, or do you need to adjust them accordingly

Red Man - Useful feedback. I have an MY02 STi and getting laser alignment/camber done shortly. Hoping to feel the improvement you and others have enjoyed. ;)

I have kept with standard 17" wheels and springs - because a lot of my driving is on bumpy roads, including forest tracks and other such "whites" found whilst road rallying. I also take the car on the track occasionally and again wanted to stick with 17" track day wheels.

Clearly if you change the springs and/or wheel size then the alignment ought to be re-checked.

The main change made from stock settings was to adjust the front wheels to give negative camber of just over 1 degree (in my case 1 degree 15 minutes).

Redman,
I've done the same with my 03sti. Went to Elite and got the prodrive settings applied using std wheels, tyres and springs so nothing else changed at all.
The first thing I noticed was how much more responsive the steering felt around center, then how much faster I could take corners without the front washing out.
I've just fitted some RE070 tyres and the turn-in and cornering speed has improved even more. I've decided to keep the std springs like yourself.

Dipster

Oh and they got 1deg 15mins as well on the front, using the std springs.

Dipster

I went to AWD in Perth and got Whiteline, antilift kit and steering bushes, then we took the car along to Target to get the geomatry done to prodrive settings, bearing in mind the car had only done 2700 miles, the first reading found that the rear nearside was 25 minutes out the front offside 19 out . Not happy this is a lot.
Long story short , the car now handles like a GO-Kart, turn the wheel and the car turns instantly.
Recomend everybody should get it done.

I have now fitted Whiteline 22mm adj swaybars front and rear and then the weather put snow all over the roads and now I'm away at work for 5 weeks, so I cant say how the car handles.

Add an uprated rear ARB and droplinks if you want improved steering response!!! This and the alignment is a phnominal change over standard handling!!!

can someone send me the prodrive settings to go on a sti8 ive got the pff-7 18" and im going to put the prodrive springs on

Getting mine done tomorrow. Can anybody let me know the MY99 prodrive settings?

Thanks

Nev

from the instructions in the box
<snip>
Fitting Procedure for the front bump stop of the WR Sport Spring Package STi 03
1. Ensure the damper shaft, and seal, including the gold retaining ring, are wiped clean of dirt.

2. Remove the nut on the bottom of the strut tube.

3. Withdraw the damper insert, being careful as the bump stop is pulled past the seal.

4. Put some of the grease carried on the bump stop, around the retaining washer at the end of the rod. Pull and twist the bump stop off over the retaining washer. Use a cloth or tissue to provide a grip on the bump stop.

5. Push the new bump stop onto the shaft over the retaining washer tapered end first. This is best achieved in two phases

a. Place the bump stop, tapered side up on a bench and push the damper rod into it as far as possible.

b. Push and rotate the bump stop by hand until it is fully over the retaining washer.

6. Wipe the body of the insert to remove any grease and contamination.

7. Slide the insert back into the strut body taking care not to roll the edge of the seal.

8. Rotate the insert when it reaches the bottom of the strut body until the flats on the threaded end drop through and locate in the hole

9. Refit the nut. Grip the foot bracket of the strut in a vice with soft jaws Fitted and tighten the nut to 40Nm.

10. Fit the road spring and re-assemble as per the workshop manual.

11. The Tyre pressures and the suspension geometry MUST be set correctly to the figures below to achieve the full benefit of the spring package. It is also important to settle the suspension so the geometry is set at the correct ride height.

a. Set the tyre pressures to:
i. Front 2.3 bar (33psi)
ii. Rear 2.1 bar (31psi)

b. Settle the suspension by driving a few miles on the road

c. Set the geometry to:
i. Front Camber -1°15’ (-1.25°)
ii. Front Toe Total 0°00’ (0.00°)
iii.Rear Toe 0°06’ (0.1°) per wheel toe in [0°12’ (0.2°) total toe in]

12. Check the headlight alignment and reset if necessary as per workshop manual.

13. Attach supplied label in the front cover of the service book for future reference

<snip>

Dipster

Are these settings the same for all shapes classic,bug,blob no matter what size wheels, lowered etc....

(The Tyre pressures and the suspension geometry MUST be set correctly to the figures below to achieve the full benefit of the spring package. It is also important to settle the suspension so the geometry is set at the correct ride height.

a. Set the tyre pressures to:
i. Front 2.3 bar (33psi)
ii. Rear 2.1 bar (31psi)

b. Settle the suspension by driving a few miles on the road

c. Set the geometry to:
i. Front Camber -1°15’ (-1.25°)
ii. Front Toe Total 0°00’ (0.00°)
iii.Rear Toe 0°06’ (0.1°) per wheel toe in [0°12’ (0.2°) total toe in])

I think this just suits new age my01 on, but the wheel size won't make any differance.

Dipster

You can use other settings for toe/camber, these are just the ones supplied in the kit.

Dipster

did target tyres in perth change your castor?? or was it just camber and toe?

Isnt caster fixed front and back, and camber is fixed on the rear.

Dipster

The above settings are for those have fitted Prodrive springs, in my car even with Prodrive springs I used rear 1mm toe-out instead of toe-in, but I like oversteer!
Usually toe-out is an unstable situation where toe-in very stable but if you set front and rear about 1 mm toe out you'll see huge difference in handling IF you like tail happy car with much better steering response - accuracy and by far less understeer!
Alignment settings are always personal choice using general rules applied to our cars that are AWD!

Turbo dad,
I cant remember if they did or not and I'm away offshore now so I cant check the before and after print outs they gave me, sorry.

Martin