Lowering springs, which ones?
 

Hi all,

I'm looking into some lowering springs for my 05 WRX and I've seen so many different ones out there, Tein, Eibach, APEX, Whiteline just to name a few. They all seem to "drop the suspencion" by roughly the same amount, around 25-30mm but I guess there must be other differences between these springs as well, like weight and/or stiffness perhaps?

Could anyone out there perhaps share some experience please? I'm just a "regular" street driver, so I'm not looking for any super precise handling improvements, just something to lower the car a bit and perhaps "firm it up" slightly...

Also, some springs come with "rubber end bushes" or something like that and some have "plastic wrapping/coating" on a section of the spring. Could anyone please tell me what all that is for and if it's important/needed as not all the springs have this...

Many thanks in advance for any help/suggestions!

I'm no expert Nowa but I have a 05 WRX 'for the road' and I changed my springs back in April. I went for the Prodrive ones (25mm drop, 25% stiffer front and rear), and 18" wheels at the same time.

It's right for me - rough roads, speed bumps, four passengers, loading up the boot with heavy kit etc doesn't cause me any problems at all, so I'm happy. They should be standard, it transforms the handling - just wish I'd done it sooner!

I've got a front lip and I never scrape speed bumps or driveways either. I'd love it to be lower for the look but then I'd start running into the same problems everyone else has. Ask JonMC on here though, he's got a 50mm drop on 18s without issues.

Hope that helps :thumb:

PS Oh yeah Prodrive springs are Eibach

I have just bought the teins to go on my 04wrx.

Hopefully fitting next week so can't comment as of yet.

If you decide on these then the cheapest place I found them was camskill.

Many thanks both! The Tein and Eibach are high up on my list, so any feedback on performance on the Tein would be greatly appreciated! Did any of you have there rubber bushes on the springs and/or the plastic wrapping on them?

Thanks again

i went for spax and the quality is good although a little harsh but i can live with that.i would say tho make sure you re-fit springs and support rubbers as they came out or make a note of all possible factory marks on the struts because if you fit the springs slightly out of position they will knock or 'boing' when in use.not ideal!!the strut tops could sit pissed too!

oh and allow for some settling on the new springs although i believe the manufacturer takes this into account after stating lowered levels.:)

I can only comment on Eibach ones. Nice drop, no crashing, Don't forget to reset geometry once fitted. Have you upgraded your rear ARB and droplinks? Bob

tein alll the waaaay

Many thanks for this, seems like peolpe are happy with the Eibach springs.
Yes, I'm thinking of doing a wheel allignment after the springs are fitted.
No, I haven't changed anything else on the car.

Did the Eibach springs come with any "rubber stop/end bushes" or whatever they are called? I think some Tein springs come with this, any idea what this could be?

Thanks again

Thanx for this, I haven't seen the "spax" springs anywhere, but thanks for the suggestion regarding fitting. So does the original WRX springs have any rubber "stops" or any "rubber support" that you take off and put on the new springs? Thanks again!

Original WRX springs do not have any rubber support at the bottom. My Eibachs do. Uprating the rear ARB and bushes makes a bigger improvement to the handling than the springs. I'd seriously consider the rear ARB / bushes first as you won't need to have the geometry set. The Eibachs and geometry finish things off nicely . Doing things that way will save you the price of a geometry setup. Bob

eibach lowering springs are good got them fitted on my hatch

eibach make springs for prodrive

as said by others get wheel alingment done what ever u get

Thanks for this Bob! So you recommend upgrading the rear ARB / bushes first before doing anything? How much does something like that cost, and do you know any place that you could recommend (preferably somewhere around Surrey/Hampshire) for the work?

I'm probably still going to drop the suspension anyway as I'm after the "lower look" as well, but if you say that the rear ARB / bushes makes such a huge handling improvement then perhaps it's worth doing that as well...

About the Eibach springs having "rubber support at the bottom" Do all Eiback springs come with this "rubber support at the bottom" or was that something you had to buy extra? The Tein spring kit seem to come with this but I haven't seen it being mentioned with the Eibach springs...

Did your Eibach springs come with any "rubber support at the bottom" ?

I've noticed that some people who have the Eibach springs do have this but as far as I can see, there is nothing mentioned about this in the kit.
The Tein kit however does come with some "rubber support" but not Eibach...

Also, where did you get the work done? Any recomendations for the Surrey/Hampshire area?

Thansk in advance

I paid around £270 for the rear ARB and solid droplinks. Changing these will make a bigger difference to the handling than the springs. I did the springs a few months later once I'd appreciated the difference the AR made. If you do the springs first, you'll waste money doing your geometry twice. You don't need to alter the geo when uprating the ARB. I had mine done way up North.

On my 04 wrx wanting to get tein springs but now read this.. Thinking get ARB and links first. What arb/droplinks good to get performance wise and cost. Also do I get front arb or just rear?

How are these from America on eBay.

http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/y...m/9f27ef8d.jpg

£156 front and rear

http://i776.photobucket.com/albums/y...m/44cff67d.jpg

£138 rear

if your looking for Whiteline arb contact cusco kid on here.