mark_z

I've got an unmodified MY01 sports wagon and it might not be the most powerful thing on the road, but it is fantastic on bumpy A and B roads. The suspension and ride is the perfect compromise for real world country driving in the UK.
I recently had a long (3 hours) test drive in an STI8 with Prodrive springs and (ignoring the many good things!) the ability to control the car on bumpy A and B roads was downright bad. There is definite torque steer and the suspension doesn't cope with bumps at speed in the same way as my MY01 does. The WRX soaks up the bumps and allows precise steering (essential when overtaking on narrow B roads) whereas the STI8 skitters about (a combination of torque steer and hard ride I'd guess).
Admittedly, I only drove the STI8 for 3 hours, but it was all on A/B roads in the Peaks and Yorks moors, so typical UK bumpy stuff!

Maybe there isn't a controversy at all, of course. Maybe Subaru designed the STI as a fast track car and the WRX as a fast go anywhere car. Maybe people are buying the STI thinking its basically a faster WRX, when in fact the STI is a different type of car entirely?

tonym

When I say STI is a track car, I mean its more oriented towards the track/flat roads etc.

rav4640

i have std springs on my 03 sti and i dont have a prob with any roads, it is a bit of a hard ride when going slow but apart from that i find it handles pretty well on the a&b roads, think a lot of folks who change for the prodrive springs may be confused with the differance between hard ride and bounce, i aint got no bounce what so ever, hard yes bounce no

tiggers

rav4640,

I have an ITR and a 03 STI at my disposal. The ITR is a hard, but controlled ride, the STI is bouncy and does not give you any confidence.

I know the difference between bouncy and hard and so do countless others on here who have the same problem. Maybe your car does not exhibit the problem in which case you're very lucky, but that does not mean it does not exist for the other owners.

Mark's observations are spot on and if I had my time over I would probably by a WRX PPP rather than an STI. The issue was somewhat clouded on my test drive as the car I was driving had the Prodrive springs, a fact that was not imparted to me until I mentioned the ride/handling of my car.

tiggers.

Ex_Pug

How is it that this bouncing is apparently cured by the fitment of new springs, when you'd normally expect it to be a damping issue?

davedipster

I think the std sti springs have a high rate and the dampers have trouble under some conditions controlling the strong spring.
When going for the prodrive springs the rate is different and progressive, the std dampers can control this much better.
Just what I've read, I'm no suspension expert at all.

Dipster

mark_z

Ex_Pug,
the STI I tried had Prodrive springs and didn't exhibit any bounce. I guess people could misinterpret the hard ride for bounce, but it would be a pretty major misinterpretation!
I don't think the handling problems have anything to do with inefficient damping or bouncing. Its mainly to do with the Suretrac diff and so I guess its an inbuilt "feature" of the car. This feature probably improves the performance on smooth surfaces so would be considered a good thing unless you spend time driving hard on B roads.

davedipster

BTW the bounce has only occured to me on one part of the M25 of all places at about 70mph ish, felt like oscillation to me so I went abit faster and it went away.
99% of the time the handling of the sti is very good indeed, I've never liked the std tyres and will change asap-had them on my CTR and they were just as bad.

Does the WRX have different tyres?

Dipster

Steve777

iTrader: (8)

I driven and owned UK Turbo's and a WRX with PPP and now finally and Sti8

Mine has PPP and springs, front strutt brace and has had the geometry set-up. It is by far a superior car for handling than any other Impreza Turbo I have had.

As for standard springs on Sti8's, they are bloody terrible, the damping on bumpy road was appauling. I'm not sure who posted saying that there standard springs are ok ???????

Anyway as usual my opinion only

Steve

Big Goon

Absolute cobblers, I have owned both and the STi is in a different league to the WRX.

Out of the box the STi was an a very good handling car once the standard rubber had been replaced and the geometry sorted, the WRX was a wallowy under-steering pig even with the same mods.

Later my WRX had Leda B's fitted wich made a massive amount of difference, but I would still prefer my STi with Prodrive springs and geometry.

I really don't think that some people know how to make the most of the sure-trac diffs and back off well before they reach the car's limits.

GarethE

iTrader: (1)

I have driven over 23,000 miles in my STi8 - I had the Prodrive springs fitted about 10,000 miles ago and the difference is immense. Before the Prodrive springs, on some roads, including motorways I thought I was on a space hopper , post Prodrive the car is far more controlled.

I'm not talking about a hard ride, but suspension control....I drove over a 1000 miles last weekend on motorways, fast A roads, and "twisties" in Scotland, the suspension coped a hell of a lot better with the Prodrive springs than as standard. No one buys an Impreza for a "magic carpet ride", but it was fine over those conditions, and I'd be surprised if any other car could cope as well

IMHO of course

Gary C

Been posting somthing similar in another thread.

When I got my STi8 the handling was fantastic. It was stable, could be placed accuratley and braked in a straight line. The small amount of torque steer under power actually seemed to help feel. All in all, a very good handling car and equally as good and fun as my old EVO

Recently though after 4000 miles, its started to tramline badly and pull under braking. The dealer and myself have given the suspension a quick check and nothing seems to be loose or broken, so it seems to be either tyres or geometry.

Going to get a four wheel, three angle alignment done and will report back

This maybe the source of all the confusion, some STi8's handle fantastically, soom not so good (or even both at different times !), I imagine those cars with the prodrive srpings have benefitted from alignment corrections.

Ady 1

Hoooray, at last I have found some people like me who own bog standard STi8's and not Pro... er sorry I think the term is ppp'd. Anyway and in particular to RAV, I too am totally pleased with my car in standard trim and at the moment unless I decide to take on budding Shumachers etc etc (which is very unlikely)then it will remain that way. I have just got rid of a Type R STi Import and that had so hard suspension that it used to skip round corneres when pushed very hard (which was most days until the engine decided to detonate itself again). Anyway very refreshing to hear form the people who are satisfied with their STi8's in standard trim (even though it may be a minority). Happy new year to all.

Standard Ady

GarethE

iTrader: (1)

Happy New Year Ady...but forgot to mention my STi 8 was ppp'd, sorry

Ady 1

No probs Gareth doesn't stop me wishing you a happy new year too!

Ady

davedipster

Ady,
My STI8 is std as well, it's more than fast enough for my skill level and roads around here

Dipster

Ady 1

Dave, phew!! thank heaven there are a few normal people out there, I do agree with you about the tyres though, perhaps this is the real reason people are experiencing so called bad handling? Enjoy the motor M8 and a Happy new year to you.

Ady

PS Sorry if you like to be called Dipster?
[Edited by Ady 1 - 12/28/2003 12:54:03 PM]

[Edited by Ady 1 - 12/28/2003 12:55:59 PM]

jasey

Std STi8 here too - no problems either - and there are some very twisty roads in and around Banchory

The Bounce only seems to affect straight lines - corners are fine !