Standard Suspension Question
11 November 2018, 10:17 PM
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Standard Suspension Question
Hello all,
I brought my first Subaru today, it is an 05 STI with Prodrive, Widetrack and DCCD.
It currently has coilovers which are knocking at the front and leaking at the rear so need replacing.
Question1
What would my original suspension have been? Would it have been different as it’s a PPP/ Widetrack?
Question2
Where is the best place to buy original equipment?
Question3
If I do go back down the coilover route will any coilovers fit or would I need a certain type due to the Widetrack?
My first impressions of the car are great!
Thank you in advance.
I brought my first Subaru today, it is an 05 STI with Prodrive, Widetrack and DCCD.
It currently has coilovers which are knocking at the front and leaking at the rear so need replacing.
Question1
What would my original suspension have been? Would it have been different as it’s a PPP/ Widetrack?
Question2
Where is the best place to buy original equipment?
Question3
If I do go back down the coilover route will any coilovers fit or would I need a certain type due to the Widetrack?
My first impressions of the car are great!
Thank you in advance.
12 November 2018, 01:47 AM
#2
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Most prefer struts and springs but a lot also have coilovers too.
I suppose main thing is your budget. U can get springs and replacement rears easily.unfortunately there are no replacement front available. Subaru direct is like £400 a corner without springs.
you could pick up a 2nd hand set of struts and replace the dampers with bilstein ones but the fronts require modification
if you have £2k+ to spend on high end coilovers like koni or is varient 3 then good if not it's a difficult decision
I suppose main thing is your budget. U can get springs and replacement rears easily.unfortunately there are no replacement front available. Subaru direct is like £400 a corner without springs.
you could pick up a 2nd hand set of struts and replace the dampers with bilstein ones but the fronts require modification
if you have £2k+ to spend on high end coilovers like koni or is varient 3 then good if not it's a difficult decision
13 November 2018, 12:10 PM
#3
Scooby Regular
OK. To answer you fully.
1. Your original car would have had KYB made inverted struts. Non adjustable with unimpressive damping and crappy long bump stops. It may have come with Prodrive springs, and replacement bump stops from the dealer.
Widetrack cars have different strut mounting spacing, as the larger hubs are not interchangeable. You have 8" wide wheels and 114.5mm PCD spacing on the bolt pattern. (Nissan spec??) The PPP pack is a re-programmed ECU to increase power with limited boost increases to retain warranty.
2. Well, a Subaru Dealer, obviously. However, with the age of the car, a set of original suspension from a breaker would be more sensible, with expectations to get the lowers cleaned off and possibly powdercoated and replacement dampers from a KYB dealer. Springs would be tired. lots of choice there.
3. Coilovers need to be dedicated to the widetrack. Often it's the same unit with the Widetrack bottom mounts. usually about the same in price.
With coilovers you get what you pay for. Cheap ones are well, cheap. Expensive ones can run with a far higher spring rate, yet feel smooth and supple.
The O.E. stuff will sit onto the bump stop with only 1" of compression, so is cornering with under damped outer and overdamped inner wheels, and just feels choppy and ****e. You have loads of anti-dive and anti-squat in the front geometry which gives nasty roadholding on bumpy braking areas and understeer on acceleration.
The main problem with coilovers is almost all don't let you sit at the correct ride height. this means you have all the problems of MacPherson struts in lowered roll centres and the resultant issues.
I have a Widetrack car and ran BC ER struts with 6/5, divergent damping (for softer ride) and ordered them +60mm in length. They came with helper springs that look trick but are really there because for some reason BC don't supply springs that are long enough. Without them, the travel would send the normal springs coil bound, which is A VERY BAD THING.
I now have BC ZR inverted fully adjustable. I ordered them in 10/8, and +40mm. Still at O.E. ride height, they are supple and really nice to drive on, not harsh at all and no bobbing about. But for £1,800 so they should be!
The real benefit of the coilovers is you can minutely adjust ride height. The roll axis of your car means it rolls into the rear corner which gives understeer. By lifting the back 5mm or dropping the front 5mm from O.E., you can dial this out. More and you lean into the front corner and get loads of lift off oversteer.
None of this matters if you replace with O.E. style suspension, just remember it wasn't much cop when new.... Lots of folk upgrade the rear ARB- which a 5mm drop can give the same result without the increased cost. Lots change the springs and KYB Excel G shocks are popular.
Enjoy. The car is a cracking drive, lots of fun. If your's is a Blobeye 2.0, then it's quite possibly the best of the best.
1. Your original car would have had KYB made inverted struts. Non adjustable with unimpressive damping and crappy long bump stops. It may have come with Prodrive springs, and replacement bump stops from the dealer.
Widetrack cars have different strut mounting spacing, as the larger hubs are not interchangeable. You have 8" wide wheels and 114.5mm PCD spacing on the bolt pattern. (Nissan spec??) The PPP pack is a re-programmed ECU to increase power with limited boost increases to retain warranty.
2. Well, a Subaru Dealer, obviously. However, with the age of the car, a set of original suspension from a breaker would be more sensible, with expectations to get the lowers cleaned off and possibly powdercoated and replacement dampers from a KYB dealer. Springs would be tired. lots of choice there.
3. Coilovers need to be dedicated to the widetrack. Often it's the same unit with the Widetrack bottom mounts. usually about the same in price.
With coilovers you get what you pay for. Cheap ones are well, cheap. Expensive ones can run with a far higher spring rate, yet feel smooth and supple.
The O.E. stuff will sit onto the bump stop with only 1" of compression, so is cornering with under damped outer and overdamped inner wheels, and just feels choppy and ****e. You have loads of anti-dive and anti-squat in the front geometry which gives nasty roadholding on bumpy braking areas and understeer on acceleration.
The main problem with coilovers is almost all don't let you sit at the correct ride height. this means you have all the problems of MacPherson struts in lowered roll centres and the resultant issues.
I have a Widetrack car and ran BC ER struts with 6/5, divergent damping (for softer ride) and ordered them +60mm in length. They came with helper springs that look trick but are really there because for some reason BC don't supply springs that are long enough. Without them, the travel would send the normal springs coil bound, which is A VERY BAD THING.
I now have BC ZR inverted fully adjustable. I ordered them in 10/8, and +40mm. Still at O.E. ride height, they are supple and really nice to drive on, not harsh at all and no bobbing about. But for £1,800 so they should be!
The real benefit of the coilovers is you can minutely adjust ride height. The roll axis of your car means it rolls into the rear corner which gives understeer. By lifting the back 5mm or dropping the front 5mm from O.E., you can dial this out. More and you lean into the front corner and get loads of lift off oversteer.
None of this matters if you replace with O.E. style suspension, just remember it wasn't much cop when new.... Lots of folk upgrade the rear ARB- which a 5mm drop can give the same result without the increased cost. Lots change the springs and KYB Excel G shocks are popular.
Enjoy. The car is a cracking drive, lots of fun. If your's is a Blobeye 2.0, then it's quite possibly the best of the best.
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