Edcase

Okay I have a 9 month old 2002 WRX that has done 11,000 mi.

8k on Eibachs
3k with uprated rear ARB
2k with upper front strut brace and rear drop links

As a bit of background, the car never carries more than two people, has done a lot of miles cruising on the motorway, one 'proper' track day, a short outing at JapFest and has seen some *serious* moorland b-road action on occasion.

I have noticed recently whilst cruising on 'normal' roads that it has starting feeling a little 'wallowy' over road imperfections that it normally soaks up.

And on the last couple of spirited b-road runs I have been shaken around a lot more than usual, and on the way to Goodwood last weekend I even hit the front bump stop a couple of times!

Obviously I expect wear and tear with the kind of use I give the car, but I was expecting it to be more like around 25,000 mi. instead of 50,000 mi. rather than shortly after 10,000 mi.!!!

Also, the speed of the downturn since I noticed it has been quite dramatic!

Anybody else had similar problems at similar mileage?

Presumably I will have trouble on the warranty due to running Eibachs?

What are my best options if I go for fully adjustable suspension? I've not exactly heard great things of any of the available setups!!!

Edcase

Also is the any self-diagnostic way of checking the shock wear?

vulnax999

iTrader: (7)

Press on the wing and see how hard to press it is, and how much bounce you get back, and how many bounces it takes to settle.

Sounds like a leak on the dampers? Look for thin oil down the tube casing and/or the piston rod. If they compressed really easily then it's a leak / failed damper.

Swap back to your std springs/arb etc. and go for the warranty claim!

LoFi

wild stab in the dark but other than the above could it be that the increased stiffnes of the springs and roll bar has caused excessive compression of the bushes to the point where they are no longer working properly. I've heard they need replacing on older cars to get that 'tight' feel back. There are sets of nylon bushes available I think.

Just a guess mind

LoFi

Edcase

Piers - interesting, I hadn't thought of the bushes.

The car is rock solid when I push down on it, its just when on the move.

Pete Croney

Edcase

If you fit lowering springs, they have to do a lot more work in a shorter distance. Say, for example, that you have 75mm of travel from rest and want to lower the car by 35mm. In order to stop the car hitting the bump stops, the spring has to be uprated by 66%, so a 180lb spring will be replaced with a 300lb spring. The damper valving will be tuned to the original 180lb spring. The result of continued use will be that the life of the damper is dramatically reduced. On a brisk cross country drive, with lowering springs fitted, you can actually feel the dampers fading. The rebound forces are so much higher than the valves were designed to arrest that the damping oil boils. The spring rate is overwhelming the damper. The result is a gradual deterioration of damping effect over the journey and a consequential loss of handling control.

When the springs sag slightly (all springs do this after a time), the travel is further reduced and the car will hit the bump stops even more often. With worn dampers, it will become as you describe and will be bottoming out frequently.

Changing the bushes will do nothing as the problem is with the damper and spring.

Edcase

Pete - yeah I guessed that was the case I suppose I just wanted to hear someone say it.

I have my eye on some adjustable Tein's that can be adjusted from inside the car whilst driving!!!

ZIPPY

Ed, my rear shocks were dead at 23K on my MY01 and it wasnt until a changed them that i realised how bad the handling was on the old ones.
It's all down to the way they start to fail over a period of time. It would be alright if they just died quickly as you would notice it straight away.

Zippy

b5m

Does this mean an STi7 or 8 with Eibachs or Prodrive springs is going to kill its dampers? Will it start hitting the bump stops and need new dampers soon? What dampers do you replace them OEM units with or should you go for expensive coil overs from that start?

DrEvil

I've got the same problem on an '02 GX.. I s'pose the question is, what to replace them with - as it is unlikely I can get it done through waranty for the same reason Ed might not be able ie. Eibachs.

What is currently a good budget damper+spring set-up that is designed to work together for the '01/'02 cars?

Cheers, Alex