pban

Ok I have a STI 5 with nearly 70k on the clock. Its has Whiteline F and R ARB and drop links.

Obviously the suspension has seen plenty of action and I guess that the deteriation of the damper is so small that you become accustomed to the new handling characteristics of the car and so may not notice the deteriation?, so my question is this. How long is the expected life of the standard STI 5 damper?

Assuming at some stage the dampers exceed their useful life, I wish to upgrade to a coilover system maybe. Please make your suggestions, I am looking for a system that performs good on the road primarily. Budget up to £1500-1700 and not Leda. If you make a suggestion please explain your reason for making the suggestion not "well it corners on rails man" I have been away from the suspension game for a while so am after the latest thinking and products, maybe if they are better than the old ones.

Thanks for looking

Paul

pugoetru

just go for hydraulics then you can kid on you are a ****roen

ukdave

Dont know about the sti ones mate but ive had koni bilstein and spax before but if your cars done 70k on the same ones id be suprised if they dont want changing,as regards to coilovers always been a koni fan meself but realise now theres alot of other jap stuff available,not tried any so cant comment though.

ukdave

If u wanna keep to whiteline stuff coilovers are £1675 at demon tweeks no doubt they`ll be cheaper elsewhere on here though.

SlowBoy

iTrader: (1)

Don't forget the chap at Demon Tweaks was offering us a very good deal on Whiteline bits a month or two back. Do a search in Group Buys, or call Dave Featherstone on 01978 663042 (Demon Tweaks).

DaveW

Normal dampers will start to deteriate after about 40k, and will probably be completely knacked after 80k.

Coilover kits for the scoob are a minefield, most are made for track use and as such are way too hard for the road.

If you are after a coilover kit for the road then I would suggest a search on the Powerstation AST kit. Its been developed more for road use so its more compliant than the Japanese coilover kits (Tien, Cusco etc). Cost is about £1100 delivered. I've got some on mine and love them.

Also to consider are Proflex who I believe have developed a road setup.

Best thing to do is decide what roads you drive on and what will suit your needs.

Dave.

Fat Boy

IIRC Mike Wood< of Prodrive,reckons 30k is where damper start to give up the ghost, so 70 odd is completely fubared

pban

OK guys thanks for the advice

Obviously there are none of the usual signs of wear on my STI struts otherwise I wouldn't have needed to ask the question. In terms of handling the car seems fine and I have been driving a STI V for nearly 5 years now :-D

DaveW, I will have a look into the Powerstation kits maybe give them a call seeing thats fairly reasonable money for a Coilover Kit, at the same time I will give Roger Clarks a call and seek their advice. Four new STI V struts will cost somewhere in the region of £1k I suspect :-(

Others sytsems on my shortlist but this is from a while back so I'm not so sure how they have faired over time are the DMS Golds and the K&WVariant3s? stuff. Also found this while searching

http://www.subarureview.com/suspension.php

Worth a look

Anyway thanks for the advice guys

DaveW

Have a look at www.japanparts.com for prices of STI struts.

DMS Golds - Beware iirc they can only be repaired by sending them back to Australia. And the K&W stuff is expensive and aimed at track use, good though by all accounts.

I would say if you are happy with what you have then just get some STI struts. At least you know that they should last you another 70k miles. Unlike most coilovers which will need attention a lot sooner than that.

Dave.

pban

DaveW

You are right just replacing the original units would be a sensible thing todo, unfortunately that dosn't fit with my "once shagged upgrade" policy. :-D

I am not convinced the original are totally spent but I will conceed they are probably below par.

I do think the original set-up I have is good this includes the Whiteline front and rear ARBs, drop links and front and rear strut braces. The standard dampers ride the roads I use well but I have had experiance of the Leda coilover on a STI V and this was pretty awesome. It was other aspects of the set-up that forced me to return to the standard stuff.

So saying all that I would certainly like to do coilover if I can, I don't intend changing the car so I see it as an investment in the driving pleasure, oh and I do do the occational track

Paul

DuncanG

pban ywpm

pban

duncan YHPM matey