p1doc

what do people think about adjustable camber bolts and an antilift kit for a 03 sti uk ??
peoples opinions please
martin

JIM THEO

Camber bolts yes, no difference for me with the ALK, just add a rear adjustable antiroll bar to your choices!
JIM

911

I think Jim is (nearly) right.
Just my opinion, and all based on a Classic Impreza:

ALK effect is marginal (at best)
Fit Whiteline roll bars front and rear.
Rear is adjustable, try mid position.

You can ask Whiteline direct your question on their web site.

911

p1doc

thanks,anyone else?
martin

ozzy

martin,

What sort of issues do you have with your current setup?

I would agree 100% with Jim/Graham in the ARB's and geometry is the way forward, especially on a road car. I found switching from the Prodrive geo settings to one with 0 toe, but max negative camber to be far more beneficial.

Still get far too much power on understeer, but I've still to have my P1 suspension fitted along with a front ARB and camber bolts.

Stefan

p1doc

no issues just trying to improve ,at present prodrive springs on 17" wheels avon zz-3 tyres alloy rear drop links and 22mm adj arb with prodrive geometry including neutral toe at rear and sti front splitter
martin

ozzy

OK, so what are you trying to improve?

I specifically wanted to reduce power-on understeer, wanted to make the intial turn-in a bit sharper and reduce body roll to cope with direction change better (and keep the car much flatter).

what roads do you spend most of your thrash-time on?

Stefan

DBY

I have ALK on my 03 and it improves turn in and steering feel, I am shure power on understeer is also reduced and handling in the wet feels so much better. You can feel everything going on between the front wheels and the road surface, which is fed back via the steering wheel, Downsides are harsher ride from front end, more road noise transmitted into the cabin but combined with all the usual suspension mods and brakes, transforms an understeering Roly Poly Pig into a real cross country weapon!! I had mine done at Powerstation £150 plus fitting well worth the money IMHO.

Regards

John

p1doc

i namely drive on a/b roads dependent on home visits,what front arb would people recommend and how loud etc is the alk-i see on whiteline site it has a sport and comfort alk!!
ps -i have sti strut braces front and rear
thanks,martin

DBY

Martin I Have Whiteline kit on mine, was not aware of the two options that are available best to speak with powerstation or TSL who should be able to help. As I live in Dorset their are no motorways, so all my time is spent on a/b roads or quiet country lanes so plenty of oppotunity to get a move on. LOL

John

PS , I have Whiteline ALK,ARB set on hardest setting, uprated ARB bushes, solid Alu drop links , Prodrive spring kit with 18 PFF7 wheels and tyres. It handles quiet well with this set up, I live with it on a daily basis and have covered 10,000 miles in 9 months like this and would not swap it back to standard for all the Tea in China!

p1doc

one of my friends has 18" prodrive wheels but they tend to tramline every time i drive it ?due to tyres p-pzero but he swears they are perfect now he has bedded them in on trackdays!!
is it worth uprating bushes ? in a 18 month old car
the 2 alk comfort and sport are on the mrt website under whiteline products-made me laugh though
anyone else ?
martin

ozzy

martin,

I'd stick with either a Whiteline ARB or if you fancy a change a Cusco one. Both should do the same job to be honest. 22mm Whiteline one will match the rear ARB perfectly (I don't mean cosmetically).

I have 18" Prodrive Oz WRC1's on my car and don't suffer from tramlining anymore than I did on 17's. A lot depends on the tyre from my own experiences. Goodyear F1's are fine on my car.

Not sure on the merits of poly bushes, other than adding more NVH. Graham (911) has replaced them all on his car, but whether that's for extra performance or just to replace worn ones on his STI3 I don't know.

Doubt you'd notice a difference unless you change the lot of them and I doubt it'll give you a huge performance gain for the cost. Could be wrong though.

Bumpsteer is supposed to be a very good mod - on a classic anyway. Not sure if they've removed a lot of this on the newage STI's already.

I've heard that ALK can introduce more dive under braking. Again this was on a classic and cured with some geometry settings IIRC. Has anyone noticed this after fitting the ALK??

Stefan

Creepy

What the ALK mostly does for me is stiffening up the front when braking hard.
Before you really could feel 'play' in the front wishbones, now they're much more holding their static settings.
You do get a litlle more NVH and you can feel the 'shunt" when driving over concrete riplles is a litlle more...

Creepy

p1doc

what do you mean by shunt,does alk catch more often on speed bumps etc?
thanks,martin
ps what do people think of lower chassis bracing?

911

Creepy is correct.
The ALK works by re-positioning the front lower wishbone's rear mounting to the bodyshell, and hence it's relationship (alignment) to the front mounting of the wishbone.
In doing so it puts the rubber bush in bind under all normal suspension movements caused by accelleration/braking etc. The bind serves to give the wishbone a stiffer action.
The shunt he talks of is that you will feel each ripple of a concrete surface moreso with ALK.
Hitting sleeping policement is just to do with ride height and spring rate, BUT....

If you fit a front lower chassis brace you will shave off about 25mm of ground clearance, mine does. Some designs are lower to allow down pipe removal while it's still on the chassis.

My Sti v3 has all the Whiteline/MRT mods on it with coil-overs and 17'' P1 wheels and it really is a blast, but very harsh over rough sutfaces, but on a track.........

911

Creepy

Sorry for my poor technical English....
Must be that mainland accent that kills me...

LOL

Creepy

JIM THEO

Adjustable top mounts are by far better method for increased castor rather ALK which in more cases adds diving (during braking etc).
JIM

911

Dead right.
911

ozzy

So given the choice, what would be a better solution:-

ALK
Camber Bolts
Adjustable Top Mounts

Can the top mounts do more or less what the other two offer?

Stefan

JIM THEO

Rear adjustable anti roll bar and adjustable top mounts are more than you probably need!
Prodrive sells a Group N type adjustable top mount set so ask them about (personally I prefer their parts and service).
JIM

ozzy

Prodrive ones probably cost an arm & a leg though. I'll check.

Stefan

911

Some of you know my car's spec well, but to give the purpose and performance of the chassis:
Purpose is to have a fool-proof chassis (remember it is an ex 911 pilot driving it ) for the raod, but really for serious hill climb competition, and preparing it for a serious hike in bhp too.

Parts:

AVO struts and coil overs.
Whiteline....Roll bars,lower rear links; lower rear suspension bars; camber bolts all round; lower front chassis brace; ALK(race hardness)
MRT top mounts
Polyflex bushes all round, and diff, and steering rack

Whiteline Extreme alignment setting by Ralliart.

Looking back now, I would forget the polyflex bushes, the ALK, and fit everything else PLUS some real quality struts such as LEDA.

Mine is a 3000 mile/yr car raced 11 times a year.

forgot! fit some bloody good tyres too!

911

p1doc

mmm nice spec
martin

911

Martin, you would not think it was an understeering wallowing pitching wimpish Impreza on all roads (that are tarmac'd) for sure.

Absolute dream, especially on the twisty bits at speed....................................

911

p1doc

mine feels a lot better than standard but you can still feel the wallow going into corners at high speeds
martin

911

Deffo NOT in mine.
Little roll, no tram-lining, no weaving under (hard)braking and changes direction about half as good as my 911!
Great car, and when the engine is done...380 bhp I hope.
911

p1doc

sounds very nice
martin

911

Better be.
Could have bought a Spec C by the time this is all done.....
911