Fur

What make of springs would you recommend for a 99 uk turbo impreza?

The car seems to ride fine as it is, quite hard suspension

I was wondering as the car is 7 years old that it might be worth getting new springs and dampers, but didnt want to spend a fortune so which is the best value and which gives a decent ride at the end of it? The prodrive sounds about right, how much would that set me back

Thanks!!

DaveW

Depends on the mileage - after about 40k dampers start to go, after 80k they will be shot. All depending on usage of course.

Eibach springs seem to get a good review - about £180 + fitting.

For dampers you could try a search on KYB's, they seem a good budget buy and www.camskill.co.uk does them at a nice price.

Fur

Hi

What about the TEIN kit which xreme scoobies do, i think its about 710.00

Ta

Paul

DaveW

If it was me, then I'd get to a few meets and try and get passenger rides in cars with various suspension fitted. If you think that standard stuff is hard then some of the Tein stuff will take your teeth out.

How many miles has your car done? You might get away with Eibach springs, which will lower it slightly and firm up some of the jigglyness of the standard stuff.

It all comes down to what you really use the car for, get the wrong stuff and you'll end up hating it and wasting money. Been there, done that

Fur

Cheers Dave and all for advice

Its done 75K

Its gonna be used to get my *** to and from work and then the odd bit of weekend driving, but not alot more than that

I was just keen to get the car 100% sound as i have about 1500.00 i am willing to spend on her

Fur

ok, so if i had say an 800.00 budget for suspension what would you go for? xtreme do a tein setup for this

Anders_WR1

iTrader: (8)

Fur, you might want to give Powerstation a call on 01684 296675. They do various Staged kits for scoobys depending on your budget:

Stage 1
Rear Adjustable Roll Bar
Anti-Lift Kit
Front Adjustable Roll Bar
4-Wheel Alignment
£460 + VAT

I had this done on my car and it eliminated understeer and made cornering much better (less body roll and generally more grip).

Stage 2
Eibach Springs
Rear Adjustable Roll Bar
Anti-Lift Kit
Front Adjustable Roll Bar
4-Wheel Alignment
£720 + VAT

Stage 3 - T25 Spec Kit
AST Sport-Line Suspension Kit
Rear Adjustable Roll Bar
Anti-Lift Kit
Front Adjustable Roll Bar
4-Wheel Alignment
£1400 + VAT

The Stage 3 is supposed to transform cars, but is a bit over your budget.

Cheers

Anders

Fur

Thanks alot for that

Paul

Fur

How does the powerstation stuff compare to teh TEIN options available from xtremescoobies?

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

I'm confident that Xtreme only sell good stuff mate.

But, If they're coilovers, you really want to try before you buy mate. Many people say that Coilovers are way too harsh for UK street use and much better suited to the track.

For most people I'd say Powerstations stage one package would be more than enough, stage two if you can stretch to it, as the Eibachs are generally very well liked and don't spoil the car's ride.

Ns04

Fur

Would teh stage 1 and 2 from power station be replacing the springs and dampers?

I know nowt about suspension btw :-)

Cheers for help

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Stage one: No. But this alone will result in significant improvements if your springs and dampers are in good shape.
Stage two: as above + Springs
Stage Three: AFAIK AST coilover kit i.e. Springs and dampers (adjustable) one of the few kits that can be set up not to rattle your teeth out on the road; getting VERY good reviews. You need to decide whether it's OTT for your purposes though.

They have equipment that can determine whether you need to be thinking about replacing the springs and dampers etc...

Ns04

DaveW

Fur,

Do you want a car that you can drive fast. safely on the road? Or do you want a race rep that bounces down the road? Serious question If its the former then generally forget coilovers, they are designed for the track and that is where they are good.

I've been down the AST coilover route as they sounded sexy and I thought they should be the best. Then realised that my car would be great on a track but not on normal roads where it just bottomed out (short stroke dampers give less travel), it was even slower than standard on back roads

I'm now putting on secondhand STI6 struts and springs so I can actually drive the car on the roads it will be used on (bumpy back roads).

For £800 if you fit them yourself (not difficult - 36 nuts in total) you could get:

KYB AGX Dampers - £485 (camskill) - Do a search, they have been getting good reviews.
Eiback Springs - £155 (camskill)
Rear drop links - about £50 (try Powerstation)
Front drop links - about £50 (try Powerstation)

Geometry setup - £ ?? (say about 60)

That will give you a nice fast road car setup, a bit more precise and slightly lower than standard. With the ability to adjust the dampers to how you want.

But get to a meet and see what other people have and try get a sit in. What suits others will not necessarily suit you.

Dave.

cmpequeno

hi,

I have KW coil-overs, I choose coil-overs because I can lower the car a lot and it looks great, but that's it... it looks great, in good tarmac it's awesome, but in bad back roads... it's really slow, I'm always affraid of damaging something.

DuncanG

Me too


The KYB AGX are good value for money, especially if you buy them from the states ~£330 duty paid!

DuncanG

Thats surprising, var-1 or var-3?
T-UK's KW var-3 perform very well on the bumpy back roads. In fact they demonstrate that coilovers _can_ perform on the bumpy stuff.

Fur

Thanks for the info, i will consider this :-)

cmpequeno

DuncanG, unfortunelly, var-1... now I regret it, if I have it like I want, in corners the front wheels rub inside the fenders. I'm almost sure this wouldn't happen with V3.
before the scooby I had a seat leon with V2 and was more lowered than the scooby and with wider tires and rims and it didn't rub.

911

Coil-over can be made to be very civilised for the road (motorway/A.B roads) but they are then under utilised IMO.

I think Anders Stage 2 is the perfect road Impreza spec, and it is refreshing to see the FRONT and the BACK roll bars upgraded, rare these days!

Graham.

Fur

my car has done 75k, will the dampers need replacing? Does this include dampers?



Ta

911

with a car at that age (or rather miles) if you want to sort the chassis out, you need to replace the 'car set'.
You will then know all is well.
On top of that base work you add the improvements.

pointless putting good parts onto knackered parts!

If you are serious, get it done right first time.

Graham

Fur

What is a car set?

I have got the car booked in at xtreme scoobies for the whole day tomorrow, they are doing alot of stuff for me and will be able to do whatever brake or suspension mods i give them the go ahead to do, what would you suggest i ask them to do? i know they do the TEIN suspension stuff

MANY THANKS

Paul

911

Just in my opinion:

Car set is all 4 corners of the car.

Just replaceing one strut or 2 or 3 is no good. All balance could be lost.

I think the Tein will be fine BUT you need to choose the spring rates carefully and need to get them to assure you that the adjustable damping will compliment the springs.

For good road manners in general do not go stiffer than 50/40 Fr Rr N/mm

first you should have other things done to the car:

Stiffer anti roll bars
Rear (maybe front too) camber bolts
ALK minimum
Very good alignment job
Good tyres.

Then the coil overs.

coils (on their own) are NOT the way to get the car right.

A really good set-up for the road that is safe and fast is V3 onwards Sti struts/springs and all the bars etc above.

As I say, just my opinion based on a bit of experience.

Graham

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Edited for accuracy, don't be so modest Graham!

ns04

Anders_WR1

iTrader: (8)

Powerstation recommended upgrading the front ARB as well and who was I to argue! These mods are probably the best value performance upgrade that can be had on an impreza.

My next suspension upgrades will be upper and lower braces at the front and lower rear brace - but only after a set of ported headers from Harvey

BTW, the WR1 came with Prodrive springs as standard so Powerstation didn't need to fit the Eibach Springs. I know the Prodrive springs are made by Eibach, but the spring rates are different so I can only recommend fitting the Prodrive ones. They seem to handle everything I throw at them

911

I think there is a lot to be siad for Stage II package above for a fast safe road car.
My car is tuned for one purpose: to blast up a hill climb (as fast and as safe as can be considering the fool driving it) and be passable on a country road.
Like this!
http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?use...1&ctime=014320

I think I've finally got there with the latest!

I hope Fur gets what he wants!

Graham.

Fur

i wont be using xtreme scoobies, i reckon ill use power station

Anders_WR1

iTrader: (8)

I don't think you'll be disappointed with Powerstation. Post back when you've had the kit fitted.

Anders

911

Indeed
Graham

Fur

i will post as soon as i get it done

thanks alot for all your advice all