MCS_5435

I’ve recently bought a 2 year old Sti with PPP (19k), having had a MY2003 WRX Wagon for a year (up for sale!!). As far as I know and can see, the suspension on the new car is standard. The ride quality on the old WRX with Eibach springs fitted was firm but comfortable, absorbing lumps and bumps in our roads easily. However, the Sti is very different, being a much less comfortable ride which can be best described as bouncy. I expected the ride to be firmer, but it feels as if the dampers don’t do a great deal. It makes you feel a bit seasick on the poorly repaired roads around town.

Am I just being a wuss, or is that perfectly normal on a Type UK Sti?

AdamNI

iTrader: (1)

They all do that mate. I've an 05 blobeye and it did the same thing. I changed the seats on mine and it helped a serious amount (not the main reason i bought them though). If you're running the original RE070 tyres they have a very stiff sidewall which won't help. I recently changed to 18s, and the ride has got a bit better again, far better imo from original seats and RE070 combination.

urban

iTrader: (1)

What seats did you change to Adam?

AdamNI

iTrader: (1)

Urban i put in recaro profi spg seats. They're full on bucket seats to save you looking them up. Difficult to get in and out of, but absolutely fantastic in my opinion if you're slim enough! You sit a fair bit lower and they really do hold you in place when cornering. Bit much for most folk though.

MCS_5435

Interesting point about the tyres. When I got the car I was surprised at how much it 'tramlined' - until I checked the tyre pressures! They were on average 7 psi lower than recommended. I much prefer the Eagle F1s on my WRX to the Bridgestones on the STi.

Her indoors might appreciate the bucket seats - she keeps on complaining about getting thrown around and having nothing to hang on to. I suggested a five-point harness, but she just thought I was being kinky.

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

I was going to post a similar thread but did a quick search and found this instead.

Does anyone know if changing the springs alone would resolve the 'bouncy' issue? Sometimes on the motorway when the road is flat it's quite comical!

What springs would you recommend for a Hawk STI?

Mrfastbaz

i suffer from this on my 07 sti the wife hates it and calls it a tractor bloody cheek but yes the suspension is hmmmmm very firm but boy does it corner lol luckily we can now use the little mx5 sometimes so the tractor comments are fewer lol

greatgonzo

iTrader: (1)

No I swapped to the Prodrive springs and it made no difference !!
The ride quality in the Hawk's is VERY poor (noise,crashy and way to hard) The only way I think is to change to the BC's and set them up as soft as possible which should still not reduce the great handling, I would have thought.

greatgonzo

iTrader: (1)

I'm loathed to change the REO70's as there a fantastic tyre but I would be very interested if any one has swapped and found a difference in ride quality

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for that mate, may have just saved me Ł400!
On a tyre note, the Subaru dealership I got mine from put non standard tyres on and i'm still getting the bouncy ride.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Comes with the territory I'm afraid.

Stiff suspension pays dividends in body control in the corners, but makes the ride over bumps a more lively affair!

Common misconception that getting adjustable coil overs and slacking off the dampers will help; it'll actually make things more bouncy (especially at speed) as the dampers won't have sufficient control over the movement of the springs! Dampers and springs are specified to work together; there is a bit of leeway with damper levels, but there is no such things as a free lunch! Learned this when I had Tein EDFC fitted to my car.

Ns04

53

iTrader: (41)

Gets better if you remove the front lower subframe

jh1

you can buy coilovers with a soft spring rate which would eliminate the bouncy effect and set up correctly will still give superb handling.. bc racing coilovers have varying spring rate choices

T5BNC

iTrader: (1)

Hi guys,

I am in the Market for a new set up, was think of bc's as for me I want something that will improve the handling (I find standard set up rolls a bit to much when cornering) and give a more flatter and predictable entry into corners anyone have any suggestions?

Re: tyres, I have f1's now much better all weather tyre, but not as good as the 070's on the dry. Overall much easier smoother ride. I.e not tram-lining

Flaps

iTrader: (1)

Bouncy ride it is then! I don't fancy coilovers at the moment, i'll save that idea for when the knocking starts

Thanks for the replies

davedipster

My 03sti was bouncy as hell and the rear was always rather nasty/crashy.
I Fitted BC coilovers and ride is now much better and handling is much improved, on the same corners I can carry much more speed.

dipster

Lofty91

Same here(05 STI), wish i had done it earlyer on rather than putting up with the nocking and crashing. I run them on 15 clicks all round, works well for me.

MadUsa1

Which BC's did you get and what spring rate did you specify?

Do they really provide a better ride than the standard set up?

davedipster

BC BR's with 6/5 springs.
Much better ride.

dipster

GeeDee

iTrader: (2)

Dave

How long (time/miles) have you had the BCs on?

I'm looking for a replacement for my ASTs which maintain a reasonable ride quality longer than a few months.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Worth mentioning that You can get the BCs with comfort springs set at 5/4 IIRC. If you're a bit sensitive to ride quality, they'd be the ones to go for. Got taken out for a ride in a car with them fitted the other day and on country lanes it felt very good.

Problem is..... I've always found that it's really poor town/city streets and motoroways that can show coil overs up!

XRS

When I picked up my car it was still running the original suspension as AST were still working on the setup for the 05 cars. It was very bouncy.

One the T25 setup was fitted and fettled it was a significant improvement.

MrNoisy

iTrader: (28)

You do remember right - those are the springs I went for in the end when I fitted BC's to my bug WRX, but you can actually go one step further and go for an "ultra comfortable" spring / shock combination, although the dampers are slightly different - ask Bren @ Apex about that.
I had standard shocks and Prodrive springs fitted beforehand, and I found the ride to be a little hard, and very crashy indeed - terrible over potholes and cracks in the road etc.

I've found the BC's exceptionally better at damping out the bumps in the road, but as said it comes with a cost - which is on very badly surfaced roads it's pretty firm, even with the 5/4 springs.
That said, I am running it relatively low with just 13cm ground clearance...
Other comments are also correct about running the shocks too soft - if you do that the ride just gets bouncier and annoying, I run mine about 14 from softest on the front, and about 10 on the back and it's about right for me but everyone's different.
The cornering stability and way in which the car digs in is brilliant, I'd recommend them.

davedipster

10k Miles and 2 years.

dipster.

thatscoobyrocks

Have the same issue, wife won't get in the 06 STI

Can put up with hard knocks but the bouncing is as annoying as hell

Thanks for the thread seems BC's the way to go with the right spring rate and set up.

Butty

iTrader: (2)

I've been running 6/5 BCs on my hawkeye STi for the last 5k miles and found:

No more motorway oscillation that the std struts gave
Far more fluid change in direction and lighter feel
Good bump control
Appalling rebound control
Occasional knocks from the back

these are the type BRs with 9 clicks from full hardness.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Can you elaborate on the rebound control comment, mate? How does this manifest itself in different road conditions?

Ns04

Butty

iTrader: (2)

Its the recovery after a bump has been absorbed.
It feels like there is poor control of the spring as it returns to its normal length and the car (front) leaps up.
Fully adjustable coilovers would have been the way to go IMO.

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Just a thought: Are you running the same rate front and rear mate?

Often it's best to run the rears quite a bit softer than the fronts.

Fully adjustable can be good but it's easy to go too far for the road and never be happy with your settings! lol

Ns04

DuncanG

That sounds more like poor bump control to me. Its a problem with non-inverted monotubes. The gas pressure isn't high enough to avoid cavitation in a heavy compression, so the damper cavitates which makes it unable to oppose the compression and then the spring gets overloaded leading to bottoming. On bottoming all the energy is put into the tyre which acts as an air spring then the car rebounds (leaps up) off the compressed and undamped tyre. By that time rebound damping in the shock won't help you.