Jimp

Hi, this may sound crazy but I have just bought a fresh import V5 STI wagon. The problem is the previous owner from Japan has lowered it and fitted coilovers. I love the cars performance but would like a little more height and a softer ride. Is there a way of doing this? I would rather have it higher than standard with a softer ride as the roads in the area I live are pretty poor. I have seen someone fit Forester shocks on youtube, is this an alternative. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Jimp

Arnie_1

Any idea what coilovers are on there?

s70rjw

iTrader: (2)

You may be able to adjust your coilovers to improve things to your liking before you go spending a fortune

Jimp

Hi, thank's for the reply. I have had a better look at the suspension. The coil overs are called Eifel, they are a gold item with "Product of Nuremberg" wrote on the bottom leg. They look very expensive but looking on the internet I can't find any reference to the brand at all. anyway the two big nuts that retain the spring are only 20mm from the bottom of the threads on the leg which is probably as low as the suspension can go. I am going to attempt to lift the springs about 75 - 100mm today and see how it rides then. I bought two suspension spanners off ebay for £10 to do the job. I hope it goes smothely, things that look easy normally have a habbit of being a bit of a chew.

Apart from the suspension the car is fantastic runs like new for an 11 year old car. I need to modify the mapping to run on our inferior fuel, do you have any tips for that? I am based in North Yorks.

Once aain thanks,

Jimmy.

Reef

iTrader: (2)

I'd be tempted to buy some standard STI shocks swap them over and see what you think. I've got the standard on mine and with uprated drop links it handles like a dream.

Arnie_1

The Eifel units were pretty good spec back then. They usually had rebranded Bilstein units, IIRC. Do us a favor and post some pics of the setup, front and rear, as well as the top hats. If they are based on the inverted Bilstein units, they might be adjustable and have the damper adjuster underneath. If the dampers are still in good shape, I'd hold onto them, maybe change the spring rates as they are probably pretty stiff. you can probably go down 1k or maybe 2k in spring rate but that might be at the bottom level of the damper adjustment. If you see any numbers on the spring, make note of them and post here, maybe we can make some sense of them.

But yes, make sure you clean the the threads well before attempting to adjust as any grit on the threads can seize the lock rings. Use plenty of lube too, to ease the adjustment. If they are the units I'm thinking of, then raising your ride height will improve your ride because your probably sitting on the bumpstops. Don't forget you'll need to have your car aligned after you've settled on a ride height.

I'd look at a ride height of front 350mm rear 345mm (measured center of hub to bottom of fender.