Hi there Im new here,

I have recently brought a 2001 Bugeye Impreza 2.0 GX, The reason for buying was that my daily commute has changed from 10 miles of dual caridgeways to 20miles of country roads and lanes, so a fast low Honda civic was really not ideal in wet, ice, and snow and was sold with the idea of a AWD saloon...

The Impreza is much more capable than my old car and im very happy with it, grips fantasicly but I just feel the handling isnt quite up to par. So basicly after some advice on how to imporve the handling.

I would ideally be looking at a fast road setup nothing to extreme tho Ive done the whole spending thousands on coilovers and I was more thinking of maybe fitting STI shocks and springs and maybe getting it all set up nicely.

Current set up is standard with 17" (wrx or sti i think) alloys

Any adive would be great and would be much aprrecitated cheers..

 

sort the ARB's (thicker rear, replance links and bushes) and get geometry done.

 

The gx doesn't come with rear Arbs as standard but you can get kits that you can fit that will do the same

 

I agree with Dave, ARBs, front and rear are the best pound for pound uprgade you can do on these cars. Plus a proper fast road geometry. You'll massively reduce roll, increase rotation and improve front end grip (reducing understeer) while still maintaining compliancy for rough carriageways.

Installing a set of used STi strut assemblies (I advice that you purchase a complete strut assembly with spring, strut, tophat, etc.) is an inexpensive upgrade over OEM WRX suspension that is very capable on the rough B-roads. However, ride quality is a bit nuggety at low speed and you will eventually suffer from the STi rear damper "knock". I'd suggest, first trying the ARBs first for a few weeks and seeing if that is enough. If so, then get the geometry set. If you can, get a ride in someone's car with standard STi suspension on a familiar road, see if you can put up with the suspension compliancy, etc. Just keep in mind that using lowering springs on STi dampers is a bit of a finicky thing because even with OEM springs the car is almost riding on the bump stops. Its why Prodrive supplied new, shorter, firmer bumpstops with their STi spring kits. If you just install lowering springs without at least shortening the front bump stops you'll have a fairly harsh ride and suffer from mid corner bump understeer (due to lack of suspension travel).

if you're model doesn't have a rear ARB, Whiteline have a kit for you:

http://www.whiteline.com.au/product_..._number=BSR47Z

I'd pair this with a Whiteline 22mm front ARB too. Non-adjustable is fine BSF10 is the proper bar for you. Note that there is a difference between Turbo and non-turbo front ARBs. the BSF10 is for a non-turbo saloon.

Oh, I also suggest buying a set of WL steering rack bushings. Very inexpensive mod that makes a nice, subtle difference in steering feel and immediacy. Your OEM bushings are probably pretty knackered by now so these are a no brainer too since you're already in there installing a front ARB!