TeeceeaaR Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 Hi I'm Tom from Lincolnshire I'm new to the forum Owned my impreza 2.0d a (trouble free) year now Only mods I've done are Swapped the exhaust for a cat back system for a sti scooby world I believe front control arm bushes have been swapped out for powerflex black bushes. Powerflex black rear subframe inserts. Powerpro crossmember bushes. Hardrace pitch stop mount and gearbox mount. Perrin steering damper lockdown. Perrin brass shifter bushing (meant for the new model wrx hat are sold in America) I am interested in getting a short shift kit designed for the 2015 wrx shipped over from America to install on this, but it proves costly ording parts over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay762 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 Wotcha and welcome - what year is your motor? What size are your ARB's and did you consider changing those before upgrading the bushes - did you get a noticeable difference / much harsher ride with the bushes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeceeaaR Posted September 4, 2019 Author Share Posted September 4, 2019 I have a 2010, stock arb is 21mm front and if I remember right 16mm on the back. I bought the car with 51k miles on it and after a couple thousand miles I noticed a slight knock and a bit of wiggle under hard braking, inspection showed the rear bushing on the front control arms was perished so decided to change out both bushings on the front wishbones. I don't notice much more noise over all other than some hard bumps can be loud, handling wise it improved by feeling more solid in the corners and easier to maintain going straight, overall less floaty, this car does feel a bit numb stock. The rear subframe lockdown kit I would say makes one of the best changes, again it helps the car feel more solid and less floaty. Overall more stable when cornering with a bit of speed. I did try it on lowering springs which was great around town and for roundabouts and cured the understeer but I scraped on every other bump and once you get above 80mph it felt like it jumped over sharp bumps rather than absorb them which left it feeling a bit sketchy. So I'm back on stock springs, after looking into coilovers it's just not viable for my car the cost is too much for proper height adjustable ones as I would like to be as close to stock height as possible due to scraping, my poor exhaust manifold is what scrapes most of the time. Swapping out the roll bars is something I'm thinking about. Maybe swapping out the rear 16mm for a 21mm adjustable bar and going from there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay762 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 I have a 2008 RX and yes the ARB's are the same size - Agree with the standard springs as it is more of a daily but may complete the bush replacement as you have done - 79k on clock so they will have deteriorated a little by now. The droplinks on mine were knocking on one side so replaced both of those, another interesting afternoon under the car with a dremmel trying to cut through a well shielded bolt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeceeaaR Posted September 4, 2019 Author Share Posted September 4, 2019 My front control arm but rear bushings was very visably perished, with it jacked up and wheel removed there was quite alot of cracking I wish I had a picture to show, but Google shows its common on this generation that use this type of bushing. Quite funny as the mot when I bought it had no advisory but the previous mot before that had an advisory for this bushing. One main reason for me going polybush was because I was doing the work myself and didn't require a press to install the versions I got, it did involve alot of swearing though as the black bushings are stiff. I forgot to mention I also have the rear diff lockdown kit in my car. Overall the stiffening I've done on my car still leaves it as a nice daily driver, it just inspires alot more confidence when on country lanes. With the stock tranny mount It could be hard to find your gear when shifting down or up whilst driving spiritfully. I would fully recommend the perrin steering damper lockdown kit, I wasn't prepared to drop the steering rack to fit the sti solid joint so this was the next best option, it does make a good improvement in steering feedback loosing alot of the rubber feeling in the centre of the wheel that feels like it does nothing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay762 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 That lockdown kit looks good - I have just replaced the standard cast front diff support with an STI alloy item due to a leaking bush so need a replacement for the STI so that gives me some aftermarket - second hand opportunities instead of buying new with standard bushes Will look into the steering lockdown also, seen those whilst browsing previously Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.