Suspension Upgrade recommendations

[CRG77]

Hi All,

I am after recommendations for suspension upgrades. I am in two minds at the moment on what to go with. Do I go for some lowering springs and anti rollbars or go for some coilovers? 

Is there any other options I should look into? Would be interested to hear what you guys suggest and what brands are best to run.

[Jay762]

Depends on your budget, coilovers can be argued better than lowering springs as you are not changing the damper to suit. TEIN are getting good feedback at the moment, I am running cucso on the daily with no complaints.

A thicker ARB on the rear will help tighten things up and stop pushing the front end as much

[CRG77]

1 hour ago, Jay762 said:

Depends on your budget, coilovers can be argued better than lowering springs as you are not changing the damper to suit. TEIN are getting good feedback at the moment, I am running cucso on the daily with no complaints.

A thicker ARB on the rear will help tighten things up and stop pushing the front end as much

I haven't really got a budget in mind at the moment. I have a lot of things I want to get done to the car ready for summer so I am trying to get a good balance for upgrades. It is also my daily driver so I don't want to start making the car too uncomfortable or unreliable. 

The aim is for the car to be a bit lower but also have a nice ride. I was torn between whiteline springs (if they are any good) or any other good brands as well as the ARB or a decent set of coilovers (preferably less than 1k). Obviously the price difference is quite big between the two. I have not heard of cusco before. Are you running their coilovers or springs on the daily?

Any coilover suggestions appreciated 🙂

[Dr. Acula]

Don't have a wrx-sti but I can share my experience with my Forester CrossSports. I had exactly the same question like yours a few months back but had a not the best experience with lowering springs on a Fiest ST. Lowering springs put the shocks out of their expected work range.

Over Christmas I got a good deal on some Tein street Z coilovers (£750). 25 clicks adjustment for dampening and rebound.

Had them installed a few days ago. 

On almost the softest setup incredible soft but I didn't like the car balance mostly at highway speed. Went up about half way, better balance and handling but not crushy. I would say suspension setup is personal choice. Work in progress. 

I would also mention that I could feel (even in the softest setup) the linear Tein springs vs the progressive OEMs

I am still considering a thicker rear ARB, OEM is about D17mm

 

[CRG77]

3 hours ago, Dr. Acula said:

Don't have a wrx-sti but I can share my experience with my Forester CrossSports. I had exactly the same question like yours a few months back but had a not the best experience with lowering springs on a Fiest ST. Lowering springs put the shocks out of their expected work range.

Over Christmas I got a good deal on some Tein street Z coilovers (£750). 25 clicks adjustment for dampening and rebound.

Had them installed a few days ago. 

On almost the softest setup incredible soft but I didn't like the car balance mostly at highway speed. Went up about half way, better balance and handling but not crushy. I would say suspension setup is personal choice. Work in progress. 

I would also mention that I could feel (even in the softest setup) the linear Tein springs vs the progressive OEMs

I am still considering a thicker rear ARB, OEM is about D17mm

 

I have had lowering springs on my previous hatch RX but I bought super cheap eBay springs and then had to get new shocks straight away. Wasn't sure if buying a well known brand would give me a better experience or whether coilovers were the way to go.

My car has done around 75k miles now so thinking about it, if I did get lowering springs I guess there is chance I would need to change the shocks too?

[Jay762]

11 hours ago, CRG77 said:

I have had lowering springs on my previous hatch RX but I bought super cheap ebay springs and then had to get new shocks straight away. Wasn't sure if buying a well known brand would give me a better experience or whether coilovers were the way to go.

My car has done around 75k miles now so thinking about it, if I did get lowering springs I guess there is chance I would need to change the shocks too?

If you are going the lowering springs go for the shocks to match as well - The ride will be change due to OEM damping being setup for the OEM spring rate. There was a bilstein eibach kit from litchfield which addressed the handling by lowering the front slightly, firming up the ride and adjusted the damping to compensate for the spring rate.

I am running cusco coilovers on the daily, standard ride height as running a splitter and some of the places I go the speed humps and pot holes would have it off, ride is firmer but not crashy - good as a daily option but I can dial in a firmer ride if I know the roads

These are the coilovers I have on mine but look at the tein option as I think they are slightly cheaper - They also are getting better feedback than BC Racing at the moment

https://www.cusco.co.jp/en/catalog/street_zero_a_blue_red.html

[CRG77]

13 minutes ago, Jay762 said:

If you are going the lowering springs go for the shocks to match as well - The ride will be change due to OEM damping being setup for the OEM spring rate. There was a bilstein eibach kit from litchfield which addressed the handling by lowering the front slightly, firming up the ride and adjusted the damping to compensate for the spring rate.

I am running cusco coilovers on the daily, standard ride height as running a splitter and some of the places I go the speed humps and pot holes would have it off, ride is firmer but not crashy - good as a daily option but I can dial in a firmer ride if I know the roads

These are the coilovers I have on mine but look at the tein option as I think they are slightly cheaper - They also are getting better feedback than BC Racing at the moment

https://www.cusco.co.jp/en/catalog/street_zero_a_blue_red.html

I feel like if I am going to have to replace the shocks too then it seems easier to just go for coilovers. I will have a browse at options today for my model and see what people recommend out of those. 

I want to go slightly lower that stock height but no too low. I have been through two front lips due to not seeing everest size speed bumps and smacking the lip off the floor. 

I think those cusco ones may be a bit out of my ideal price range but I appreciate all the help. I will take a look at the tein options then as well as a couple others.

[Dr. Acula]

I'm not trying to b a smart **** but don't forget, coilovers can be lowered or raised to the required  height. 

@Jay, do you have the same setting (dampening) front and rear, or different? 

[CRG77]

28 minutes ago, Dr. Acula said:

I'm not trying to b a smart **** but don't forget, coilovers can be lowered or raised to the required  height. 

@Jay, do you have the same setting (dampening) front and rear, or different? 

Haha yeah I know they can don't worry 🙂 

Yeah I have noticed some coilovers have adjustable dampening and some of the tein ones don't. Which are the ones getting good reviews? 

[Jay762]

49 minutes ago, Dr. Acula said:

I'm not trying to b a smart **** but don't forget, coilovers can be lowered or raised to the required  height. 

@Jay, do you have the same setting (dampening) front and rear, or different? 

At the moment the same all around, still getting used to the car and have not started tweaking yet - It is still on the standard ARB which I feel is letting it down so I think I will do that first then start tuning the damping, oh also I have a 14+ rack to go in as the steering is not quick enough for me, particularly when you start to get a little more spirited 😁

 

[CRG77]

14 minutes ago, Jay762 said:

At the moment the same all around, still getting used to the car and have not started tweaking yet - It is still on the standard ARB which I feel is letting it down so I think I will do that first then start tuning the damping, oh also I have a 14+ rack to go in as the steering is not quick enough for me, particularly when you start to get a little more spirited 😁

 

It sounds like I will need to speak to you for inspiration and future upgrades when I am ready. I can't imagine there are too many differences between the hatch and the saloon? 

[Jay762]

4 minutes ago, CRG77 said:

It sounds like I will need to speak to you for inspiration and future upgrades when I am ready. I can't imagine there are too many differences between the hatch and the saloon? 

Not too many - When it comes to upgrades its a slippery slope 😆

[CRG77]

6 minutes ago, Jay762 said:

Not too many - When it comes to upgrades its a slippery slope 😆

Haha I know right. I've taken it easy so far but there's a lot I want to purchase before summer. Also I am planning to move out early this year so want to get parts why I've got funds 🙂 

Also need to make sure I have some funds to start my wrapping/tinting/other customisation business that I want to get started this year.  

[Jay762]

The TEIN product is TEIN Street Basis Z, ideal for a daily apparently

[Jay762]

1 hour ago, CRG77 said:

It sounds like I will need to speak to you for inspiration and future upgrades when I am ready. I can't imagine there are too many differences between the hatch and the saloon? 

I post any work done in project threads - If you plan on modifications it is great way of sharing your progress

The daily

 

The project

 

 

[CRG77]

5 minutes ago, Jay762 said:

I post any work done in project threads - If you plan on modifications it is great way of sharing your progress

The daily

 

The project

 

 

I know, I have been following both already 🙂 

I already started my one too:

 

 

[Dr. Acula]

Wrongly stated in my previous post.

Flex Z are the ones with dampening feature.

[Jay762]

1 hour ago, CRG77 said:

I know, I have been following both already 🙂 

I already started my one too:

 

- Of course and pinned already 😉, ill look for the updates....

[CRG77]

1 hour ago, Jay762 said:

- Of course and pinned already 😉, ill look for the updates....

Hopefully some updates coming very soon. Not just suspension updates 🙂 

The tein coilovers you mentioned earlier are they the street basis z or the flex z?

[Jay762]

15 hours ago, CRG77 said:

Hopefully some updates coming very soon. Not just suspension updates 🙂 

The tein coilovers you mentioned earlier are they the street basis z or the flex z?

This is what I was sent..

"TEIN street basis z is absolutely spot on for daily use - 3 of us have them"

[CRG77]

2 hours ago, Jay762 said:

This is what I was sent..

"TEIN street basis z is absolutely spot on for daily use - 3 of us have them"

Okay that is good to know. Can pick them up for less than £500 I think. They are height adjustable only right? 

Just trying to see what options are available for my car and what would be best to go with. Not sure what the best brands are to look at. 

[Jay762]

13 minutes ago, CRG77 said:

Okay that is good to know. Can pick them up for less than £500 I think. They are height adjustable only right? 

Just trying to see what options are available for my car and what would be best to go with. Not sure what the best brands are to look at. 

Yes they are height adjustable - If you are intending doing some track time I would look at the more expensive option with damping adjustment that @Dr. Acula mentioned

[CRG77]

13 minutes ago, Jay762 said:

Yes they are height adjustable - If you are intending doing some track time I would look at the more expensive option with damping adjustment that @Dr. Acula mentioned

I haven't done a track day for a long time but that's not to say I wouldn't in the future. Might be worth looking at ones with dampening options just in case then.

[Dr. Acula]

FYI, right out the box (set up by tein) lowered the car by 1". Not necessarily looking for that but looks better this way even if defeating the purpose of a forester.

[CRG77]

Do the 08 - 14 WRX STI hatch and 11 - 14 saloon use the same coilovers? Some sites say they fit GR and GV and some have them listed separately?