Going Lower - suggestions!
 

Hey everyone,

I'm not far off from lowering the STI but I have a couple of questions that I'm hoping a few of you can answer before making the decision to even bother doing it.

1, Apart from making it look a little better is it really worth it?
2, Will it affect the 'go-kart' like handling that the car has already? For the better or worse?
3, when I lowered my commodore I went with king springs and Monroe GT short travel shocks......is this the right route for the STI or would just springs and strut braces be better? Or all 3?
4, I have zero intention of changing the rims as I understand the Spec R has BBS lightweight rims? So how low can I realistically go on the factory 18's?

Thanks in advance
Dan

Do you want to get to the track/tuning sessions or just for road use / purely for looks?

If the latter a decent set of springs to drop it a bit.

Otherwise it gets more complicated. You can do a spring/damper combination to customise your setup a bit. Otherwise you can get a set of coilvers. Obviously can do height/camber/stiffness with them easily, but you will need to research what ones best suit you.

There are some cheap/nasty ones, some good, decent and awesome ones. All with varying costs, trade off's and benefits.

Some coilover options:

[url=http://mcasuspension.com/]MCA Suspension | The official website of MCA Suspension[/url]
[url=http://www.standardsuspension.com/]Standard Suspension | High quality Suspension Systems[/url]

I have a set of HSD HR's which are significantly harsher that stock, great at the track, not so great day-to-day on our roads.

Going from stock suspension to coilovers, coilovers are pretty awesome and if you love your handling you will not be disappointed with the upgrade if you can find a happy medium type coilover. I think the STD's are pretty comfortable.

Pay attention to the spring rates of the coilovers, each WRX chassis is different obviously, but there are preferred spring rates front/rear which will have a bearing on how harsh the ride is.

[QUOTE=RichX;816090]Do you want to get to the track/tuning sessions or just for road use / purely for looks?

If the latter a decent set of springs to drop it a bit.

Otherwise it gets more complicated. You can do a spring/damper combination to customise your setup a bit. Otherwise you can get a set of coilvers. Obviously can do height/camber/stiffness with them easily, but you will need to research what ones best suit you.

There are some cheap/nasty ones, some good, decent and awesome ones. All with varying costs, trade off's and benefits.

Some coilover options:

[url=http://mcasuspension.com/]MCA Suspension | The official website of MCA Suspension[/url]
[url=http://www.standardsuspension.com/]Standard Suspension | High quality Suspension Systems[/url]

I have a set of HSD HR's which are significantly harsher that stock, great at the track, not so great day-to-day on our roads.

Going from stock suspension to coilovers, coilovers are pretty awesome and if you love your handling you will not be disappointed with the upgrade if you can find a happy medium type coilover. I think the STD's are pretty comfortable.

Pay attention to the spring rates of the coilovers, each WRX chassis is different obviously, but there are preferred spring rates front/rear which will have a bearing on how harsh the ride is.[/QUOTE]


Woah, thanks for the great info. I'm not really thinking of going to the track to be honest, just plan to do a few visual mods before starting with the performance side of things. Sounds like coilovers are good bet as far as ride comfort and quality goes. Was thinking just some springs but I don't want to go half measures even if I am only doing it to make it sit a little nicer and look a little better. Don't really want to spend the earth either as it is purely just for aesthetics but on the other hand don't want to cheap out and get a shit set. I'll have a look for some mid - higher range coilovers. I'm guessing as far as spring rate goes I should be looking for a medium not too hard, not too soft set up? Thanks heaps mate.

I lowered my Betty 25mm on KW-V3 coilovers, it sagged a further 5mm after bedding in. It rarely scrapes on anything, occasionally the exhaust touches (I don't have any lips or skirts). It handles rather well, even on stock sway bars. There are some pics in my build thread if you are interested.

If you're not doing any track I wouldn't waste money on coilovers, get some good lowering springs (not King's) like Eibach, Bilstein etc...

Get in touch with John Fowler or Wilkinsons, they know they their stuff.

[QUOTE=nick73;816094]I lowered my Betty 25mm on KW-V3 coilovers, it sagged a further 5mm after bedding in. It rarely scrapes on anything, occasionally the exhaust touches (I don't have any lips or skirts). It handles rather well, even on stock sway bars. There are some pics in my build thread if you are interested.

If you're not doing any track I wouldn't waste money on coilovers, get some good lowering springs (not King's) like Eibach, Bilstein etc...

Get in touch with John Fowler or Wilkinsons, they know they their stuff.[/QUOTE]


Yeah I had my commodore done by wilkinsons. Now I'm back to deciding on just springs or not haha. Appreciate the input, I'll pay a visit to both the STD place in Belmont and Wilkinsons and get some pros and cons of both. Thanks guys :)

Coilovers are highly adjustable, track oriented and not really daily friendly but still bearable if your skeleton is young. Good coilovers are costly but worthwhile for the application.

However, If you just want the car lower and still have a relatively easy ride, good quality lowering springs and alignment is more cost effective. Not sure with the G3, but aftermarket shocks may not be necessary, but probably advised. Excessive lowering will wear the strut sooner though.

definitely consult your preferred workshop for advice / quotes / brands etc as mentioned in above comments.

You have a lovely late model car, spend the money on it and get decent spring and shock combo, or lash out on good quality coilovers. Don't skimp please.

I have STDs fitted and if I had my time again, I would go springs and shocks for street duties. Yes the car handles well beyond my capabilities, but the harshness can be testing on Perth roads at low speeds.

20mm drop on eibach or rce spring, with perrin 20mm hub centric spacer is perfect for looks imo.

Ps: mca is made by std

using the Perth-WRX mobile app

[QUOTE=s20525xxx;816105]20mm drop on eibach or rce spring[/QUOTE]

RCE are nice, but a bit pricey to get here as no one stocks them locally and you will need to order direct from either RCE themselves or Rally Sport Direct and with the falling dollar, you will be up to $600+ for a set of springs!

[QUOTE=s20525xxx;816105]Ps: mca is made by std[/QUOTE]
Is this conjecture or fact?
Are you referring to all of his product line, some of his products or just some of the parts alone?

I would really appreciate if you could answer the above questions.

Going Lower - suggestions!
 

Well I'm off to pay STechnic a little visit today as last night when I pulled in the driveway I had some smoke coming out the bonnet scoop and the same thing this morning when I parked up at work. I'll question them and probably go for a decent set of springs and shocks. That seems to be the best option as its a daily driver.

P.S any insight as to what the smoke could be would be good so I can prepare my wallet for a beating haha.