So I'm suffering my now very familiar "my car's not a wrx or RS" syndrome, and am having difficulty finding info for my '05 OBS. I'm looking into buying an '06 WRX sedan RSB as an upgrade to my stock 13mm bar. As far as I can tell, all '02-'07 rear bars should fit across wagons and sedans, RS and WRX. I figure my OBS would be included in that, but I'd like confirmation. Also, would I need to pick up WRX endlinks to make it work, or can I use my stock links for it? Finally, I'm going to be replacing my very sagging rear suspension with FXT springs and struts which will hopefully level me out again, or give me a slight rake. Will this have any effect on my ability to mount the RSB? Thanks ahead of time for any info!
The OBS is the exact same chassis as wrx/rs wagon. The only difference is you have a slightly larger ground clearance (different springs). So YES, any rear bar that fits the wagon or sedan will fit (not STi bars though) You don't NEED new endlinks, but you will get better response from the swaybar with stiffer (non-plastic) endlinks. The swaybar mounts to the rear lateral link, so unless you change those, the struts will not affect the RSB. In general you can get any suspension component that will fit the WRX wagon. This site is way cooler than nasioc, but lurk around there because there are a TON of wagon guys there and you can get a better idea for what fits and what doesn't. You can also search for front sway fitment. Technically there are very few options for FSB on NA imprezas (wagons or sedans) but there are ways around this. A big FSB helps the car handle better in so many ways. So even though you were only talking about RSB, read this and consider: http://www.iwsti.com/forums/suspension-handling-stiffening/26301-siegel-racing-topspeed-dissertation-suspension.html
^^ That post being the first response in this thread is the exact reason I posted here and not on Nabisco. I've looked around and read everything to do with lifting an Impreza on nasioc, but if I dare mention it, I better don the flame suit. That's exactly what I needed to know. And yes, I know about the endlink upgrade. Just finished reading the sticky. Thanks so much though! And just to confirm, though I'm pretty sure, the FSB won't fit, right?
It can be a bit aggravating on nabisco, but there is LOTS of info if you know where to find it. You can't ask for it, you just have to search. I have an 27mm "STi" FSB on my wagon, I actually have a thread on it on nasioc, let me find it....here we go: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1450132
Thanks for the suggestion. The WRX RSB is going to cost me $20, so I figure I can toss it on there and if I do notice a difference and want more, I didn't waste much money.
Thats not an overly drastic change so you might not notice much, especially since your only changing the rear. Also with stock springs it won't be as apparent either. I thought about doing that $20 upgrade at one point to save money but then I realized that a new bar was not a whole lot more and be cheaper in the long run. I'm running 22mm in front and rear and it works great in my car! The bars definitely help the rear level out some which makes it rotate better. My car still has a hint of understeer(which I could fix) but after the initial turn in it corners pretty flat. and yes, a sedan wrx fsb will not fit a wagon.
The difference bewteen "sedan" and "wagon" bars is very, very small. If you have the proper endlinks and a few spacer washers, then any bar will fit, no problems. Sometimes people order aftermarket parts that are specifically designed for their cars and they STILL have to use spacers to make things line up. You will notice more improvement by upgrading the FSB than just the RSB. I did my RSB first, then did the FSB. If I had known how great a mod the FSB was I would have done that mod before any others.