My car has 110K miles on it. I think all the suspension is stock including the wheels. I have some crappy sunny tires on it in size 205. I'd like some recommendations to improve the handling for mountain runs, and occoasional non competitive auto-x. Is it time to replace all the bushings? Should I look into the anti lift kit? What size sway bars? etc. etc.... Is there a progrissive stage 1, stage 2 type guide floating around? Thanks, Chris
Stock wheels can take 225 width tires. My setup was 27mm front sway bar and 24mm rear. My car handled pretty good daily driven with swift springs and kyb gr2 shocks but even better with coilovers. Whiteline steering rack bushings made a huge difference too i had mountain runs in mind when setting up the car and its worked quite well
I will be selling all of my suspension stuff in the next few months. You are more than welcome to try it out next Tuesday at the charity dinner.
i bought a 20 ton press and pressed out every suspension bushing and replaced them with whiteline plus mostly. i also replaced the lower front control arms, and the struts with complete ground control units, and TIC fender braces, adjustable camber plates front and back. the GC stuff gives me near stock ride height ability. car is firmly planted and fun to drive without being lowered much. i suspect i saved a lot of money by doing the bushings myself but it was pretty tedious work. BTW i would suggest either the whiteline plus (between comfort and race) or the group-n bushings and stay away from the solid stuff unless you are looking for race type stiffness.
Of course it all depends on budget. I went a cheap route and am happy: STI springs (stock shocks), whiteline 22 mm front sway, FHI 20 mm rear sway, KB f&r endlinks + steering rack bushings. I am happy with it. I think thicker sways would make it tighter, but it gets less dd friendly. All total was about $500. I cannot comment on the bushings (other than steering rack). At that mileage, you may want to invest in shocks (esp. if you upgrage springs). The koni inserts are a very good option for the wagons. I think a set is $700 or so + install (of your community can help).
For your needs, don't bother replacing the bushings - unless they are just rotted out. You would notice clunking or metal on metal sounds. Plus there is a lot you can do before that. In order of priority I would suggest the following: 1. Tires - really good tires like the Dunlop Star Specs or RE-11 will make a huge difference. On a wagon 235 width is as wide as I would go - I tried 245, but it doesn't really work well. Put the stickiest tires you can get on the lightest rims you can afford - this will help handling more than anything else. 2. Alignment - get a real alignment, not a "within spec" alignment like you get at regular service intervals. In stock form this means max negative camber up front and zero toe all around - nothing else is adjustable. 3. Shocks - you need good shocks to handle the increases effective spring rate from stiffer springs or sway bars. Unfortunately, the only big upgrade for the wagon is the Koni inserts. Other dampers provide relatively little upgrade over stock. Using sedan struts or coilovers (without other supporting mods) will cause big time camber issues, and this screws up #2. 4. Springs, sways. It is a good idea to think about these two together because in general it works like this: Bigger bars with softer springs OR smaller (but still bigger than stock) bars with stiffer springs. Unless you are going to drive competitively, I recommend the former. Something like STi pinks or better yet RCE wagon springs (if you can find them), and I think Swift makes some wagon springs. 5. Brakes - upgrade the pads and maybe the fluid - leave the rest alone. Don't bother with special rotors or a big brake kit. 6. Camber plates, ALK, offset bushings and other alignment altering mods are all worth considering. I would first drive the car with the previous mods and then determine if you even need more camber/caster or whatever. All that being said, that is NOT how I did it on my car. But if I did it all over I would do things in that order. Certain mods actually increase the handling envelope of the car far more than other mods that increase the FEEL of the car. For example, a stiff set of sways alone makes the car feel stiffer and will let it take a turn faster. However better tires alone will allow the car to take a turn even faster still, but the car will still have the stock body roll and not feel as stiff.
Funny that I now remember him asking me about my lift kit and if 31"s would clear the fender wells. As posted above, tires and struts will make a world difference and would be the first suspension mods made. With your model as with mine a spacer for the rear is a must if going with a lower ride height though.
why a spacer? I never used a spacer, and my rears were tucking? I didn't even roll my fenders. 225/55/16 will fit just fine. didn't you have 65 profile tires on Reel?
I move up a wheel size every 2 months, looking for double duece's now Have OEM wheels w/ stock tire size, along with another set w/ Hankook W409's to play in the gravel, along with the P1's on 225/40/18" Have to remember I'm a redneck living with the ghetto rats
Thanks for all the great info guys! Looks like I'm going to save up for wheels and tires next, and move on from there. Oneiguy, I will take you up on your offer. That may make for a cheap transition for me buying used parts if you decide to sell. Special thanks to SubiNoobi, that is EXACTLY the plan of attack I was looking for.