I just ordered the RCE springs and RCE camber plates with rear group n top hats. I was wondering if anyone was running this set up on an 06? How is the ride?
I have the RCEs with the PDE camber plates. The ride is about what I expected from springs. What I did not expect was the drop. I wanted to see a drop similar to pinks (functional), instead it made me question what RCE really stood for...was it RiCE ?
I am not really worried about it being low. I don't really care for the slammed look but i am not planning on puting any sort of lip spoiler on my car. The reviews that i have read say that it rides better than stock is this true???
Curious for responses as I'm currently having the RCE vs. Pinks vs. Prodrive's debate... Tax return $$$ is coming this week. I neet to get some springs before I start feeling guilty and be responsible with the money...
I had an 04 sti before with pinks on my car and was not impressed whatsoever. I like the prodrives but the drop is not even hardly noticeable at all and i hear they are a little soft for the track. MY BIGGEST CONCERN AND QUESTION IS ARE THEY TOLLERABLE FOR A DAILY DRIVER.... THE REVIEWS ARE EVERYTHING FROM JAR YOUR TEATH OUT TO WAY BETTER THAN STOCK...????
Here's the deal...everyone has their own opinion. It seems like a lot of STi owners came from Toyota Camrys or something...On the other hand, a few of us have daily driven track setups (ie coilovers). Its a personal preference. If you're in Atlanta, you're more than welcome to come for a ride in my car with the RCEs. My question is what were you so unimpressed about with the pinks? Finally, what is your overall intention with the car and your budget?
Well i guess it hard to make a fair judgement on the pinks considering that i didn't change the top hats out. My car is mainly a daily driver, but i do plan on tracking it on occation, but not an every weekend thing. I can't afford coilovers right now because me and my wife are trying to buy a house. I just don't want a set up that me or her just gasp before we hit a bump in the road... HOnestly in your opinion is it a tolerable ride and is it much worse than stock imo???
I'm on the RCE's with stock hats. IMO, the springs are quite tolerable for daily driving. The bobble is nearly gone; they are certain stretches of highway that will still show some of the bobble, but for the most part, it has smoothed things out at speed. Around town, under 40mph, there is an occassionaly bump that will jar your teeth slightly, but they're performance springs, so there is going to be a trade-off. Above 40mph, it's odd, they springs suddenly smooth out; hard to explain. As for performance, so far, I have been quite impressed and with a SS/Will performance alignment, the car grips well on the street. I'll hopefully have it out to Little Tally soon as well as get involved with some AutoX this season. The drop doesn't bother me as much as others. It's lower than the Eibach's were on my '03, but not as ricey as El Presidente pointed out, IMHO. If you're ever in the Atlanta area, give me a shout, I'd be happy to give you a ride in the car.
I scraped the bottom of the car on a few things with the RCEs lately...much to my surprise and dismay. Any quickly changing incline, IE leaving a parking lot caught my underside. 14th St Starbacks & any place on Howell Mill. Please note, I am not saying caught the bumper, etc, no, I am referring to concrete vs resonator.
STi1981 & Rexrocker(or Alex)... Can you guys post side shots of your cars so I can see the drop??? I'm currently leaning towards Pinks but haven't made a final decision...
^^^^ LOL.... Didn't have my tax returns coming at the time and wasn't pondering springs.... and one time it was dark...
I have the Prodrives and am completely satisfied with them. They are a great compromise for better handling, without spending the $1000 or so for Coilovers. I am very satisfied with my springs. The drop is near perfect for my taste. Not too low that you are scraping constantly, and fixes the huge gaps in the Front fender and the smaller gap in the rear. I love the feel. During normal driving, they feel almost exactly like stock, but when you start to push a bit harder, they start to show their real strengths. I had done quite a bit of Auto Xing on both stock and the prodrives, and noticed definite improvements in my times, and the overall stability and control of the car under hard cornering. I would eventually like to go to a Coilover setup, but don't have the money for a new or used set, and won't for a while.
Head over to IWSTI and check the Suspension/Handling forum. There are a bunch of reviews and better pictures.
Rex, got a google error: forbidden when I tried to go to your link and after re-reading I realized you had Pinks on your 04', so to clarify, I need pics of that car if you have them...
Pic work fine for me. Not sure what problem you're having. Here is a link to the public gallery: http://picasaweb.google.com/fcbenoit/WorkingOnTheSTiS "Pinks on my '04"...:hsnono: no pinks, no '04. RCE's on an '06.
Rex, got you confused with STI1981 there... hey cut, me some slack , I've been up since 6am! Your car looks great, pretty much the same drop I got with whitelines on my 03'. I'm concerned its a little too low though as my 03' rode like shit with the flatouts... But.. different springs, STI vs. WRX.. Lots of variables there.... Thanks for the pics though, now I just need one with the Pinks...
The flatouts might have just been too much spring for the very weak stock wrx dampers. I always hear how stiffer springs make the STis ride better since they're overdamped from the factory. Again, SOA put softer spring rates to make the car cushier for the USDM.
I did upgrade to KYB GR1's struts to try to compensate, I guess the flatouts still could've overpowered them though...
GR2s? Those are marginally better than stock but still half of what the AGXs damp. I dont know what the spring rates are but if you're going much over a 200lb springrate on a WRX you should upgrade the struts. Miles at RCE has talked about how the STI struts are good up to ~320lb spring, the RCE springs are the stiffest he feels the stock STI strut can handle.
Found a table of spring rates on iwsti, won't let me copy/paste in for some reason but here's some examples... keep in mind these are for 04-05 STI's fr/rr fr/rr(in lbs) Cobb sport 51mm,38mm 283/243 Prodrive 15mm,10mm ????? (Website says 20mm fr/rr , maybe diff for 06's?) Swifts 30mm,30mm 251/223 Tanabe df10 33mm,20mm 241/224 JDM pinks 10mm,10mm 257,217 (I've heard 20m,20m for the drop) Tein S 44mm,32mm 252/219 Espilar GT 30mm,20mm 280/230 RCE 27mm,30mm 322/272(Alex guestimate) Thought this might help, if anyone has info to add it'd be greatly appreciated! PS... Didn't meen to step on the original poster... Mods can split to new thread if he wishes..
So time to unleash some newb-osity, what exactly can you tell from a spring rate? Do you want higher or lower?
As far as I know, the higher the spring rate, the stiffer they are... I'm sure someone more in the know will help us out....
My estimates put the RCEs around 322 / 272 ish. And here are a few shots of the drop. Its somewhere along the lines of 27~30mm... ^^ WRXAtlanta.com Offical Image Hosting btw (To be launched soon to the public)
Higher number means a stiffer spring :naughty: F=-kx for those of us that still remember physics, the spring rate is K and the distance compressed is X and F is the force it takes to compress it. Granted this is for linear rate springs and every spring with the exception of the Prodrives are progressive. Linear offers better turn in response since the spring is uniformly stiff but it will also ride a little bit harsher. Progressive springs get stiffer as the spring compresses so they ride better for daily driving when you arent pushing the car hard.
I have a v-limited lip(edit: its a replica) and I'm afraid to scrape with even pinks. Any other suggetions? Maybe KW V3's with the 4x4 look? :lol:
Wow alex car looks lower on the RCE than any other pic i have seen.. That is pretty slammed looking...
Thanks Alex, wish I was paying attention to the suspension when I rode in it... I actually think your car looks great with that drop. Looks like it might be a little aggressive though and with those spring rates it sounds teeth jarring coinciding with your opinion of them.... So now my debate is narrowed down between Prodrives and Pinks.. leaning towards Prodrive........... I'll update my table ^^^ for the RCE's...
Here's a pic of the 05 STI Prodrive springs retrofitted on a bugeye WRX wagon. I think its the perfect drop for the wagon, the rear will probably be anywhere between another 1/4" to 1/2" higher on a sedan. Pretty good rates too, I think they're a little stiffer than the Pinks, just make sure you get the 05 spec springs, the 04 Prodrive STI springs sat too low and handled worse.
Bobby, that looks great and what I'm leaning towards... It looks like a little bit more aggressive drop than pinks, and I've heard nothing but good things at how they handle from 420 and others. Plus their over a $100 dollars cheaper than pinks($269shipped vs $379shipped)... Only thing is I have yet to see them on an 06' STI. Not sure if there is different springs for 06' and if the drop is the same(all the vendors claim a 20mm drop fr/rr which I would think would make the car uneven)... I have a PM dialogue going on with a prodrive vendor to get some answers and will update this thread when I do.
STi1981, I think I got us all hooked up! Here's a reply I got from a vendor @ worldone.... Looking at these pics I think I've made up my mind!!!!!!!!!!!! Hi Chris, No problem with the questions Prodrive actually keeps their spring rates a very closely guarded secret. As for the drop, this thread will definitely show you how nice and even the drop is: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1189056 Please give me a call today, I've got tons in stock and ready to ship Armin @ W1 Grrr.... can someone fix this link for me, it didn't work when I copied it over from a PM......... grrr....
Cool... Alex, can you fix my link somehow??? I copied it from a PM and it doesn't work... Its an awesome link though, it shows prodrives on several different years/models...
Thanks ^^^ , anyone know what was wrong with my link? It allways seems to happen when I copy and past it from somewhere else... Also just realized the 06' in that link wasn't an STI.. so still need a pic of that to round out our prodrive study....
Tried searching IWSTi yet? Yes, my car is mucho low...and from what Ive been reading, it isnt all that uncommon. I was parked on relatively flat ground in that photo and no, they are not backwards. This is with a stock tire size as well, shoulda seen it with the zigens :lol:
imed andrew at race comp today and he said that the ride is not much if any difference between the prodrive and the RCE, due to the RCE progessive nature, however the prodrives are not near as track worthy. Also the 06 with nonlowering pillarballs mounts are not going to or do not appear to sit near as low as the 04 05 does.. I think i am going to stick with the RCE simply because if i ever go with the ohlins fixed perch in the future i am going to want the best performing spring. I have seen pics of body roll with the prodrives, not impressed, and the drop imo is a little racked looking being the back almost looks higher than the front.... Just my .02..............
Make sure you get the red Prodrive springs, the blue ones are rated for the WRX strut and arent likely to be any sort of handling improvement. I'm jealous, the 05 STI Prodrive springs are what I wanted to go with for my wagon but the Espelir GTs cost half as much. The Prodrives should have less initial body roll since they're not progressive. I dont know why Andrew at RCE would say otherwise.
I am talking in terms of ride quality a progessive spring is going to ride better, however the RCE are super stiff at there full potential. Linear is what our stock springs are......
Don't get me wrong i am not trying to down prodrive springs. I am more or less trying to way out pros and cons.....
I'll make sure to re-afirm with the guy at worldone when I order, all the pics I've seen the springs are blue... then again you still have to specify what year on a drop down so there obviously not the right pics.. STi1981, anxious to hear your reviews...