So, I have been thinking of mucho ideas for the suspension of the car. Bottom line is its time for the JICs to go, if you want to buy them let me know Anyhoo, here are some alternatives Ive come up with. I will be directing the car more towards a streetable (and enjoyable) daily driver with potential for auto-x and track day fun. In addition, there is a dedicated track car in the works as well :sx #1 Stock 05 STi Take-offs ($0) Stock shocks ($0) Stock springs (or Pinks I guess...seems like a waste) Grp-N Front & Rear HSM's ($0) Total: $0 #2 Stock 05 STi Take-offs ($0) Stock shocks ($0) RCE or Swift springs ($200-$300) RCE camber plates (or PDE if I can find them) front ($300-$400) Grp-N rear top hats ($0) Total: $500 - $700 #3 STI Type-RA Takeoffs ($600) Type-RA 4 way adjustable shocks Type-RA, RCE or Swift springs ($0-$300) RCE camber plates (or PDE if I can find them) front ($300-$400) Grp-N rear top hats ($0) Total: $900 - $1300 #4 Stock 05 STi Take-offs ($0) Ohlin adjustables ($2000) Stock, RCE or Swift springs ($0-$300) RCE camber plates (or PDE if I can find them) front ($300-$400) Grp-N rear top hats ($0) Total: $2300 - $2700 (coilover range) I am open to suggestions, ideas and complaints :wiggle:
I forgot to point this out. There is only one aftermarket shock made for the 05-06 sti assembly, Ohlin. Koni, Tokico, etc only are made for the WRX and 04 STi.
In my opinion, Ohlins are the best you can buy, its the shock that we use on all the IRL and Champ cars. I've never driven with their street version, but the full race remote resevoirs are the way to go
KW Variant 3 (this is what Cobb runs on the Time Attack car, and what we'll be running on the OneLap car). True digressive valving, independantly adjustable compression and rebound. Retail MSRP $2250 FTW SS
I guess the first question would be, why are the JICs going? Too harsh? Tired of coilovers? Of course, option 4 looks to be the best of everything without the harsh daily driving characteristics that I often hear people complain about. BUT, if you're in that $2300 - $2700 price range, why not go to another set of coilovers, unless of course, the answer to my previous question is...I'm tired of them for a daily driver. I, of course, like option #2. This is most likely the route I am going, except I may forego the camber plates and simply run the Group-Ns front and rear. For my setup, my priority is daily driving performance and second is auto-x/track days. I still want the increased performance on for the track, but I highly doubt this car will see a lot of track or auto-x time.
why loose your current coilover setup?? Especially after all the hub swap work you've done. Otherwise, I'd choose the Ohlin setup as well. I'm guessing you've ridden in Mere's car. what did you think about that setup?
Clay, if you want, I'll sell you my grp-n fronts. If I do change out, I'll only be using the rears regardless. I am tired of the JICs, the valving is shiesty and its no longer comfortable for me downtown. I thought it wouldnt be a problem originally, but now I just want out of them. The jic valving is slow compared to other coilovers as well. Dont get me wrong, the JICs are a great entry level coilover, just know what to expect Ive learned all Ive really wanted to learn from them and its opened my world to the dynamics of coilovers in general. Also, the hub swap is somewhat irrelevant to the JICs, I mean I had to get the lower brackets for them, but that's about it. About a week after the swap was done I made up my mind on the JICs, unfortunately, Will and I had already gone through the process of finding the lower brackets and such. Its no biggie though, there's other problems to deal with. What I think I am going to do is treat this in some stages. Right now, the JICs will go and I will go back to a strut setup and play around with that. Ultimately, I am not out there to win competitions or whatever, I'm out there to have fun. I want predictability, reliability and enjoy...ability (?). My price range is not 3 grand, I put the ohline setup on there to have an alternative to consider yet know is out of my price range. This is what Nick over on IWSTi had to say and I think his responses is one of the more well thought out ones over there.
Since I have a WRX...i am thinking about some upgraded struts,RCE or Pink springs with Grp N tops all around. I would go the same route if I had an STi as well.
I am not in the market for a coilover. Strut options for the 04-07 WRX amd 04 STi shoule be out soon. I know KYB and Toniko(spelling?) have struts now or will before the end of the year.
I have never driven on a set of KONIs that I didnt like, I cant say that about any other strut out there. Matt
I talked to Koni before getting the Ohlins, and they have no plans for making a strut replacement for the 05+ STi. -- Brian - loves Koni shocks
Man that sucks, you could always get the ZYZZX(sp) coilovers I think they actually use a Koni 2871 insert. Of course they are also 3k so you know.
Yep, they are nice coilovers, and are $3k without any camber/caster places. We needed to stick to struts to be legal for the scca stock class, so coilovers were unfortunately out of the picture. If I was going for coilovers, I would probably get the ZZYZX ones, as I the Koni 8611 DA inserts are good units. I talked to Lee Grimes at Koni about their DA shocks, as I am looking to use them for my kit car, and he told me that you can get 95% of the performance of the DA shocks with a properly valved SA shock. The price is a whole lot less also. -- Brian
As I stated, no company has plans to make anything for the 05+ STi's. It isnt that much work to modify the stockers anyways. What year is your car now ?
OTS Koni inserts (SA for rebound) will work with your struts, and are probably the cheapest option. They do require hacking up your struts though. -- Brian
I did, there's a feeler FS thread on the JICs right now: http://www.wrxatlanta.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9775