What coilovers should I purchase?

[Qadthane]

Originally Posted by Cole

Is that because the positive camber will make the tires "pinch" the road and make it impossible to lose traction?

That is exactly how it works. Also, if you have enough toe in up front it pulls the pavement toward you so you go faster, sort of a poor man's warp drive. It's some crazy shit.

[WRBrzRX]

Originally Posted by Gforce

So many posters on this forum actually know very little about what they are talking about and think that by attacking someone personally, or using juvenile insults that they are correct. Well, newsflash, most of you are completely wrong and do not understand what you're doing, why you're doing it or why it has the effect on your cars that it does.

I, on the other hand, am posting from decades of experience about modifications I researched thoroughly and implemented one by one so I know for sure what effect each modification achieved.

what the actual fuck

you set out in march to pimp your weird ass zero camber street car wonder, stumbled on the forum where racers share setups and specs, rapid fire spewed a couple hundred posts off talking about how you dialed your car in to near stock levels and got super defensive when brushed aside in favor of the thousands of hours of data logs we've collectively run

please stop stinking up our boards and resume whatever you were doing before march

literally just return to what you were doing

[mav1178]

for the record, the term "coilover" has been misused by the automotive industry for many years.

"adjustable coilover" is more accurate, but even then it's not accurate because there are many cars (especially newer cars like Prius, 350Z, etc) where the rear spring is separate from the shock assembly, resulting in a more compact rear subframe/suspension design and is no longer a "coil spring over shock" design.

but whatever, keep roasting away.

[redlined600]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

.
Anyone want to see a shock dyno of the Ohlins on a FIA GT3 championship winning racecar? Guarantee you'll be scratching your heads.

- Andrew

Yes, make this thread great again. Let me rephrase, make this thread great.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

@Stang70Fastback if you really wanna have fun tell him your alignment specs.

Ironically, they're all wrong for dry pavement autocross... But a great daily/autocross compromise that I suspect also works really well in wet conditions.

I'm going to switch to no suspension and a solid rear axle because that's what the karts do, and they're always wicked fast.

[Shark_Bait88]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Yes you tease.

Yes!!!!

Dammit, Andrew! Don't you know that curiosity killed the cat?! This isn't what they mean by slaying *****. Lol

[Shark_Bait88]

Originally Posted by cjd

Ironically, they're all wrong for dry pavement autocross... But a great daily/autocross compromise that I suspect also works really well in wet conditions.

I'm going to switch to no suspension and a solid rear axle because that's what the karts do, and they're always wicked fast.

DO IT! I'll bring the beer over and help. Lol

[FR-Sky]

no money = Tein Flex Z (USING NOW), fortune auto 500/Prime (BEFORE)
have money = ohlin, kw, bilstein (FUTURE)

Dont think too much.

[churchx]

Imho bilstein B6 or B8/koni yellows fit very well alongside Flex Z.

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by FR-Sky

no money = Tein Flex Z (USING NOW), fortune auto 500/Prime (BEFORE)
have money = ohlin, kw, bilstein (FUTURE)

Dont think too much.

+ sachs

[Gforce]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Part of why people get upset with you is things like this. The "you're all idiots, only me and Subaru are doing it right" thing. No one likes that and it is not true. There is some crap on here, but there also some very intelligent people who race and win. Or people who just build really nice fun street cars (which isn't always easy either).

I agree with some of your suggestions. I disagree with some of your suggestions. I don't think you're an idiot (maybe a little stubborn like most people).

Having a reasonable discussion shouldn't be this hard. Just say that you like your car set up with X instead of Y. Maybe you tried Y and it didn't fit your needs. Try to keep in mind your preferences and situation are not exactly the same as everyone else's.

And if a person gets 1 thing wrong it doesn't necessarily invalidate everything they've ever said. But if literally everyone is telling you to rethink something, it might be time to at least listen and consider the alternative.

I'm still learning things all the time about building suspensions (and communicating with people). Some of things I've seen in the last 2 years would have blown me away 10 years ago. Anyone want to see a shock dyno of the Ohlins on a FIA GT3 championship winning racecar? Guarantee you'll be scratching your heads. That might be for another thread though.

Anyway, I try to stay out of bitchfests as much as possible. So I'm going to go drink a beer and play outside. Have fun everyone!

- Andrew

The logic raised by the initial poster goes like this:

I have $1,300 to spend. What coilovers should I buy?

The very first post asks a very reasonable question to which the original poster replies: to lower the car and fit wider wheels.

My first post points out that the budget is inadequate to buy coilovers and state my opinion, which is easy to defend, that you do not need coilovers in order to fit wider wheels or lower the car.

I am stubborn. I don't recall describing anyone in this forum an idiot, although thanks for the suggestion.

Given that the initial post was from someone using his or her car as a daily driver with no intention to track the car what possible benefit could he or she have got by wasting his or her $1,300 on coilovers too cheap to be any good. That budget will buy you a set of Bilstein B6 installed professionally. It will not buy you a set of coilovers with shocks as good as the B6.

[Gforce]

Originally Posted by D_Thissen

The misinformation that gets spewed on this forum is ridiculous. OEM is not always perfect. The 86 chassis is built on a budget. If the market would support this car costing 40k, the car would cost 40k. Fact is, it wont and Subaru/Toyota had to make sacrifices in order to get it at a price point that would actually sell.

This is correct as anyone who has added even modest changes will know. In Canada an Eaton type Supercharger will set you back around CDN$10K retail installed by a competent shop. On a three year old Subaru that's crazy money.

But, these cars make you crazy.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

Originally Posted by Gforce

This is correct as anyone who has added even modest changes will know. In Canada an Eaton type Supercharger will set you back around CDN$10K retail installed by a competent shop. On a three year old Subaru that's crazy money.

But, these cars make you crazy.

A local tuner suggested that if I want it "done properly", i.e with all the supporting mods like larger injectors, oil cooler, clutch, it'll be closer to 15K

[Gforce]

Originally Posted by StraightOuttaCanadaEh

A local tuner suggested that if I want it "done properly", i.e with all the supporting mods like larger injectors, oil cooler, clutch, it'll be closer to 15K

Well, you need stronger connecting rods before you need bigger injectors. You do not need an oil cooler. You cannot use full boost for more than a few seconds at a time without losing your license. Use standard warmup and especially cool down procedures you'd use for any turbo engine and oil temps won't be an issue. Tracking the car needs much better brake pads before you'd need an oil cooler. The stock clutch is perfectly ok for the standard size Supercharger pulley. The stock clutch is crap in pedal operation but grips fine. 4,000 rpm and a skillful drop of the clutch gets you the sweet smell of burnt Michelin and no burnt toast. First gear is far too short for street use with a Supercharger installed but it works well for daily driving. Not too sure why Subaru lowered the final drive gear ratio for the 2017 manual car.

My theory was to put the eForce onto the unmodified engine and wait until it breaks. Edelbrock and Cosworth both claim their basic Superchargers won't break this very robust little engine. Cosworth tested their mule for over 40,000 miles with no issues. Edelbrock is very experienced with induction systems and I am sure they would not warranty an engine if they were not sure they wouldn't need to pay up. If it breaks then, assuming it is salvageable, is the time to build it. Other sources indicate forged rods are enough for 400 HP. The stock crank is very strong. Reducing compression would be a smart mod if building an engine torque a smaller pulley. Edelbrock fits the same sized Eaton blower as Audi fitted to their 3.0 V6 so boost headroom is around 50% potential increase. Enough to blow the heads off!

Subaru builds a turbo version of this engine so we know it is strong enough to be boosted.

The diff is good for a lot of torque as it comes out of a Lexus. The transmission is reported to be based on an Asian light truck transmission and should be good. Axle shafts may not be strong enough though. Not sure if Subaru just fits the STI driveshafts but if they do then they are beefy enough.

To be honest, the 30% power and torque increase you get from any of the three or four screw or rotor type Superchargers available for this car is plenty for a daily driver. Harrop of Australia and Edelbrock use the 1320 Eaton. Cosworth used the more closely matched 900 (the number is the capacity of the air pump chamber per revolution). Sprintex also from Australia used a screw type.

Litchfield UK elected to use a Rotrex which gets you more power but less driveability.

Edelbrock paid for my post install dyno because it was their first install in my area. So far the only one. The before and after increases were around the 30% Edelbrock expected from our crappy 91 gas. My tuner verified for themselves that Shell 91 gives the best engine performance in my area. The 92 and 94 offered by others has too much ethanol in it and does not give better real world performance than ethanol free Shell 91. My seat of the pants dyno confirms that with my other three cars, two of which are also boosted. Fuel economy is also worse with the ethanol laced fuels as you would expect.