RCE Yellows + Koni Yellows + Whiteline Camber Adjustment Bushings

[raul]

Spent a few hours doing this yesterday. The drop is subtle, but it rides amazing! I have the Konis set one full turn from full soft and will be fine tuning as I drive it more. Since I knew I was going to need to cut my front struts I decided to get an extra set from an ex-FR-S owner I knew in case I botched it up. The process was pretty straight forward but I wasn't trying to make a DIY so I didn't take many pictures.



Stock on top, RCEs on the bottom:

[Mgivens]

Would love to hear more driving impressions compared to stock!

Thanks

[raul]

Originally Posted by Mgivens

Would love to hear more driving impressions compared to stock!

Thanks

Gotta get an alignment and then the adjusting begins lol.

[Calum]

I just installed yellows and some bushings. I DD my can and was really worried about making the ride worse and lower the car too much. I can't believe how well these ride, even on the stock struts. Considering they are about 100% stiffer in the front I was nervous.

The extra spring rate in the front does a great job of keeping the car off the bump stops, which makes driving at the limit much easier and confidence inspiring. RCE really did a great job picking these rates and not going with the trend of just increasing the stock rates proportionately.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by Calum

I just installed yellows and some bushings. I DD my can and was really worried about making the ride worse and lower the car too much. I can't believe how well these ride, even on the stock struts. Considering they are about 100% stiffer in the front I was nervous.

The extra spring rate in the front does a great job of keeping the car off the bump stops, which makes driving at the limit much easier and confidence inspiring. RCE really did a great job picking these rates and not going with the trend of just increasing the stock rates proportionately.

I came here to say that even on the Konis set to 1 turn from full stiff, the ride on "smooth" pavement is so much better. Very...bumpy...on the stock springs and struts in my opinion. While this is certainly stiffer, I'm not so much feeling the little imperfections in the pavement that made the OEM ride so bumpy. Now broken pavement is a different story - that's definitely worse than stock IMO, but entirely expected.

Getting an alignment tomorrow. Pretty sure it's my "alignment" (lol, stupid camber in the rear and probably some dumb toe up front), but traction control was kicking in a lot more frequently. It may also be in part to my "alignment," but the car really wants to change directions now. Not uncontrollably so, but much more directly.

[Calum]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

I came here to say that even on the Konis set to 1 turn from full stiff, the ride on "smooth" pavement is so much better. Very...bumpy...on the stock springs and struts in my opinion. While this is certainly stiffer, I'm not so much feeling the little imperfections in the pavement that made the OEM ride so bumpy. Now broken pavement is a different story - that's definitely worse than stock IMO, but entirely expected.

Getting an alignment tomorrow. Pretty sure it's my "alignment" (lol, stupid camber in the rear and probably some dumb toe up front), but traction control was kicking in a lot more frequently. It may also be in part to my "alignment," but the car really wants to change directions now. Not uncontrollably so, but much more directly.

I haven't set an appointment for an alignment yet, I want to put some miles one the springs before I do that, but it'll be soon.

[raul]

@OrbitalEllipses

I dialed in 1 full turn both front and rear and the car was actually pretty neutral. It also rode very nice compared to stock. You had to really push it to get the tail to slide. I dialed it back about a quarter turn in the rear and now I can rotate the car a bit easier with throttle. So far that seems to feel the best pre-alignment. We'll see how it goes post-alignment.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by Calum

I haven't set an appointment for an alignment yet, I want to put some miles one the springs before I do that, but it'll be soon.

Unbolting the strut from the upright moved shit around, don't doubt it. I also don't think modern springs need to "settle" so :shrug:. I will say that I have NO new noises and I'm also running Subaru Group-N strut tops which are a hard durometer rubber that will increase harshness.

Originally Posted by raul

@OrbitalEllipses

I dialed in 1 full turn both front and rear and the car was actually pretty neutral. It also rode very nice compared to stock. You had to really push it to get the tail to slide. I dialed it back about a quarter turn in the rear and now I can rotate the car a bit easier with throttle. So far that seems to feel the best pre-alignment. We'll see how it goes post-alignment.

Yeah, any pre-alignment judgments are kind of a waste IMO since the car definitely has some wacky things going on and that'll change after tomorrow. As far as traction control going off I feel like I should clarify; it wasn't necessarily the tail coming around as much as the car being touchier to changes in direction likely related to how the alignment rests right now.

Also mini-review of the SPC arms: they are not RH or LH specific (as a cost saving measure I'm sure). Take from that what you will.

[Calum]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Unbolting the strut from the upright moved shit around, don't doubt it. I also don't think modern springs need to "settle" so :shrug:. I will say that I have NO new noises and I'm also running Subaru Group-N strut tops which are a hard durometer rubber that will increase harshness.

Even RCE has to drive it for 50-100 miles until the springs find themselves, or whatever you want to call it. Though they shouldn't change much and certainly shouldn't settle like crappy springs do. I went with the whiteline tops, so far, no increase in NVH here either, and as far as I know they use the same durometer rubber.

What model subaru top hat is required for the Group-N tops? I thought it was the same as the bugeye's (sorry, I'm not familiar with the chassis codes) but that they were clocked differently. Do they change the strut position at all?

[Grimlock]

I put my car on the same setup. You can read about it here: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32187

[raul]

@Grimlock, reading your review is part of the reason why I went with the combo.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by Calum

Even RCE has to drive it for 50-100 miles until the springs find themselves, or whatever you want to call it. Though they shouldn't change much and certainly shouldn't settle like crappy springs do. I went with the whiteline tops, so far, no increase in NVH here either, and as far as I know they use the same durometer rubber.

What model subaru top hat is required for the Group-N tops? I thought it was the same as the bugeye's (sorry, I'm not familiar with the chassis codes) but that they were clocked differently. Do they change the strut position at all?

Group N tops do not change the strut position and they are the same strut top from AT LEAST 2002 to now for the front, they may even fit earlier models. They are simply harder; I'd rather have the tops and a control arm bushing before a Com-C top. Those have had bearing issues and rubber separation issues since they came out for the 08+ model.

[Calum]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Group N tops do not change the strut position and they are the same strut top from AT LEAST 2002 to now for the front, they may even fit earlier models. They are simply harder; I'd rather have the tops and a control arm bushing before a Com-C top. Those have had bearing issues and rubber separation issues since they came out for the 08+ model.

meh, they're had enough revisions, the latest being a better bearing, if it fails they've been pretty good about warrantying them.

[raul]

Went around for some figure 8s tonight at a local deserted parking lot. Ended up 1.25 turns from soft in the front and 1 full turn in the back. It corners neutral for the most part, but if you add throttle mid-corner you can get the car to rotate in a very controlled, progressive manner. It's still slightly bouncy and I might play with it more later, but so far it feels amazing.