Johnny_P's Street Parking Palooza

[ChrisoftheNorth]

I’m going to beat a dead horse because I think you need to hear it one more time. DONT FUCK WITH THE CAR.

[razr390]

I’m going to beat a dead horse because I think you need to hear it one more time. DONT FUCK WITH THE CAR.

[troyguitar]

I’m going to beat a dead horse because I think you need to hear it one more time. DONT FUCK WITH THE CAR.

[4zilch]

Who knows? I'm torn because I love the car but I want an automatic.

Two things annoy me with the car:
1) Bouncy suspension over shit roads
2) Insanely touchy throttle

Both can be fixed. If it prevents then why not? A bit of a gamble though, most of these tuner shops are really just trying to push product and make all sorts of riotous claims that forum members back up, and then when you get the thing installed you're like, "hey wait bruh this aspect of it totally blows" and it's all "oh yeah well that'll happen duh just live with it." Like, I take most claims of lowering springs providing a better ride than stock with a metric ton of salt, but these guys actually backed it up with stating how they adjusted the damping curves and spring progression. Most shops just say "provides a great ride" with no backup to the claim. But yeah there's a solid chance I get this and it doesn't fix shit and/or rides harsher than it did before at which point I'd be pissed.

So a few thoughts:

1. You won't in a year because you're Johnny_MisterIndecision_P and you'll have the STi for years to come, so . (I get it, I'm indecisive as hell, have been talking about dumping the C5 all year).

2. Have fun, you work at a job you hate to make good money, so spend it.

3. I agree with don't get any "performance" springs, I've gone down that road and I don't think it's right for your application. Shocks could be a solid investment and maybe a large rear sway if you like less understeer? I've never driven a Subaru so

4. As for the camber/alignment, I say , even though I do a bit of trackdaybro, I mostly street drive my car and it's way more fun with the negative camber. Sterring on mine actually feels good now and a regular C5 has awful steering feel. It'll be more fun just putzing around IMO.

RE suspension, why not just upgrade the strut/shocks with something designed for the stock springs ala Bilstein B6's?

[Johnny_P]

So a few thoughts:

1. You won't in a year because you're Johnny_MisterIndecision_P and you'll have the STi for years to come, so . (I get it, I'm indecisive as hell, have been talking about dumping the C5 all year).

2. Have fun, you work at a job you hate to make good money, so spend it.

3. I agree with don't get any "performance" springs, I've gone down that road and I don't think it's right for your application. Shocks could be a solid investment and maybe a large rear sway if you like less understeer? I've never driven a Subaru so

4. As for the camber/alignment, I say , even though I do a bit of trackdaybro, I mostly street drive my car and it's way more fun with the negative camber. Sterring on mine actually feels good now and a regular C5 has awful steering feel. It'll be more fun just putzing around IMO.

RE suspension, why not just upgrade the strut/shocks with something designed for the stock springs ala Bilstein B6's?

Trying to find any real information on dampers is like pulling teeth. I'm not sure the Bilsteins are actually an upgrade, as they're either designed for lowering springs which means significantly stiffer than stock, or designed to be an OEM replacement item which means similar damping to stock. A well built adjustable damper would be the solution, if it existed. Even more points if it can adjust low speed and high speed compression/rebound independently.

It's strange that the automotive world is like this but then again I guess not many people give a shit and once it's set you pretty much leave it where it is. Mountain bikes have independent adjustment for all sorts of stuff on their shocks. Even my poverty fork can adjust compression, rebound and air pressure (spring rate). Also in every other suspension application, more travel is considered better. Except cars, where people seem to think less travel is better.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

If anything, I would look into raising the car to rally spec. Would be EPIC over the surface of the moon.

[Johnny_P]

We really need to do a backroad drive.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I do back road quick drives all the time. If you wanna romp let me know. I'm down.

Curiously, the STI smooths out at speed. Hit a bump at high speed or under acceleration and it's handled swiftly and kind of softly with 1 up/down body motion indicating basically perfect damping which is weird, because at low speed the car is a bouncy house. Unfortunately for me, I do basically all my driving at low speed.

[4zilch]

RE suspension, why not just upgrade the strut/shocks with something designed for the stock springs ala Bilstein B6's?

Trying to find any real information on dampers is like pulling teeth. I'm not sure the Bilsteins are actually an upgrade, as they're either designed for lowering springs which means significantly stiffer than stock, or designed to be an OEM replacement item which means similar damping to stock. A well built adjustable damper would be the solution, if it existed. Even more points if it can adjust low speed and high speed compression/rebound independently.

It's strange that the automotive world is like this but then again I guess not many people give a shit and once it's set you pretty much leave it where it is. Mountain bikes have independent adjustment for all sorts of stuff on their shocks. Even my poverty fork can adjust compression, rebound and air pressure (spring rate). Also in every other suspension application, more travel is considered better. Except cars, where people seem to think less travel is better.

I don't know enough about the STI suspension to tell you the difference. Bilstein B6 is for the Fiesta has a much different damping curve than stock and are specifically designed for stock springs. Still stiff, but more compliant meaning they follow the irregularities in the road better, round off sharp bumps, etc. The only thing different from B6 to B8 is the damper rod length (b6 for stock springs, b8 for lowering springs).

But if you think adjustability is the answer then go with some KW's or Ohlins. I tend to think adjustability is over-rated in that once you find a setting, you tend to stick with it. Case-in-point I have fully adjustable suspension front and rear on both motorcycles - Independent High and low speed compression, rebound, and preload. I set them once, and aside from VERY small adjustments to address some tire wear patterns I don't mess with them.

Additional commentary, shocks and struts aren't serviced/replaced nearly often enough and contribute to the harsh/bouncy ride. I'd venture to guess that the Fiesta suspension was pretty well used up before 50k miles...probably closer to 30k. It's not a cliff event, so you really don't feel it when they need to be replaced in day-to-day driving. I only realized the suspension on the FiST was done when driving TOTD in back-to-back years.

[coogles]

Dude. Seriously, e-mail Geoff at Cygnus and tell him what you're trying to accomplish. I would guess he'll recommend ASTs, but he has as much experience tuning STi suspensions as anybody out there.

[Johnny_P]

If anything, I would look into raising the car to rally spec. Would be EPIC over the surface of the moon.

Rally suspensions aren't exactly soft because they are set up for off roading at high speeds. They all have increased spring rates.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

If anything, I would look into raising the car to rally spec. Would be EPIC over the surface of the moon.

Rally suspensions aren't exactly soft because they are set up for off roading at high speeds. They all have increased spring rates.

Moar suspension travel,

[Johnny_P]

Dude. Seriously, e-mail Geoff at Cygnus and tell him what you're trying to accomplish. I would guess he'll recommend ASTs, but he has as much experience tuning STi suspensions as anybody out there.

Probably not a bad call

[Johnny_P]

Rally suspensions aren't exactly soft because they are set up for off roading at high speeds. They all have increased spring rates.

Moar suspension travel,

Yeah
Bottomed out on a pothole today that I didn't see because it's dark out in the mornings now . Always hate that feeling of compression and then the boom that comes with ramming the bump stops. Another inch or two of suspension and it wouldn't have bottomed. i.e. crossover wheel travel.

[ChrisoftheNorth]

Moar suspension travel,

Yeah
Bottomed out on a pothole today that I didn't see because it's dark out in the mornings now . Always hate that feeling of compression and then the boom that comes with ramming the bump stops. Another inch or two of suspension and it wouldn't have bottomed. i.e. crossover wheel travel.

That's my point.

[coogles]

Dude. Seriously, e-mail Geoff at Cygnus and tell him what you're trying to accomplish. I would guess he'll recommend ASTs, but he has as much experience tuning STi suspensions as anybody out there.

Probably not a bad call

You can put whatever spring rates on the ASTs you want and from what I've seen him post they have more travel than Ohlins. They're but probably the best bet for what you're trying to accomplish. There might be some sort of upgraded factory sytle damper option he'd recommend you go with, though. No idea.

[Johnny_P]

Probably not a bad call

You can put whatever spring rates on the ASTs you want and from what I've seen him post they have more travel than Ohlins. They're but probably the best bet for what you're trying to accomplish. There might be some sort of upgraded factory sytle damper option he'd recommend you go with, though. No idea.

Really just want a decent replacement damper option. Coilovers come with tons of problems including poor corrosion resistance and need to rebuild frequently like every 2 years. They also have spring rates, generally.

[coogles]

Really just want a decent replacement damper option. Coilovers come with tons of problems including poor corrosion resistance and need to rebuild frequently like every 2 years. They also have spring rates, generally.

ASTs can go all the way down to 224lb (4k) springs if you want. Not sure what the stock springs are, but I'd wager that's softer than stock.

http://cygnusperformance.com/cart.php?t ... ory_id=778

[Johnny_P]

But of course no company makes a "buick ride quality" option because that's not very Metal

[troyguitar]

edit: Nevermind, looks like your best bet is actually to get OEM 2015 WRX front struts, keep your stock springs and stock rear shocks, and possibly run shorter progressive bump stops.

[troyguitar]

Here's an interesting post from the RCE guy:

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpo ... stcount=14

I found that from an "all around " stand point the 2015 WRX shocks felt the best. A decent amount of damping WITHOUT the overly active mono tube feeling that some might not like about the STI at speeds below 30mph.

So yes you could actually install WRX shocks on your STI ( both 2015's) and our soon to be released "Functional Lowering springs" and have a solid performer without the typical low speed feeling the STi has. Let me be clear, I dont mind this feeling but some have already complained about the STI feeling super stiff at low speeds( mph).

[Johnny_P]

edit: Nevermind, looks like your best bet is actually to get OEM 2015 WRX front struts, keep your stock springs and stock rear shocks, and possibly run shorter progressive bump stops.

The "data" is all over the place on this. Apparently 2016+ Premium and Limited WRX's have softer dampers. That's about the only concrete info I can gather.

2016+ Premium/Limited are softest
2015 WRX and 2016+ base WRX are stiffer
STI are stiffest

I test drove a Premium and didn't think it was worlds more comfortable.

[Johnny_P]

Here's an interesting post from the RCE guy:

https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showpo ... stcount=14

I found that from an "all around " stand point the 2015 WRX shocks felt the best. A decent amount of damping WITHOUT the overly active mono tube feeling that some might not like about the STI at speeds below 30mph.

So yes you could actually install WRX shocks on your STI ( both 2015's) and our soon to be released "Functional Lowering springs" and have a solid performer without the typical low speed feeling the STi has. Let me be clear, I dont mind this feeling but some have already complained about the STI feeling super stiff at low speeds( mph).

That would certainly be the cheapest way to go.

[troyguitar]

He described your exact complaint, I'd still skip his lowering springs but follow the advice of swapping for the OEM 2015 WRX front struts.

[Gberg2119]

We really need to do a backroad drive.

Sent from my Pixel XL using Tapatalk

I do back road quick drives all the time. If you wanna romp let me know. I'm down.

Curiously, the STI smooths out at speed. Hit a bump at high speed or under acceleration and it's handled swiftly and kind of softly with 1 up/down body motion indicating basically perfect damping which is weird, because at low speed the car is a bouncy house. Unfortunately for me, I do basically all my driving at low speed.

Yes'th. What roads do you go on?

[Johnny_P]

I do back road quick drives all the time. If you wanna romp let me know. I'm down.

Curiously, the STI smooths out at speed. Hit a bump at high speed or under acceleration and it's handled swiftly and kind of softly with 1 up/down body motion indicating basically perfect damping which is weird, because at low speed the car is a bouncy house. Unfortunately for me, I do basically all my driving at low speed.

Yes'th. What roads do you go on?

Did PA-125 before, it's a pretty rad route. This is a whole day event though, been a long time since I've been on it.
http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/495/P ... nz5LS.dpbs

If I want to waste an afternoon I'll do DE-100/82 and Creek Rd.
http://www.motorcycleroads.com/75/476/D ... x9fpj.dpbs

Or just blast around Ridley Creek SP area, or get lost in Bucks County near the Delaware River. There are a lot of good roads out by Downingtown and West Chester, but I don't know them and it's more of a drive to get there for me.

There are some really awesome roads out by Wilkes Barre but again I don't know them and had GF with me at the time so no I bet @dtraill27 knows them. Maybe he could lead us in the Mazda 6, like a pace lap.