Kennyfvholla

So I understand a bigger rear sway bar, like 22mm, will help considerably with under steer (stock is a 16mm, right?). But if I replaced the front with, say, the 25mm tribeca bar, would I basically be back to square one with under steer? Since I'm bringing the ratio, so to speak, close to stock.

 

Also I have an 18mm rear bar from my old outback. I plan to throw that in. If I was able to source a cheap tribeca bar should I? Or would that be to unbalanced?

 

How do you think it would be with the 18 in back until I could get a 22? Do you think I should hold off on the 25 until I could do both at the same time?

 

Yes, a larger rear sway bar will help reduce under-steer TENDENCY.

 

Yes, stock RSB is 16 mm.

 

Yes, if you replaced the front bar with a 25 mm Tribeca bar you will increase TENDENCY. The tendency would be much more prone to under-steer than stock.

 

I say tendency, because any car, properly driven to (and only to, and not beyond) it's limits will take any turn neutrally.

 

Yes, an 18mm OB RSB is perfectly fine to use. The difference is almost indescribable though. 2 mm on a hollow sway bar isn't enough to really notice. Now, if you are going to install it, make sure that you have the frame/chassis mount as you won't be able to install it otherwise.

 

Using a 25 mm hollow Tribeca FSB with an 18 mm OB RSB will still increase the tendency to under-steer. Why? The ratio is still biased. You'd then have a FSB that is 7 mm larger up front than the rear. Stock is 20 mm up front, so that's only a 5 mm difference. Will you notice the difference? Probably not, but body motions may be held in check a bit more than stock.

 

I would hold off on installing any sway bars until you can install both the hollow Tribeca 25 mm FSB and the solid 22mm RSB.

 

I'm running that 25mm bar up front and a 22mm in the back, it's pretty balanced.

 

don't run these on stock endlinks though

 

Agreed. Upgrade the end-links is very necessary.

 

This setup is more balanced, because the 25 mm hollow is nearer to the strength (if not maybe a bit less) of the 22m solid bar.

 

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Remember, any car can be driven with a neutral balance. Changing the balance will only change how you need to control it, as well as change under/over-steer tendencies. On dry pavement, not being able to rotate a stock sedan as easily (if at all, really) as a stock wagon is annoying as hell!!!

 

Speaking of which, do you have a sedan or a wagon?

I'm wagon all the way. My first Subaru was a '96 LGT sedan, my last three Subie's have been wagons (98 OBL, 99 OBL, 98 LGT 5MT).

The way I see it there are only three "real" differences between the sedan and wagon:

 

looks, practicality, and handling performance.

 

Both of them look great, in different ways. I cannot say one looks any better than the other.

 

The wagon will always have the sedan in practicality. There is just SO much more room to stow things in a wagon, and most of them came with a roof rack from the factory. All of my wagons did.

 

The wagon is THAT much more balanced in turns. The weight is more towards a 50/50 weight distribution than the sedan is, and it makes all the difference.

 

I'll pass on the sedan every time if only for the practicality and handling of a wagon. It's a done deal to me.

Yes, but the Koni's are inserts and I hate screwing with that crap.

As far as coils are concerned, I would never overlook Raceland. I've driven several different cars with them installed. If you're not concerned about track racing, they're damn good.

 

But, if you don't like coils, get spring/struts. Personally though, I don't think KYB struts have enough dampening.. At least not to my liking. But, it's all about the strut/spring combination and what you're looking for out of it.

 

I wish there was a way to easily install Koni's on our cars. I got a set of Koni's yellow adjustable's with Neuspeed race springs for the Honda.

 

Holy Sh#t..... Best suspension combo I have ever used.

The problem with Outback/SUS springs on a sedan strut is that it's too large for the strut.

 

No after market company makes wagon specific springs anymore.

 

Go with full '04 STi assemblies and some spacers in the rear. Or, go with Raceland coils and adjust height as you want.

You only need studs for larger-than-3/8ths spacers. I bought that size from them for the STi suspension I put on my wagon. They make a great product.

Only if you have a wagon, it might look like it's sagging because the strut/spring combo is shorter than the factory LGT strut/spring. The STi only has a spring rate of 10 lbs/in more than the LGT wagon, but is 70 lbs more than a sedan. If you have a wagon, get 3/8th's inch spacers just in case.

For real

Nope. Not at all.

Search. It's been answered a few times.

I agree. I've been wanting to come up with a few complete threads for aftermarket parts and DIY diagnostics, but haven't really cared to... I say, just come up with a kick ass thread that could replace a few of the stickies, PM SBT, and see if he'll make that one consolidated thread.

Jesus Christ man... Let it go. It's just a damn thread. Let's use both of them. Each one has good information. No matter what though, people are still going to refuse researching what they need to know and ask stupid questions lol. I really don't think it matters which thread they post in.

Trust me, if a syncro is going you might as well replace the whole transmission.

well, i can tell you right now that the 95 4EAT has a final drive of 4.11, NOT 4.44

 

^really? I had always thought mine was 3.90...I guess my tranny is tired..it takes for ever to top out. I know they geared these things for efficiency..but Damn.

 

Sorry, forgot to specify about the non-GT/OB L models.

 

The 4EAT's have 4.11:1 final drive and the 5MT's have a 3.90:1 final drive ratio.

 

I edited my previous post.

It's easily searchable all over this forum, others, and google.

 

The 96 to 99 Legacy GT/OB 4EAT's all have a final drive differential ratio of 4.44:1

 

The 95 to 99 non-GT/OB Legacy's all have a 4.11:1

 

The 96 to 99 GT/OB 5MT's all have a final drive differential ratio of 4.11:1

 

The 95 to 99 non-GT/OB Legacy's all have a 3.90:1

 

The GD WRX 4EAT's all have a final drive ratio of 4.11:1

 

The GD WRX 5MT's all have a final drive ratio of 3.90:1

 

And why's your trans dying? WRX transmission go for quite a lot of money to the point it's almost not worth it.

Dual port heads, hand down.. Being able to put an inexpensive header on along with upgrades outweighs the cost of just a custom header for the single ports..

Just new bushings on your old mounts with the new bar.

 

Yep, this.

To me, dropping it in and having a CEL is not doing it the right way. So I won't advise anyone to do so. I'll tell them how to do it the right way.

You just need to know the cam journal measurements and spring dimensions.

Yep, it's Phase 1

 

Do some research on NASIOC and see if someone has swapped the internals of the heads before. I don't see why it can't be done, but there's always that chance of something being different.

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm........

 

 

 

idk

The bars from earlier Impreza's seem to fit a little better

Your heads should be find then... Just use the short block from the JDM motor and put your top end on, using OEM or Cometic head gaskets. Get an AM Auto gasket kit of eBay for the rest of the gaskets you'll need. They'll come with new valve guides and valve stem seals. Use the cams and valvetrain components from the JDM heads if you can.

Theoretically, that should work. I can't say for sure because I don't know of anyone who's done it. I'm sure it's possible though.

JDM 25D motors did not have EGR systems. So, at the very least, you'll need to tap the head for the EGR tube and run a USDM intake manifold.