jeffy2.5xt Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 what would be recommended to increase the handling characteristics of an outback wagon or possibly a gt wagon without going any lower? would the usual items still apply? better dampers, upgraded springs, and sways? im familiar with suspension upgrades and handling in general but never as it applied to getting sporty but staying tallish. i threw in the gt wagon as a possible because that is about the lowest i would want to take my outback for some time, but preferably stay outback height. also does everyone or anyone for that matter leave stock sway with better links for solidity but upgrade to a larger diameter rear sway to help increase rotation and help a little with the natural understeer of these cars? thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kongzilla Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 What are you looking to achieve? Good Street vehicle or track? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 mostly just street for now but im not in the business of wasting money and hope to at some point autocross it or light track day use. but the problem right now is i need to keep it tallish for hauling my boat and going through some offroad type stuff for hunting purposes until i find a truck to dedicate to those activities. i would still like to make forward progress and increase the fun factor until then and i am not opposed to street driving a more race oriented suspension tune if thats where the question was aimed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idiot4hire Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 For autox I would only do struts, sways and tires to stay in stock classes. Just a rear sway bar will make a big difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobyscoodle Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 For now tires, poly bushings, and swaybars are probably the best bet. If you want to keep the stock obxt height you're going to be very limited in strut/spring choices. Better to just wait until you have another vehicle for the 'high-clearance' purposes, then swap over to lgt parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 thats probably what ill do. thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskoolbiker Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 BC Coilovers are height adjustable. I have them on my OBXT and I have them lowered all the way and I'm just barely lower than a stock LGT. I'm sure they can be raised to stock height. The BC's + Sway bars should be a pretty good setup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted February 15, 2014 Author Share Posted February 15, 2014 were the coilovers specific to the ob? how would max low still be that high? seems it would be a "legacy" part more geared for the sedan and at max high would only be at stock gt height??? maybe im all wrong on that though. any pics of your car for height display of an obxt setup that sounds pretty nice? how much higher will they go? at least back to stock height? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted March 3, 2014 Author Share Posted March 3, 2014 got a set of the bc coilovers on the way. we will see how i like them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZP Installs Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 I would go with sways personally, and then wait until you could lower it to LGT height to do anything further. BC coils are POSes in terms of performance. They are great if you want to lower your car and get that hella-flush look but in terms of performance their dampers are terrible. They are not shock-dynoed and the dampening drops off after the first hit. They couple them with very stiff springs to compensate for the damping issues. This is no different than any other sub $1k setup but performancewise they are not the best bet. -Mike Paisan http://www.pbase.com/paisan/image/153798190.jpg Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001. Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs "Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 If 1k$ is the mark to get good handling I will never get there. I am very budget minded when it comes to most things. I dont mind spending money but at that point I could just buy a different car and go from there because that expensive still makes it a station wagon thats OK at handling. I had a civic and past years with some second hand sleeves, second hand custom spring rates, and brand new koni yellows, into for maybe 600ish and it was a go cart!!!! Now I know this is apples to cucumbers but budget awesome is attainable somehow. I do believe there is another member on here that is running the same coils that would disagree on their functionality on an obwagon. I myself cant speak to it yet since they just arrived today, but I will once they are on and tested. If you had to get the absolute best handling out of my car for under 1k$ and preferably closer to the 6-700 range, how would you do it? Combo of used and new is fine. Perhaps just get spec b parts in fresh condition and leave it at that, or add some type of progressive spring to spec b struts? Modification of things does not frighten me. Lets hear it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZP Installs Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Best setup would be konis and springs with lgt front housings for the konis. We've done this setup for a lot of obxt customers. The Koni damper is a better damper. Take a look at the shock dyno graphs of the sub $1k coilovers. They are terrible. Sways, springs and konis. Best streetable track able setup all around. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 If 1k$ is the mark to get good handling I will never get there. I am very budget minded when it comes to most things. I dont mind spending money but at that point I could just buy a different car and go from there because that expensive still makes it a station wagon thats OK at handling. I had a civic and past years with some second hand sleeves, second hand custom spring rates, and brand new koni yellows, into for maybe 600ish and it was a go cart!!!! Now I know this is apples to cucumbers but budget awesome is attainable somehow. I do believe there is another member on here that is running the same coils that would disagree on their functionality on an obwagon. I myself cant speak to it yet since they just arrived today, but I will once they are on and tested. If you had to get the absolute best handling out of my car for under 1k$ and preferably closer to the 6-700 range, how would you do it? Combo of used and new is fine. Perhaps just get spec b parts in fresh condition and leave it at that, or add some type of progressive spring to spec b struts? Modification of things does not frighten me. Lets hear it? Best setup would be konis and springs with lgt front housings for the konis. We've done this setup for a lot of obxt customers. The Koni damper is a better damper. Take a look at the shock dyno graphs of the sub $1k coilovers. They are terrible. Sways, springs and konis. Best streetable track able setup all around. Mike Mike's advice. Keep in mind you are taking a lifted LGT and trying to make it perform. For $500, it will never be your civic. Stop comparing them, and you'll be much happier. I have a wagon that will out do most cars, however, you could buy most cars for what it cost to do that. Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 lol, i understand that. let me clarify take my previous request of how would you get it the best bang for the buck in the handling area for under 1k$ without the limitations of staying lifted. i dont expect my tall wagon to be as nimble as my previous handling monster, but i dont plan on being lifted forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZP Installs Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 lol, i understand that. let me clarify take my previous request of how would you get it the best bang for the buck in the handling area for under 1k$ without the limitations of staying lifted. i dont expect my tall wagon to be as nimble as my previous handling monster, but i dont plan on being lifted forever. Konis and springs will perform better than El-Cheapo coilovers which are constructed for looks only... -mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 sounds like that is the route i will most likely end up taking. ill speed up my beater truck purchase so i can get a little lower with no worries and still have something for all my outdoor tall needs, and get a set of koni inserts on legacy bodies/koni rear for leggy and outback springs and hats. if im remembering the particular setup i found last night correctly, good height and solid component selectiion. my hasty decision on coilovers has left me with a set that doesnt fit the bill in multiple facets. foremost being too short for my ob even at max height. so a set for legacy fitment will be in the classifieds and im back on the prowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 sounds like that is the route i will most likely end up taking. ill speed up my beater truck purchase so i can get a little lower with no worries and still have something for all my outdoor tall needs, and get a set of koni inserts on legacy bodies/koni rear for leggy and outback springs and hats. if im remembering the particular setup i found last night correctly, good height and solid component selectiion. my hasty decision on coilovers has left me with a set that doesnt fit the bill in multiple facets. foremost being too short for my ob even at max height. so a set for legacy fitment will be in the classifieds and im back on the prowl. you pm barmanbean for what he did to his outback to make it handle better Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 no i havnt but i will be meeting up with him to swap some parts in the very near future whenever he gets some free time, ill bend his ear a bit then probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxkita Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 no i havnt but i will be meeting up with him to swap some parts in the very near future whenever he gets some free time, ill bend his ear a bit then probably. before you sell what you have or spend more money, talk to him & ride in his car. Mike (AZT Installs) is still going to be best advice, giving his experience with track driving (a more advanced form of backroads) Build my car Boxkita Track days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffy2.5xt Posted March 8, 2014 Author Share Posted March 8, 2014 indeed it is, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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