xtea Posted August 28, 2017 Share Posted August 28, 2017 If you don't know if your car is loose (oversteer), then your car is more undresteer prone (like most stock cars). Basically if your rear end is not kicking out on you grip limits (especially in the rain), then your car is not loose. Fascinating that you mention this. A month a go I found jesus in the headlights of a semi during a torrential downpour. My rear end kicked out and I hydroplaned, counter steering did nothing and I did a 720. How I drove away from that without a scratch is beyond me. I assumed it was because my rear alignment is off. My right rear tire has uneven wear and is almost bald. KTA124 is going in with the fortunes. I do think with my current pinks with front and rear whiteline sways that I have a little more oversteer which I like in the turns. My front swaybar is on tightest setting too so I can loosen it by moving the bolts out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted August 28, 2017 Author Share Posted August 28, 2017 Oddly worn tires would make it hard to gauge weather it was suspensions fault or tires fault (my money is on the tires). Check your other bushings too, I need to replace my big trailing arm bushing, I saw a bunch of cracks in it last time I was in there. Front swaybar being on stiffest setting = more understeer. Rear swaybar on stiffest setting = more oversteer. So in your case, if with new suspension parts and tires your car is still too loose or too pushy, you can use those swaybars to fine tune . 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dishwasher Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 Basically what I'm getting from this is that if you want to drop, then a decent set of coilovers will be a far etter solution than a strut/spring combo. If springs have to be used, the smaller the drop the better because they give up a disproportionate amount of suspension travel vs. stock strut length. My idea with the h&r springs was that I didn't really need adjustability offered by coil overs with regards to ride height, and was trying to save some money. Also I think H&Rs only do a 1.3" drop or so, which doesn't sound like much, but if we only have 3" of suspension travel to start with that's almost 50%. I'm smelling what you're cookin for sure. I think I'll start eyeballing fortunes or some kw variant 2s depending on what I can get a better deal on. Thanks for the advice, I appreciate the detailed explanation. Brought to you by Pfizer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted August 30, 2017 Author Share Posted August 30, 2017 As long as you use coilovers that have adjustable lower mounts (independent of spring preload adjustment) they should be much more comfortable. The reason is you can lower and raise the car without loosing shock travel, because you don't mess with spring adjustment perches. The major downside to coilovers is they do tend to seize over time, which means you'll have a fun time trying to readjust them. That's not to say that a drop in spring and shock combo can't be made to handle good or be comfortable, you'll have to spent some good money doing custom setups and valving though, and you still have to live with less travel since I haven't seen travel restoring top hats for our cars yet. Now don't take the 3" travel as absolute, that's about how much McPherson struts usually have, I haven't seen anyone measure or talk about the amount of travel our cars actually have. 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesA Posted August 30, 2017 Share Posted August 30, 2017 ...Now don't take the 3" travel as absolute, that's about how much McPherson struts usually have, I haven't seen anyone measure or talk about the amount of travel our cars actually have.I've seen measurements for the 3rd gen Legacy of 105 mm (4.1 in) Front & 125 mm (4.9 in) Rear. Maybe a bit longer than most similar size cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 Was working on a friends 09 Legacy 3.0r, measured around 4" of travel from the bump stop to the end of the shock. This is pretty darn impressive for a strut car, and good for us. http://legacygt.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=254800&stc=1&d=1504153764 P.S should rename this thread to Legacy suspension discussion 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtea Posted August 31, 2017 Share Posted August 31, 2017 There has been a lot of positive noise lately about cheap coilovers on these cars. bc br, fa etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 After wasting years and almost 2k on drop in springs, shocks, travel restoring top hats, and the car still handling like crap, I started a big proponent of budget (read not $500 cheap) coilovers. These coilovers might not have shocks as good as bigger dogs like Konis or Bilsteins, but none of them offer ride height adjustments independent of shock travel for under $3k. This feature alone is what makes these cheap coilovers be so much more comfortable. 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theFranchise Posted September 1, 2017 Share Posted September 1, 2017 Big fan of the BBC coilovers too. Great ride and really tightens everything up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vnhqle Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 After wasting years and almost 2k on drop in springs, shocks, travel restoring top hats, and the car still handling like crap, I started a big proponent of budget (read not $500 cheap) coilovers. These coilovers might not have shocks as good as bigger dogs like Konis or Bilsteins, but none of them offer ride height adjustments independent of shock travel for under $3k. This feature alone is what makes these cheap coilovers be so much more comfortable. Thanks for sharing the video. Now I'm curious how well my car will perform on these roads. What were your prior suspension setups? I'm asking because i have Koni/Epic waiting to be installed. Are we saying coilovers are more comfortable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted September 13, 2017 Author Share Posted September 13, 2017 That really depends, I've found coilovers to be more comfortable then lighter sprung drop in spring setups on my other car (this is because it's damn near impossible to get shocks that are valved for drop in springs, unless you do custom shocks). 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vnhqle Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 That really depends, I've found coilovers to be more comfortable then lighter sprung drop in spring setups on my other car (this is because it's damn near impossible to get shocks that are valved for drop in springs, unless you do custom shocks). Ughhh now you got me contemplating. The researching continues... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MilesA Posted September 13, 2017 Share Posted September 13, 2017 That really depends, I've found coilovers to be more comfortable then lighter sprung drop in spring setups on my other car (this is because it's damn near impossible to get shocks that are valved for drop in springs, unless you do custom shocks).I don't want to lower because I sometimes drive on unimproved roads. So, Koni Sports on stock LGT springs works pretty well for a daily driver. I also have firmer anti-sway bars and bushings. I get full suspension travel, reasonable comfort, and I think the car handles pretty well. The cost was reasonable. I think it make sense from a cost/benefit point-of-view. You seem to think the handling is bad? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted September 13, 2017 Author Share Posted September 13, 2017 I don't want to lower because I sometimes drive on unimproved roads. So, Koni Sports on stock LGT springs works pretty well for a daily driver. I get full suspension travel, reasonable comfort, and I think the car handles pretty well. The cost was reasonable. I think it make sense from a cost/benefit point-of-view. You seem to think the handling is bad? Not at all, I'm a big proponent of the stock setup. If you look back to my giant post, I said stick to stock springs and stock valved shocks (that means insert your drop in aftermarket shock here). My car handles really well on stock springs and stock shocks, my shocks are soon to be out (140k miles), so I'm starting to look at alternatives myself. The issue is with drop in springs that are lower and stiffer WITHOUT shocks that are valved for them (plus without restoring lost travel). This is why I said, if you must lower the car, then your better off going with Coilovers. 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zechs Posted September 15, 2017 Share Posted September 15, 2017 love the rims man. Was just watching that video. Thats one nice wagon. hella quick too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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