Updated fun daily suspension discussion

[SoobyDoobyDoo]

So seeing as how most of the “ideal fun daily” suspension threads on here are at least 5+ years old (mostly I’ve found 10 + years) I thought I’d start a new one to update. Been exploring options and there’s not much I’ve found, mostly cause the aftermarket for our cars is dwindling due to age of our platform. I came to the party pretty late, but still want to have some fun. What are people running and how does it feel? What I’m thinking is Koni adjustables and STi pinks in front and king springs in rear. Don’t really want swifts cause I don’t want a lot of drop and still want to maintain cargo utility. H&R only make springs for sedans (fronts work for wagons) and ion seems to be the only other option available anymore besides pinks and swifts (plus I don’t want to but a new set of springs only to use half). Anyone else have any recommendations? 

[GearJamr]

You can use the H&R sedan springs in a wagon, just need a "saggy butt spacer".  I personally have Koni adjustables with Swift wagon springs.

Coilovers would give you more adjustability for ride and height.  That will be my next suspension change.

[Infosecdad]

I have one wagon with Konis w/ sti spring fronts and king "lowering" springs rear (outback lowering).

I also have one with the Bilstein PSS coilovers.

The Bilsteins handle better, but harder to find.  The Konis are amazing as well.  Even low mileage JDM Bilsteins are a huge improvement over stock.

Couple with some larger swaybars and you'll definitely see improvements.

[SoobyDoobyDoo]

3 hours ago, GearJamr said:

You can use the H&R sedan springs in a wagon, just need a "saggy butt spacer".  I personally have Koni adjustables with Swift wagon springs.

Coilovers would give you more adjustability for ride and height.  That will be my next suspension change.

Good to know-their website only has the sedan, and I know the front wagon/sedan springs are interchangeable, but I didn’t realize that the rears would work as well. Would spring rates be different though? That’d be my only concern. 
Don’t need coil overs, that’s too much for my preference. It’s just a daily. I’m sure that’d give ultimate adjustability but that’s more than I need. I’m a set it and forget it type…I don’t want to be swapping things out constantly. 

2 hours ago, Infosecdad said:

I have one wagon with Konis w/ sti spring fronts and king "lowering" springs rear (outback lowering).

I also have one with the Bilstein PSS coilovers.

The Bilsteins handle better, but harder to find.  The Konis are amazing as well.  Even low mileage JDM Bilsteins are a huge improvement over stock.

Couple with some larger swaybars and you'll definitely see improvements.

Wow, two wagons? I’m jealous. Lol Yeah JDMracing motors had a set of used bilsteins with oem wagon springs for a great price but i waited too long and they’re gone. Oh well. One goal for the car next year is a suspension refresh, just trying to do some research so I can start acquiring parts. Just don’t want to have to buy two sets of springs to get what I want…

Good to know about the kings, I’ll have to check those out. I think you’re the one actually who gave me the idea! It was in a different thread. 
Edit: forgot to mention I already have a white line 22mm rsb, moog endlinks (f+r), and poly sb bushings front/rear.

Edited December 13, 2022 by SoobyDoobyDoo

[lgtnomore]

Bilsteins HDs are still available and would pair well with STI Pinks.

[KZJonny]

I've had JDM import Bilstien "HD"s on both Sti pinks and the stock springs. Both were good, tho I prefer the stock Spec B springs as a package.

Been told my car is "not low enough", but it's a tiny drop from stock, and given the roads around where I live, and the off-pavement driving I sometimes do, they work really well. I'd go back to the pinks if I lived somewhere with endless smooth ashphalt, and never went mountain biking or hiking and had to get to trailheads.

Worlds better than the stock LGT stuff anyhow.

EDIT: I also did FSB, JDM trailing arms, Movetech FCAs, trans mount, diff mount new bushings everywhere etc.... when I put in a fresh set of JDM Bilstiens and swapped to the Spec B springs, so it wasn't quite a fair comparison. However, it IS fair to say that the extra .75" lower the pinks were is not going to make you a track superstar, but it does make your 'fun daily' a little less comfortable on the drive to work. IMO

Edited December 29, 2022 by KZJonny

[SoobyDoobyDoo]

On 12/29/2022 at 9:41 AM, KZJonny said:

I've had JDM import Bilstien "HD"s on both Sti pinks and the stock springs. Both were good, tho I prefer the stock Spec B springs as a package.

Been told my car is "not low enough", but it's a tiny drop from stock, and given the roads around where I live, and the off-pavement driving I sometimes do, they work really well. I'd go back to the pinks if I lived somewhere with endless smooth ashphalt, and never went mountain biking or hiking and had to get to trailheads.

Worlds better than the stock LGT stuff anyhow.

EDIT: I also did FSB, JDM trailing arms, Movetech FCAs, trans mount, diff mount new bushings everywhere etc.... when I put in a fresh set of JDM Bilstiens and swapped to the Spec B springs, so it wasn't quite a fair comparison. However, it IS fair to say that the extra .75" lower the pinks were is not going to make you a track superstar, but it does make your 'fun daily' a little less comfortable on the drive to work. IMO

That’s exactly what I want-just a small drop, not swift-level drop (2”). I think pinks would be a nice drop since it’s 0.75”. I plan on doing that same-all new bushings all around (oem), AL arms & trailing arms (f/r), fsb, and new shocks and springs. Don’t need to be a track superstar, but tightening up a little, along with new bushings would be a good improvement. Haven’t ruled out bilsteins completely but I think having the adjustability of the konis would be good. Previous tires were Bridgestone pole positions so those were pretty stiff…changing tires made a big difference. 

[chhalter]

Glad I found this thread because I too am embarking on the suspension upgrade journey (05 LGT Wagon 5MT) and have been positively overwhelmed by all the old threads and options. My current set-up is swifts on stock struts and is absolutely bone jarring over bumbs cuz 20 year old struts, duh. I think in general the swifts are more of a drop than I need, so I've been looking at some JDM bilsteins (rev c's I think, 20310AG401) with STI pinks on them ($500 on ebay).

Two primary concerns/questions with those: 1) I've heard the rev c's don't pair too well with pinks, anybody with experience? 2) Am I a chump for buying used struts? Anybody have experience doing so? Ebay seller claims they have 50K miles on them and I guess worst case scenario I just get the struts rebuilt, or throw the pinks on new bilstein HDs, so not terrible given a new set of pinks is ~$400. Worst part would be having to do the job twice.

Final question: yay or nay on bumpstop mods for the pinks? Seems like I should definitely do it if I decide to stick with swifts (unlikely). 

As a side note, also planning on doing all new bushings, and maybe aluminum LCAs up-front. Should be a lot of work lol

[SoobyDoobyDoo]

Dunno about the bilsteins with pinks, but that sounds like what I’d go for. You might also check out Konis, they’re adjustable and probably play nicer since you can adjust the rebound. Pinks will also lower the car less (around 0.75”) than swifts.

I’m leaning more to the konis cause they’re adjustable…with bilsteins you’re kinda one and done and stuck with them. I don’t want to be taking things off and on. See if there’s anybody near by you can get a ride from with any suspension upgrades so you can see first hand what it feels like. 

i think most people buy bilsteins used and throw them on the car. I think last time I checked it was $75/shock to rebuild from Bilstein. I’d rather have them rebuilt personally just so they’re new. I believe it was Infosecded who put kings on the rear…seemed better for hauling than the pinks. 
have you checked out the JDM suspension faq? Might be some answers in there to your questions…

[m sprank]

Bilstein usa will not rebuild jdm Bilsteins.  They will tell you to buy usdm.  Never tried to deal with Bilstein japan for rebuilds of jdm product.

Wagons carry about 50lbs more glass over the rear axles The springs were lengthened for this. Fairly easy with spacers to make up the difference.

New Konis over used jdm Bilsteins ANY DAY.  

SpecB (usdm) sprinds are identical to lgt (usdm) springs.

 

[SoobyDoobyDoo]

Great to know thanks for chiming in @m sprank! Saves me from buying a JDM set then…found some cheap, but didn’t like the look of one shock. Do you happen to know any shops who still do the koni front spring conversion? Or is  that also becoming a thing of the past…?

[m sprank]

I do not know any shops selling pre-installed Konis.  I was most likely the only one to ever do that.  It is rather easy, I did a few "remote" in customers driveways for them.  You might convince a shop to do it for you.  But if you have a drill, 2 bits and pipe cutter you can do it yourself.

[yellowspirit]

On 12/12/2022 at 4:04 PM, SoobyDoobyDoo said:

So seeing as how most of the “ideal fun daily” suspension threads on here are at least 5+ years old (mostly I’ve found 10 + years) I thought I’d start a new one to update. Been exploring options and there’s not much I’ve found, mostly cause the aftermarket for our cars is dwindling due to age of our platform. I came to the party pretty late, but still want to have some fun. What are people running and how does it feel? What I’m thinking is Koni adjustables and STi pinks in front and king springs in rear. Don’t really want swifts cause I don’t want a lot of drop and still want to maintain cargo utility. H&R only make springs for sedans (fronts work for wagons) and ion seems to be the only other option available anymore besides pinks and swifts (plus I don’t want to but a new set of springs only to use half). Anyone else have any recommendations? 

FYI, I'm using the Swift wagon springs on my sedan and the rear end doesn't sag.  Other than that, I have Bilstein B6 struts/shocks.  It rides better than my 2014 335i RWD with Ohlins R&T for daily driving.

Edited June 4, 2023 by yellowspirit

[310Z]

I installed a sway bar kit from White Line including end links yesterday 10-4-23. Just came back from a short mountain road test. The car no longer dipped and swayed entering and exiting turns. From the drivers seat the car seems much more level while under corner load. This set up is very confidence inspiring and not harsh. The car still rides as stock until pushed in the turns and then it is smooth and stable. I am very happy with this change.

[SoobyDoobyDoo]

Nice! Thanks for the feedback. Which endlinks are you using? I’ve got a 22mm Whiteline rear sway bar that’s still waiting to go on the car just haven’t had time to get it on. I got Moogs cause they seem way beefier, was planning on doing endlinks and the bar at once. If you’ve got stock brackets might not be a bad idea to upgrade those too. Been reading about endlinks a lot lately…thinking about getting adjustable ones but dunno if I need all that, esp since I got the moogs already.  Also got poly sway bar bushings and bought new sway bar bushing holders (?) and AVO sway bar brackets. What tires are you running?

Edited November 6, 2023 by SoobyDoobyDoo

[310Z]

4 hours ago, SoobyDoobyDoo said:

Nice! Thanks for the feedback. Which endlinks are you using? I’ve got a 22mm Whiteline rear sway bar that’s still waiting to go on the car just haven’t had time to get it on. I got Moogs cause they seem way beefier, was planning on doing endlinks and the bar at once. If you’ve got stock brackets might not be a bad idea to upgrade those too. Been reading about endlinks a lot lately…thinking about getting adjustable ones but dunno if I need all that, esp since I got the moogs already.  Also got poly sway bar bushings and bought new sway bar bushing holders (?) and AVO sway bar brackets. What tires are you running?

I am using the White Line end links that came in the kit. They are adjustable. I made them as short as I could. I did not do any research on the end links specifically just the bars 22 mm front and 20 mm rear bars. But I am happy with what I got. In 100,000 miles I will have better knowledge. I did the Anderson Design & Fabrication (ADF) bracket reinforcement. The bracket is very simple and well made/engineered and looks like it will fix this weak spot. After finding a location that's web page showed the AVO brace/bracket they contacted me and informed me it is no longer available. The AVO bracket is still shown on the Japan AVO site. The White Line kit came with new bushings.

The tires I have is what came on the car and I am very impressed with them so far in dry conditions. The tires are Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 Plus, in a stock size 215-45-17. They are a ultra high performance A/S. The Tire Rack rates this in the top 2 ultra high performance A/S. However, I am in snow country and I usually run a ice/snow tire Blizzacks or X-Ice but I was thinking of one tire for this car and was considering BFG G-Force Comp 2 A/S Plus, as it is rated much better in the snow than the Continental's and we run them on my wife's Honda Pilot in the summer and have ran into snow with them and they are really good in snow for an A/S.

[SoobyDoobyDoo]

Thanks for the info. I didn’t realize the AVO brackets were no longer available – I suggested these to another member pretty recently (around the end of summer) and he was still able to purchase them, so I guess it must have been pretty recent that these couldn’t be purchased. I bought mine used from another member on here. They were losing the powdercoating so I was going to strip and re-paint them black (don’t want the back bottom of the car looking like a Christmas tree with all the different colors of aftermarket suspension bits). Also want to re-paint the swaybar, other members have commented that the finish on it wasn’t that robust (I’m in IN so I deal with salt). I’m currently running Kuhmo Escta PA51s, they’re a high performance AS. I’ve been pretty happy with them, they’ve done pretty decently in the snow. My car came with Bridgestone Pole Positions, which were amazing, but the ride was pretty firm (a work friend who tracks his BMW said Bridgestones have stiff sidewalls for performance). The Kuhmos give it much more of a touring feel, which is much more compliant for daily driving. I might check out those BFGs when I replace my current set though, seems pretty comparable to the Escta PA51s. My ideal set up would be these plus a set of summer wheels with HP summer tires.