Autophysics Posted October 7, 2004 Share Posted October 7, 2004 I'm trying to gauge interest in obtaining the aluminum parts used in the GT suspension everywhere in the world except north america. These should significantly improve the suspension - subaru didn't make these out of aluminum just for bling. They are lighter, stronger, and may have slightly more negative camber. Decreased unsprung weight also allows the suspension to work much better. Might be able to obtain them from Australia cheaper than from Japan if I can get the part numbers. The more people interested in the parts, the lower the cost might be to buy them and have them shipped over. If a vendor is already trying to obtain these then I'll just go through them, (please post if you are!) but if nobody is, I'll get them myself and for whoever wants them as a one-time deal. Might be able to obtain complete GT suspension kits including the arms, springs, shocks/struts top hats if that's what's wanted. I'm not interested in becoming a vendor so all I would be doing is arranging a one-time group-buy sort of thing at cost through someone I know in Australia. I'm in Hawaii so I'll be seeing if it's cheaper to have the whole shipment boated here to Hawaii and then distributed to the US mainland, or for it to be drop shipped to each U.S. destination directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CombatCQB Posted October 19, 2004 Share Posted October 19, 2004 This sounds interesting. How certain are you about fitment on the USDM chassis? I'd be interested if the price is reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklin Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Why is it that many of the japanese cars have sweet details that the dont give us here in the states? Ugraded suspensions, Macintosh sound systems, aluminum Suspension parts etc. WHY??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deer Killer Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 [quote name='franklin']Why is it that many of the japanese cars have sweet details that the dont give us here in the states? Ugraded suspensions, Macintosh sound systems, aluminum Suspension parts etc. WHY???[/QUOTE] Want to send a letter to subaru? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nendo Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 i think they downgrade the parts here to save on cost, which sucks i could afford alot of cars but i prefer subarus, it really sucks we miss out on a lot of goodies like this i wish i had the mcintosh sound system, gps and all the other extras. i think subaru is makin a mistake here in north america the option on the legacy gt is little to none which is frickin crazy the legacy would appeal to many more people if these options could be worked out instead we r losing many potential buyers to acura and low end junk bimmers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Another thing is that we have one of the worst roads to deal with.. not to mention the many people that complain, sue, and hopes to get the warranty cover such problems... so yea, it's still COST at the end for Subaru.. you'll be suprised how much the US market takes advantage over the automakers. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtguy Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 Keefe is right. The aluminum suspenion bits are stiffer, and that stiffness will find its way to the chassis and driver. Combine that with the rough roads here, and voila, it's easy to see. The McIntosh situation depends upon who Subaru has a relationship with in the U.S. market, which appears to be with Panasonic. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deer Killer Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 [quote name='gtguy']Keefe is right. The aluminum suspenion bits are stiffer, and that stiffness will find its way to the chassis and driver. Combine that with the rough roads here, and voila, it's easy to see. The McIntosh situation depends upon who Subaru has a relationship with in the U.S. market, which appears to be with Panasonic. Kevin[/QUOTE] The suspension is designed to do it's job through the shocks, springs, rubber bushings, and subframe. Any harshness in the lateral direction is handled by the rubber bushings. No engineer is going to use a spring constant of a material like that to design the suspension. Actually the aluminum parts should reduce harshness, less unsprung weight means the suspension can react faster. The aluminum parts are strong enough to be suspension parts, they may look a little different after an accident, but anything that's going to break an aluminum part is going to severly damage a steel part, in the least. Arguing against superiority is futile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted October 20, 2004 Share Posted October 20, 2004 I am just saying in terms of cost when someone bends an aluminum control arm vs a steel one.. just imagine an NSX made of Steel vs the current NSX in it's natural Aluminum form.. and see the price difference one would have if the NSX was made of the new-steel technology.. For a better example, look at a difference of a WRX hood vs an RS hood.. there's your price difference there. Whatever the case may be, Subaru has to take in consideration that not all Subaru Owners will be car freaks like us. Some people just buy a new car and trash the hell out of it just enough to convince them it was worth the money.. and that's how you get a repeat customer: to build a car that can withstand a lot of damage so that your wallet doesnt get damaged. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autophysics Posted October 20, 2004 Author Share Posted October 20, 2004 It was one of the AVO guys who suggested that the hard points are the same for USDM and that the aluminum arms should mount up. I agree with Deer Killer that aluminum arms should not add any noise, vibration, or harshness to the ride. Think of it as the difference between steel wheels and aluminum wheels. These kinds of parts make the USDM Legacy a "good" car and the JDM Legacy a great car: Forged pistons, Twin scroll titanium turbo, equal length headers, aluminum suspension. If we had those parts on our cars I don't think there would be any question of its coming in first place in any comparison within reason. Would I have paid 5 grand more for these parts? Yes. Would the average joe? Probably not. I think SOA used good judgement in cheapening the car to compare favorably on price with cars like the G35 and others. I still don't like the idea of getting a purposely cheapened version of a car, but 99% of Legacy buyers will NEVER KNOW that the Japan version had all of these superior components. Subaru advertises the new Legacy as the Japan Car Of The Year but we don't really have that Legacy. When I look at the website at [url]http://www.subaru.co.jp/legacy/technical/first.html[/url] (translated [url]http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/urltrurl?lp=ja_en&url=http%3A//www.subaru.co.jp/legacy/technical/first.html[/url] ) I feel a little disheartened that over half of the special parts described are not in our version of the Legacy GT. There's a lot of interest in upgrading our USDM cars to the JDM standard, and this aluminum suspension arm thing is no different really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beanboy Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 In a way, it is nice to have a cheaper point of entry for USDM Legacys, yet have the option to track down OEM parts that are 'better' from other markets. -B -B http://www.standardshift.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deer Killer Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 [quote name='Beanboy']In a way, it is nice to have a cheaper point of entry for USDM Legacys, yet have the option to track down OEM parts that are 'better' from other markets. -B[/QUOTE] bwuhahaha.. you have any idea how much it would cost to import all the options they get and install them? You could buy TWO legacy GT's for that much. Not only do you pay a huge markup when you get the parts after sale, but you're also paying for the original part which you won't use AND the new part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beanboy Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 Hmm, I think I said the point of entry for the USDM Legacy is cheaper, the OEM parts from overseas I'm sure can be damn expensive, but it is nice to know these parts are from the factory/factory approved. Kinda like slapping on an STI uppipe. -B -B http://www.standardshift.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted October 26, 2004 Share Posted October 26, 2004 You all should be so lucky here in the USA to just buy a car and not worry about the aftermath.. in Japan, BEFORE you even buy a car, you have to show proof that you have a place to park the car.. not to mention the insurance rates and inspection fees and laws that go with it all (also goes by the weight and size of the car as well).. Paul Hansen can elaborate for us of how it is in Japan about owning a car... you gotta be rich before you own that car AND after.. here in the USA, we can be rich before buying the car and being broke afterwards, well some of us. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4_Maniac Posted October 27, 2004 Share Posted October 27, 2004 [quote name='Xenonk']You all should be so lucky here in the USA to just buy a car and not worry about the aftermath.. in Japan, BEFORE you even buy a car, you have to show proof that you have a place to park the car.. not to mention the insurance rates and inspection fees and laws that go with it all (also goes by the weight and size of the car as well).. Paul Hansen can elaborate for us of how it is in Japan about owning a car... you gotta be rich before you own that car AND after.. here in the USA, we can be rich before buying the car and being broke afterwards, well some of us. Keefe[/QUOTE] Yup. Not to mention "SHAKEN" or inspections..where you are regquired to have your car inspected. If they find your car is modded beyond it's stock form it won't pass. So must tuners in order to pass this return their cars to STOCK for the inspection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Which is why most people drive K cars... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B4_Maniac Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 [quote name='Drift Monkey']Which is why most people drive K cars...[/QUOTE] Nah, thats not the reason. They get tax breaks in Japan for smaller cars and low displacement engines. Thats why most JDM cars are sub- 2.ltr... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drift Monkey Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 [quote name='B4_Maniac']Nah, thats not the reason. They get tax breaks in Japan for smaller cars and low displacement engines. Thats why most JDM cars are sub- 2.ltr...[/QUOTE] All of those reason contribute to K cars being driven. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autophysics Posted November 21, 2004 Author Share Posted November 21, 2004 [url]http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/urltrurl?lp=ja_en&url=http%3A//http://www.subaru.co.jp/legacy/technical/07/07_03.html[/url] This is what I'm talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fressshhh Posted November 21, 2004 Share Posted November 21, 2004 I think there would be a lot of interest for good prices on spec B bilsteins. How much are we talking here on prices of the aluminum arms and suspension? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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