GTCanada Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Drop in millimetres Driver front = 30mm (1.18 inches) Passenger front = 32mm Driver rear = 25mm Passenger rear = 28mm So, as was stated by Wraith, a bit over an inch up front and about an inch in the rear. The measured vertical distance between the top of the wheel/tire and the wheel well is almost identical (within a few mm) all the way around. A 30mm drop might be a bit too tuner for me but it does look ready for business. Driving impressions. Unfortunately, I am on snow tires so I can't flog it but initial impressions are, no surprise, very good. Comparatively, it is not nearly as stiff as the STi v7 suspension I had in my WRX which is a good thing. Big benefits in turn-in, reduced understeer, composure when cornering, body control, etc. with little penalty in ride quality. Someone mentioned that it had more of a German feel and I agree. Install was done by the dealer and it took 4 hours. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Tom ,thats great news. LEt us know when you get the regular tires on. Myles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerdave Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Thanks Tom... would you say the spring/damping quality is still a good match? Or so they feel under/over damped? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWD-Turbo Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Is an alignment necessary after installing the pinks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTCanada Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 Hey racerdave, I would say that they are well matched. If there was going to be a problem my assumption would be that the springs would be too stiff for the USDM dampeners. But, it all seems to work in harmony without an oversprung, crashy quality. If I can get some warmer weather I'm going to swap on the summers and hit the back roads. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTCanada Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 An alignment is necessary. I had my front camber set at -0.5 to provide some more front end stick. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcchicken Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Where did you the springs from.....and how much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 [quote name='mcchicken']Where did you the springs from.....and how much?[/QUOTE] :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcchicken Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Also being in Canada I'm just curious about where to get set. Avoiding duty is always nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmos Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 pics? havent seen a wagon yet. I was going to try to install these myself... but if it took a dealer 4 hours ... maybe not Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtguy Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 [quote name='cosmos']pics? havent seen a wagon yet. I was going to try to install these myself... but if it took a dealer 4 hours ... maybe not[/QUOTE] Note that dealers will bill you for the amount of time that a job "should" take, according to the manual. There is no way in hell, particularly given that you don't have to futz around with the rear brake lines, that a spring swap should take four hours. I used to do it on my WRX in less than two, and the WRX's rear involves messing around with the brake lines. The Legacy is the same as the WRX at the front, and much simpler at the rear. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unilat Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 [quote name='GTCanada']Drop in millimetres Driver front = 30mm (1.18 inches) Passenger front = 32mm Driver rear = 25mm Passenger rear = 28mm So, as was stated by Wraith, a bit over an inch up front and about an inch in the rear. The measured vertical distance between the top of the wheel/tire and the wheel well is almost identical (within a few mm) all the way around. A 30mm drop might be a bit too tuner for me but it does look ready for business. [/QUOTE] A bigger than advertised drop seems to be showing up fairly consistently, so I'm wondering, can shims be installed (I don't know these things on cars) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 [quote name='cosmos']pics? havent seen a wagon yet. I was going to try to install these myself... but if it took a dealer 4 hours ... maybe not[/QUOTE] sandwood posted his review with pics on a wagon here [url]http://www.legacygt.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=86581[/url] 944 turbo guy Myles Williams [url]www.racecompengineering.com[/url] [email]sales@racecompengineering.com[/email] Racecomp Engineering LLC. 9123 Old Annapolis Rd. Suite 103w Columbia, Maryland 21045 410-730-RACE 410-730-5503 FAX 410-707-0108 mobile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtguy Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 The thing nobody has said about the wagon, is how you access the rear strut tops. Has everyone who installed them on a wagon had professionals do it? :lol: Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandwood Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 [quote name='gtguy']The thing nobody has said about the wagon, is how you access the rear strut tops. Has everyone who installed them on a wagon had professionals do it? :lol: Kevin[/QUOTE] hehe, ah.. yeah. :D getting out of the legacy game Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hal9e3 Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 [quote name='gtguy']The thing nobody has said about the wagon, is how you access the rear strut tops. Has everyone who installed them on a wagon had professionals do it? :lol: Kevin[/QUOTE] See this thread: [url]http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5042[/url] Accessing the rear strut tops - pretty easy. Getting the %$#^&*%@^ing strut nuts off - not so much. I do have all the tools in place to get the fronts on this weekend. Still no way to accurately torque the strut nuts tho. I'm also putting on an STi strut brace at the same time. Before and after pics when I'm done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 [quote name='AWD-Turbo']Is an alignment necessary after installing the pinks?[/QUOTE] if the installer did a good job on marking off the camber bolts to the right position before taking the shocks off the car, an alignment is not neccessary.. but usually, all the installs I do I usually dial in the most camber you can get on stock suspension to really let the springs shine. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 [quote name='Unilat']A bigger than advertised drop seems to be showing up fairly consistently, so I'm wondering, can shims be installed (I don't know these things on cars)[/QUOTE] Nope. there's not that much threading on the top hat bolts to the body anyways to increase the ride height of trying to add shims. Shims of the sort would most likely ruin the ride anyways on this kind of suspension type. You would need to relocate the spring perch higher AS WELL as lengthening the strut rod to make use of the changes.. Putting shims will only compress the springs more and it will give the car an overally harsh ride with more-preload on the springs. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PGT Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 [quote name='RaceComp Engineering']sandwood posted his review with pics on a wagon here [url]http://www.legacygt.com/forums/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=86581[/url] 944 turbo guy Myles Williams [url]www.racecompengineering.com[/url] [email]sales@racecompengineering.com[/email] Racecomp Engineering LLC. 9123 Old Annapolis Rd. Suite 103w Columbia, Maryland 21045 410-730-RACE 410-730-5503 FAX 410-707-0108 mobile[/QUOTE] Myles - what would you charge for install of pinks for those of us that are local to the DC metro area? PM me back if you want :D -Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unilat Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 [quote name='Xenonk']Nope. there's not that much threading on the top hat bolts to the body anyways to increase the ride height of trying to add shims. Shims of the sort would most likely ruin the ride anyways on this kind of suspension type. You would need to relocate the spring perch higher AS WELL as lengthening the strut rod to make use of the changes.. Putting shims will only compress the springs more and it will give the car an overally harsh ride with more-preload on the springs. Keefe[/QUOTE] So the Pink spring isn't shorter than stock (measured unloaded), just greater static sag accounts for the lowering? Better yet, if you (or anyone) can point me to a good suspension site, that'd be great. Knowing the parts involved and how they are put together would help. Maybe then I'll stop using motorcycle analogies.... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted December 10, 2004 Share Posted December 10, 2004 No, they are not that shorter when unloaded.. I have probably done about 4 to 5 STi spring installs already (WRX/STI and GT) and both the stock spring and the STi Pink Spring is only a difference of 1/4" in height difference. I guess the way STi springs are set up to sit lower progressively, if it was a linear spring, it would be a shorter spring to begin with than stock by far. Try using [url]www.howstuffworks.com[/url] to see the difference between motorcycle suspension vs. 4-wheel independent suspension. That should be a good start. The rest is usually found in a book that I still use for reference that was copyrighted in the early 80s call "How to make your car handle".. it's on [url]www.amazon.com[/url] check it out, the basic concept is still around, but the technology has changed somewhat. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTCanada Posted December 16, 2004 Author Share Posted December 16, 2004 Just a quick update on my impressions after driving on these for a week or so. Much of this won't be a surprise. Keep in mind that I'm trying to preserve my winters so I'm not pushing too hard but have given the springs a decent workout. Pros: - dramatic reduction in body roll even when driving at moderate speeds so the car's first response to a corner is not to start to roll and transfer weight. It feels quite similar to my STi v7 WRX suspension is this regard and changes the cornering attitude of the car in a big way. - mid-corner stability is much better. The car carves high-speed corners even better than stock (which was pretty good) and there is less requirement for small steering corrections. - turn in response gives a more connected feel - when driving at relatively high speeds on the highway there is a much reduced tendency for the car to rebound or oscillate after going over large swells. Cons: - the biggest drawback is the harshness on sharp impacts such as potholes or broken pavement. The combination of the stiffer springs and reduced suspension travel (1") can make for a bumpy ride in certain circumstances. Over expansion joints or similar you get a moderate "thump" but it is not jarring. - transmission of minor bumps is more noticeable but, for me, this is not an issue. I found the stock set up to be too isolated from the road. I suspect that the ideal spring change for me would be slightly softer than the STi's and with a drop of 1/2" instead of the full 1". I doubt that there will be a spring on the market that will fit the bill since they will be as low or lower. That being said I much prefer the Legacy with the STis than without. I am somewhat biased since I have not been a fan of the stock set up since I bought the car 18,000 kms ago. What I don't know is what the Legacy would be like with a sway bar(s) change and the stock springs. At this point, the springs have improved body control to the point where I don't feel a requirement to upgrade the sway bars. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerdave Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Thanks for the update Tom... I was just about to prod you for one, but you beat me to it. ;) Thanks for all the detail in the update too. Very valuable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceComp Engineering Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 thanks for the update! 944 turbo guy Myles Williams [url]www.racecompengineering.com[/url] [email]sales@racecompengineering.com[/email] Racecomp Engineering LLC. 9123 Old Annapolis Rd. Suite 103w Columbia, Maryland 21045 410-730-RACE 410-730-5503 FAX 410-707-0108 mobile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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