New 2013 wrx has terrible handling characteristics.. Coil overs or sway bars?

[Wrx2013]

I need to help the suspension out a bit. I was looking at feal's coil overs for $1350 or perrin f/r sway bars and end links. I want to keep stock height and not spend a fortune on suspension

[EJ257]

What "terrible handling characteristics" are you referring to? Different issues have different solutions

[jsBLwrx]

I need to help the suspension out a bit. I was looking at feal's coil overs for $1350 or perrin f/r sway bars and end links. I want to keep stock height and not spend a fortune on suspension

Front/rear sways and end links cleaned it up for me...

Oh and for EJ's sake get an alignment with more neg camber

[zax]

What exactly is "terrible?". If you're expecting the car to handle like a contemporary rwd sports car, it just won't, plain and simple.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Wrx2013]

I am expecting it to handle like a 30k sports car. It has extreme body roll and I feel hugely disconnected from the car as a whole. It feels super soft and worse than my stock 10 year old 2.5rs.

[Terminal Kuz]

Its a totally different vehicle than your 2.5rs (post pics? love those things), get some sways. It should help combat the body roll and stiffen up the car a little. Get them before the coilovers if you dont really want to change the ride height.

[EndlessSea]

Do you track it often? I wouldn't recommend coil overs for a daily driver. But that's just me. It's not like your driving at 9/10ths every day on the way to work. Or at least you shouldn't be lol

I would start with sways and see how that feels. Then move on to bigger and better if it still feels "terrible"

Also keep in mind you may have paid 30k for it. But it's still based on a 16k impreza.

[UEDan]

I am expecting it to handle like a 30k sports car. It has extreme body roll and I feel hugely disconnected from the car as a whole. It feels super soft and worse than my stock 10 year old 2.5rs.

Solution: Swap 2013 Engine/tranny into 10yo 2.5rs.

[teflon_jones]

Since you specifically mentioned body roll and not wanting to change the ride height, that leads me to suggest sway bars. Personally I like Eibachs. You'll probably want to change the end links at some point too, though it's not required right away. The stock ones will just wear much more quickly with the aftermarket sway bar.

The other thing is to get a performance-oriented alignment with some toe out on the front wheels, slight toe in on the rears, and negative camber all around. That will make a big difference versus the stock neutral alignment.

Definitely stay away from those $1500 coilovers you mentioned because that isn't enough money to get you a quality set (except used), nor is that a common brand for Subarus that is known to work well. Also once again based on your complaints it's not the right change to make to solve them.

[EJ257]

With your requirements of stock ride height / spending money intelligently...
1) Tires. The stock tires are alright, but they're nothing special; there are far better options out there. Since these are the only thing connecting your car to the road, these are the #1 most important factor in how well the car grips, and therefore, handles. The price you'd pay for new OE tires makes them not the best buy (there are many other better tires in that price point), so you may want to hold off on replacing them until they've worn down some, since you won't get that much in resale.
2) Alignment. From the factory, the alignment specs aren't really geared towards performance. Go to a shop that will align the car to your specs, and have them max out the negative camber in the front. The additional negative camber up front will increase your contact patch in corners, thus, reducing understeer. Unfortunately, the rear isn't adjustable like it was in older cars, where you could slap a set of $40 camber bolts on back there and dial some out to further improve the alignment.
3) Sways/endlinks. I prefer solid bars to hollow bars, and am also more familiar with them. I would replace the endlinks when doing sways, since you're going to be there, anyway. Instead of the Perrin setup, consider Whiteline sways / Kartboy endlinks.

I went into a little more technical details about sways in this thread:
New to Wrx and my 2013 needs a Xmas present

[wrx650]

Front/rear sways and end links cleaned it up for me...

+1. I went with Rallitek Track Spec Package (25 mm front and 22 mm rear solid bars with the HD endlinks). Straight forward install and it took out most of the body roll and really helped the handling.

[Wrx2013]

I have read only great things About the feal 441 coilovers for $1350. Seems like a great deal and can keep stock height if I want.

[teflon_jones]

There haven't been many people using these yet since they're fairly new, so there's not much to read about them.

I think the real thing here isn't how good the coilovers are, but what the right suspension changes are to fix what you're unhappy with. Sway bars and a better alignment will correct your issues much better than coilovers, which will still give you the same body roll issues you already don't like. Plus the sways are a much cheaper change in terms of the parts price and the labor. You're looking at roughly $600-800 for the coilover install ($250-350/axle plus $100 alignment required, and not nearly as easy a DIY) versus the sways being something you can DIY pretty easily with the alignment being optional.

[Wrx2013]

It's more than just a body roll problem with the suspension. Just driving average backcountry roads the car feels unsafe exiting an s turn. The body roll kicks the car off it's axis when entering a second turn. It is a little hard to exPlain. But if you have a new Wrx than yOu know what i am talking about. The steering also feels loose and the turn in when entering a cOrner feels a little numb. I am thinking that new springs and sways might be the only chance in fixing what I feel. I think I need to start with sways and end links. But i fear that won't be enough to make it feel safe when driving aggressive.

[Calvinball]

It's more than just a body roll problem with the suspension. Just driving average backcountry roads the car feels unsafe exiting an s turn. The body roll kicks the car off it's axis when entering a second turn. It is a little hard to exPlain. But if you have a new Wrx than yOu know what i am talking about. The steering also feels loose and the turn in when entering a cOrner feels a little numb. I am thinking that new springs and sways might be the only chance in fixing what I feel. I think I need to start with sways and end links. But i fear that won't be enough to make it feel safe when driving aggressive.

Fear is the mind killer.

I think I know the feeling you're talking about. I will be starting with sways and endlinks once I start on the suspension. Could it still not feel the way you want it to? Sure! But it also could help a lot more than you expect. That will be a personal judgement but also something that I personally wouldn't worry about until I need to.