Suspension mods for corner carving?

[Venom351R]

I plan on a few power mods but I would like to focus on some suspension mods as well. I'm going to look into some track events in my area next year so I'd like some opinions on what mods to do to my 07 STI for better road hugging and corner carving. This will also be on pavement. I'm not sure what areas of the STI can use upgrading and what can be left alone

[rage-wrx]

sway bars & endlinks would be a good place to start.

[Venom351R]

Thanks, any top brands that stand out over others?

[Rambo]

Give the guys at Turn In concepts a call. They are Subaru suspension experts, and can help you define your goals, and the parts needed to achieve those goals. Just my two pennies...

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[Venom351R]

Thanks I'll look into that

[EJ257]

I second the advice to contact TiC...

Use of the car? DD? Auto-X? HPDE?

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[Venom351R]

It's my daily driver but I would like to do some occasional auto x I was thinking mostly on pavement.

I'll consult with them before any final decisions but I was thinking of the cusco front 21mm and Cusco rear 22mm sway bars and Kartboy front/rear end links.

[Rambo]

What tires are you using? Tires are the single most important factor to a car's handling, and is easy to forget about. If you are using the stock rubber, it's time to upgrade.

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[Venom351R]

I have bf Goodrich g force tires

[mangostick]

tires, alignment, sways/links, springs/dampers

In pretty much that order. I haven't done the springs n dampers on my '10 yet.. but with the others it was a night and day change from factory.

[sportsman]

does anyone know the stock size of the STI 5 door sway bars? Are they 19mm front and 22mm rear?

[Venom351R]

What set are spring are good for handling or should I just get a coil over set up?

[mangostick]

just go 24/25 F and 20-22 rear and be done with it. Dont worry about what the STI has for sways.. it has lots of other suspension changes that you cant replicate without spending huge amounts of money.

I'm running 25mm front (perrin) and 20mm rear (whiteline) both set on stiff setting, Kartboy front endlinks, performance alignment done and even on crappy tires my car corners like its on rails. Very little body roll, excellent turn in (without being twitchy) and transitions from hard left to hard right are very respectable.

when it comes to springs, well there's a mountain of choices. RCE and Epic are highly respected.. damper wise there is relatively little for the 3G cars. RCE has what they call the "cup kit" where in they offer the yellow springs and a set of bilstien dampers custom made for them. There's also Koni's.. but the fronts are inserts and while lots are running them I'm not a fan of cutting up a set of struts. I'd rather bolt a set in. For the earlier cars though.. there's a whole bunch of damper choices. Turnin concepts is a good place to call and ask questions.

So for me, it'll be the cup kit from RCE. But its pricy at $1400 .. though, well worth the handling improvement. Our 3G cars are severely underdamped.

[Annihilator817]

If you are looking to start autocrossing, you might want to pick a class and only modify according to the rules of the class. Simple mods can put you into some classes that are home to some pretty heavily modified cars, and the WRX isn't competitive in most of these classes regardless of prep level. That rear swaybar alone will bump you to somewhere you might not want to be.

I'd also say that a quality damper will do FAR MORE than any drop springs could ever dream of doing for your car's handling. Dampers are the one area that going with a quality product is crucial. If you plan to upgrade dampers, do it right the first time.

A front bar is a good upgrade if you aren't upgrading spring rates, you need something to control the roll and to keep dynamic camber in check.

You probably want to avoid 95% of the off the shelf coilovers as most of them are identical knockoffs, and have some inherent flaws built into them. If you feel a need for coilovers, again, get a set that utilize a quality dampers. You are going to have to pay for these, they don't come cheap. Anything that has the rebound and bump tied adjustment together on the same knob is a red flag, and you should run far and fast.

As was mentioned, tires are in fact the second best handling upgrade, and those BFG's are not all that great. You may want to consider upgrading to one of the better EPST's in the future like the Dunlop Star Spec, Bridgestone RE11, Kumho XS, Toyo R1R, Hankook RS-3, or Advan AD08. Avoid the Falken RT-615 like the plague.

The number one handling upgrade on any car is the driver mod. Tighten the loose nut behind the wheel. When it comes to autocross, modifying your car before you get to your first event is almost always a terrible idea. Because of your experience level, mods won't make the experience any better, they probably won't make you any faster, and they will probably be the wrong mods so they'll bump you into faster classes that will discourage you. Furthermore, one of the best teaching tools is for a new driver to learn on a relatively stock, slow car with crappy tires. It teaches restraint, control, and speed maintenance to the driver rather than relying on the car or the tires to bail you out.

Lastly, Just run what you brung and get out there and start participating. Going to events and seeing what the fast guys are running will give you the best ideas of what works best for your car and your class.

Good luck!

[Venom351R]

Thanks mango and annihilator. I think for now I'll do some research on auto x classes and what events are held around my area and just focus more on some power mods (nothing to big yet). I did not think my bf Goodrich tires were all tha great just bc they didn't cost a lot anyway. I plan on buying a nice set of wheels next spring just for summer use and I'll get a nice set of tires with those