[wrxwalsh]

so im figuring out everythin that i want to do this summer. and ive decided on TiC SST coilovers, and rallitek sway bars. however im at kind of a crossroads, im trying to figure out the worth of lateral and trailing links. ive been looking into the eibach rear control arms and the sti rear trailing arms. which in total would be about 500 bucks or i could do the eibach control arms and poly bushings for the trailing arms. or i could not do control arms or links and just simply put poly bushings on all the points that move. what are yalls thoughts? id like some big sky imput here, youve done some reaserch into these and i want to know your thoughts and imput! thanks yall

Matt

 

[Big Sky WRX]

obviously not the first thing I'd recommend in enhancing handling on a stock Impreza, but if certainly worth looking into if you've got tires, spring/dampers and sways sorted. The oe suspension bushings are pretty soft, soft bushing deflect quite a bit, bushings that deflect allow your dynamic alignment settings to more easily change- this adversely effects handling/grip.

I've always run Grp N bushings- a couple of reasons why- I've not had the best of luck w/ poly- it tends to get noisy (squeaky), some poly isn't as firm as rubber Grp N bushings (someone did a durometer test comparing some different bushings). Spherical bushings while deflecting the least, will also add the most NVH to the equation (pure race car not a problem). There are no substitute spherical bushings- so if one bushing goes on a STi spherical lateral set for example- your buying a complete new set. If a Grp N bushing were to go (unlikely), it can be replaced. Some rule sets (ST/SP for example) do not allow spherical bushings.

 

[wrxwalsh]

do you have any thoughts on those eibach control arms i mentioned? i found them at JSC Speed. They look to be sphereical bushing but im not entirely sure on that one. ive ben looking into both the group-n's and the polys. so you would recomend the group-ns of the polys? also, doing the lateral links are there any advantages like weight loss or loss of unsprung weight?.... what about trailing arms?

Matt

 

[Big Sky WRX]

the eibach arms are adj lateral links that are speherical- having adjustable arms does offer the advantage of making small camber changes to the rear (where there is no oe adj)

Both oe lateral and trailing links are relatively light, so while there is some potential for losing unsprung weight- it's not much in the scheme of things.

my preference is rubber bushings over poly in suspension bushings, I'm certain there are folks that have the opposite preference

 

[wrxwalsh]

so right now im thinking eibach arms and group-n trailing arm bushings. also i want to put in camber bolts in the rear. hopefully this summer will be great for my money and i can do the TiC Coilovers, Whiteline ALK, Whitline RCA, along with all those above.... in your opinion big sky are there any other bushings on the car that make a difference in the feel of the car?

Matt

 

[Big Sky WRX]

if you go adj lateral links (Eibach) you can skip the camber bolts- not needed- you can adj camber w/ the links

the rear bushing of the front control arm is worth replacing- Grp N- it's a bolt on

 

[wrxwalsh]

i thought if you lengthed the links enough to affect camber you could run into issuses of the universal joints pulling out.... also i thought that the alk was the rear front contol arm bushing?

Matt

 

[Big Sky WRX]

you can adjust some camber w/ proper length adj lateral links, obviously major changes in camber would be ill advised

the "ALK" replaces the rear bushing and is a viable option for replacing the rear bushing- beyond firming up the bushing the ALK also provides a small increase in positive caster as well as dialing out some anti-lift, anti-dive from the factory (this helps grip mid turn)- for those that like to autox the ALK is not advised as it throws you into a class that the WRX is completely non-competitive

 

[wrxwalsh]

whats the best ALK in your opinion... i dont autox this car so thats not a concern

Matt

 

[Big Sky WRX]

Matt I've never run one, but if I were to get one it would probably be Whiteline- they are the originators of it and also offer in a couple of different versions. They've been in the Impreza game for almost ten years now< I suspect in ten years they will still be around

Mike

 

[wrxwalsh]

thanks man... so im guessing that you are running the group-N transverse bushing... yeah im thinking about the whiteline kit. well whenever i finally get around to doing everything ill post up and tell everyone how the car feels!

Matt

 

[wrxwalsh]

im going to hijack my own thread. what do you think of the STi front control arms, is there a whole lot a of differece between them and the WRX front control arms? gain in caster amoung other advantages, unsprung weight? or 400 bucks worth spending somewhere else in the car?

Matt

 

[Big Sky WRX]

Again a worthwhile upgrade, again when other things are sorted.

You do get a small reduction in unsprung weight ~ 1.5 lbs/side, large increase in caster- ~ 1.5 degrees and the forged aluminum arms are much stiffer than the spring steet oe ones- the transverse links (front control arms) are like a very big bushing in themselves- stiffer = better

Only the spec C or USDM 04-06 get the caster increase- others just the benefit of lighter/stiffer

 

[schischwein]

Regarding the ALK, I run the race bushing(hardest of the poly offerings). It does add some NVH and tends to add to that 'crash' feel but increases feel. There is another offering not by Whiteline that uses spherical bushings but unless you are hardcore and have everything else settled, I think you'd be hard pressed to find any additional benefit.

The lateral links and control arms are worth it. Simply replacing the bushings may seem cheaper but labor costs of installation must be factored in(unless you have time to do it yourself).

Grp N rubber bushings are probably the best all round bushings because of durability and stiffness.

PU bushings are great and manufacturers are easily able to offer them in varying stiffness. They tend to be more noisy and get noisier with time than rubber.

Spherical bushings are the ultimate for hardcore stiffness. For the casual user, they are probably overkill and depending on the manufacturer, contamination may or may not be an issue. Rubber bushings are much more "care-free."