THSCC Forums

Okay, I'm *really* sick of the OEM shocks on the STi. I'd *like* to keep the car AS legal, but I'd *like* to have stiffer and adjustable shocks. Any recommendations? If there's nothing available, well, I guess I'd go with new shocks and springs. But I don't want to be stuck with a BSP pax next year if I don't have to. I really just want a better road ride without the thing being worse for autocross, which just about any race shock should do (these OEM shocks just suck on the road).


--Donnie

Have you checked with Sam Strano?

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Hoppe is supposedly begging Koni to get them to make an insert to fit the STi strut bodies. Don't know how far he's gotten, but knowing his begging ability with sponsors...

The consensus at nabisco is that the STi pink springs will make it ride better because it's too high and overdamped on the stock springs. (or something like that)

Can't remember if it's an 04 or 05, but if it's an 04, couldn't you use strut bodies from a WRX sedan and install Konis in those? If it's 05, nevermind.

Sniff, sniff, sniff...BSP

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

Donnie,
after your shock experiences of last week you are asking this question?
Just have Koni build you a set.

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SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

I talked to Koni a while back about shocks for the STi and nothing has changed since then...they don't have anything for the car.

I took Dick's advice and called Sam Strano. Spent a long time on the phone with him. Man, what a helpful guy. Folks, if you're considering Konis for your car, talk to Sam. Particularly you Corvette and F-body owners. He will put you in a hot setup for not a lot of money.

Anyway, his recommendation was what I figured all along...get some 02-03 WRX sedan strut bodies and put Koni single inserts in them. What I didn't expect him to say was to leave the valving stock, but that's what he said. The additional piece of info he recommended was the Addco swaybar he helped develop. I have the 27mm Whiteline bar currently, which is what Tom recommended back right after I got the car (the Addco didn't exist then). Yeah, you're all thinking "that'll make the car push more." Sam says that everyone who tested it said that's what would happen before they got it, but after they said "it's way more balanced now than I thought possible." Sam says the reason is that without that bar you get so much body roll that the contact patch is going to small due to loss of camber. Add more bar and control the roll and you get so much more front contact patch that you reduce push.

Sounds reasonable to me. So I've got the bar on order ($200) as well as some singles (inserts). Found some 02 strut bodies for $135 shipped on nabisco (probably paid a little much, actually, but I'm impatient). The inserts were $165 each. You have to do some monkeying (just a little) to get the WRX struts legal for AS on the STi, but anyone who cares can ask and I'll post it (or call Sam and he'll tell you all about it when you order...it's no big deal).


--Donnie

The Strano bar is que bueno.... and my Whiteline bar has gotten quite larger as well ... less dynamic camber loss = good!

The main problem with the STi is that it is under sprung and over damped. With the pink springs, the ride was MUCH better, but this is something that you cannot touch for AS. For some reason, I thought they made replacable struts for the 04 as you had the old knuckle which was the same as the 02/03 WRX making your berth of choices MUCH better than the 05+ STi.

Good luck with the Strano bar -- you will like how the 'end links' change

- dow

Sammy is one fo the good guys in this world. This is a guy that fought tooth and nail to keep the Rally cars out of ESP. But he will help any Rally car driver with their setup.

He led the development of the ES MR2 to the point they are today. Five years ago, he told me to ignore the talk of the 93 MR2 being inferior and go find one. He tried to get me to switch to the ST bar 2 years before they became the bar to have. I did not listen, but Pat Salerno did. Pat went on to win the Nats with it.

Now we are working on the 1LE for FS...yes, I take any advce he gives to heart.

This guy will not sell you something that will not improve your car. ANd if you have 30-45 minutes, he will go into great lengths to explain exactly the benefit and trade-offs are.

His mother is just as cool. She is hoot to talk to. So if you have car set up questions and want real world advice... www.stranoparts.com

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Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

Just to go ahead and elaborate on what's required to put WRX struts on an STi.

First, you need '02 or '03 SEDAN struts only. Wagon rears won't work on a sedan (the fronts would if you're scouring and find them in pairs that way, though). Buying them "blown" is fine since you're gonna gut them anyway.

You'll install the inserts according to the instructions that come with the inserts. Be warned, however, that the instructions are VERY difficult to follow if you've never seen a set of these done before. Best bet is to get someone to help you on your first set who has done them before (thanks Aaron! No, I haven't done these for the STi yet, but Aaron helped me do the ones for my Spyder a couple years ago).

The struts on the STi are longer than on the WRX in the rear. It's by more than an inch, too. There's no functional problem with that as far as bolting things on and having it work, but there *is* a stock class rule legality issue. You'll want to measure, but apparently you don't need much extra length to get to that 1". What you'll need to do is shim the inside of the strut body before putting the insert in. I'm told the bolt that comes with the inserts *will* still be long enough to just make the 1". Or you can shim a little more than that and use a slightly longer bolt. If you've never done a set of these and don't understand what I'm talking about, you probably will once you get to that point in your installation.

Also note that stock bump stops won't work with the inserts. You will want bump stops because otherwise you'll have lots of wheel rub in your fenderwell (assuming you drive the car very hard after this, which anyone doing this would anyway). You also *need* them to stay stock class legal. Sam can tell you which ones to get (I'll try to remember to post them here once I get them and see a part number), but Koni carries a bump stop that will work. In fact, they carry one that's longer than stock by a good bit and is "progressive soft." I'm told this is the shnizzle because right before where you'd want to bottom out anyway is a *very* good place to have some extra spring rate. You get that with these bump stops. Since they are at least as long as OEM, they're legal, too (the OEM bump stop rule is intended to keep competitors from being able to gain *more* suspension travel than stock). The bump stops weren't cheap at $14 each, however.

The only other tidbit I recall is that the Addco bar can't use stock endlinks, but does come with its own. Supposed to be pretty easy to drop in there.

Anyone want to buy a 27mm Whiteline bar?


--Donnie

The rear struts are identical from sedan to wagon - it's the front struts that are different. The sedan has a wider front track, so the mounting ears at the hub are shaped differently. If you use wagon front struts on your sedan you'll end up with a lot more camber and a very good reason for somebody to protest you.

Not sure exactly what you're talking about with the STi struts being longer than the WRX struts - if you're talking about from bottom of body to top of rod, all the photos I've seen have shown the STi strut being shorter by about an inch.

My bad, got those two confused.



All I know is what Sam told me...that if you put WRX single inserts into WRX strut bodies to put on the STi, you need to lengthen the entire setup to be legal. I think it was just on the rears, too. *shrug* I'll post more when I know...I hope to have everything in hand and be putting it together in about two weeks. The measuring tape won't lie.


--Donnie

I had forgotten about these, but if it's not too late to cancel your order...

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=805182

Any new information on the bumpstops or the install? Driving impressions for stock vs. the new setup?

I'm slack. We didn't get the struts built until late last week and haven't gone through the fitment issues yet. I believe Reid is doing that for me this week while I'm at the beach. He asked me about how I wanted it aligned so he could get that done while I was gone, so I assume he's hoping to be done soon. That'll mean I'll be driving it next week.


--Donnie

ok.

I'd like to get your impressions once it's done - not sure whether I'm going to keep playing in the dirt with mine, so I may go with the setup you're getting. These stock struts are REALLY bouncy.