My review of USDM, JDM, STi, coilovers and iONs (way, way too long)

I intended to write a quick review of the iON springs I recently installed but figured I would add a few more comments. Here is, in cronological order, my suspension experience on my 2005 GT wagon.

 

I have had the car since April, 2004. IMO, suspension is the hardest thing to get right on the LGT. Power improvements are easy, brakes are easy but the suspension determines, every minute you are moving, how you interact with the road. I am no guru by any means and, of course, there are likely a lot of good options I have not tried.

My previous car was a 2002 WRX wagon.

(mini review...stock suspension was too soft so switched to v.7 STi suspension. STi suspension was a fantastic improvement in handling but for me was an estimated 20% too stiff for everyday use (rough roads, potholes, winter driving were a bit too bumpy and would transmit too much to the butt-dyno instead of soaking it up)

 

GT wagon;

Stock suspension...coming from the precision of the WRX STi suspension, the numbness and float resulted in a tremendous reduction in driving involvement. I had to change it because it sucked most of the fun out of driving the car and moved to...

 

USDM struts / Pink springs...initially, for about a week, I was impressed but ultimately this is a poor combination. The struts are underdamped and you will crash and bang over bumps and there is too much bounce. The struts can't control the sorings. No big surprise given the higher spring rates. The drop is 30mm all around. I think pairing any JDM specific spring with the USDM struts is a bad idea.

 

KSport coilovers...I got them cheap because of a group buy. I thought that the height, camber and damping flexibility would be cool. It was for a while but The ride quality wasn't for me even with the optional 6kg springs (8kg were standard). Without the rubber top hat, too much road buzz was transmitted to the cabin and made my dash rattle. Reliability, at least the versions I had, was poor as three of the coilovers had to be rebuilt before i sold them. Cheap coilovers, IMO, are a bad idea. I am sure there are good ones out there but not many actually use the flexibility and there are maintenance considerations particularly if you live where there is winter (salt, sand)

 

JDM GT ver. A (not Spec B) / STi springs (initially I did not use the OEM JDM GT springs)...now we are getting somewhere. Great body control with very good turn-in. No crashing, banging or other silly behavior. 80% of the time I loved it but on my commute there are some expansion joints and the impact would be a bit jarring. It got annoying so I thought the OEM GT springs would be a great compromise since they are factory matched to the JDM struts. So...

 

JDM GT struts / springs... I installed them, sold the STi springs (too soon) and all was good. Until I lived with the JDM OEM strut / springs combo for a couple of weeks and realized that the STi springs were MORE comfortable and handled BETTER and gave a great drop of 15mm all around. Well f*&^% me. I don't know how STi did it. I started seaching for used STi springs. Didn't find any. So...

 

JDM GT struts / iON Sport Spec fronts & HD rears...interesting. First, the surprising, to me anyway, part. The Sport Spec and HD rear springs when combined with JDM GT struts will give you EXACTLY the same ride height, almost to the millimeter, as stock JDM OEM. Initially, i was a bit pissed and emailed Jack @ iON. I guess there was some confusion during the ordering process and I did not get the JDM specific springs that I was expecting. But, Jack assured me that the USDM springs will work with JDM struts. At 1" compression the JDM specific ones would be ~16% stiffer; at 2" ~26% stiffer than the Sport Specs. He suggested sticking to the Sport Specs w/ the HD rears for functionality. According to him, you loose a very insignificant amount in handling prowess compared to the JDM ones, but you have more usable ground clearance for Winter and DD roads which are not "perfect".

 

And, for me, after a week or so of driving I think he might be right. Cornering and body control is way up compared to the OEM springs. The ride is less jittery (when compressed with my body weight, the iON springs are noticeably softer on initial compression than OEM springs). The car doesn't bottom out. You do feel the extra stiffness of the HD rears but I wouldn't call it objectionable. On JDM struts, I wouldn't use the regular rears with Sport Spec fronts since i think the butt-sag would look odd. If I went with the JDM specific iONs i would likely be back in the same boat as I was with the STi springs. Great but perhaps just a bit edgey for my commuter, family hauler, part-time thrill ride.

 

I would have liked a minor (10-15mm) drop, as opposed to the current no-drop, just to make the stance of the car a bit more aggressive (and to make sure people knew I was a tuned bad-ass:lol:) but from a practical point-of-view much better handling and stock ride height is a great option.

 

Compared to the STi springs (I am going from memory here), I believe the JDM GT strut / Sport Spec iON combo is a bit more comfortable (progressive fronts perhaps?) and that the STi combo may have very slightly better turn-in (lower centre of gravity due to drop?) and overall a bit more precise. I suspect that the JDM specific iON with the higher springs rates and STi would be very similar.

 

Tom

 

P.S. If anyone has STi springs for a 5MT wagon PM me. Now I feel like I need to do a back-to-back comparison with the iONs .

nice write up. i'm looking into springs/etc. for next Spring and I've been really undecided which route to take, this has been really helpful. I've had bad experiences with suspension work and have never been completely satisfied for some of the exact reasons mentioned above (bottoming out, hard over bumps, etc.)

 

You've at least given me a good starting point, thanks.

Your problem w/ coil-overs, as you mentioned, is your choice in coil-overs

Your problem w/ coil-overs, as you mentioned, is your choice in coil-overs

 

No arguments from me on that point. But, maintenance, such as protecting the threads and the locking rings from corrosion, is critical to avoid pain regardless of coilover.

KWs

 

Stainless threads and nylon seats

They look nice. More $$ than I was willing to spend at the time but in retrospect a viable option. I like that they reuse stock tophats.

Tom,

Thanks for the writeup! This is great info. Thanks for taking the time and spending the money.

 

Anyone have any idea how close the struts he's got compare to the Bilstein HD's bosco (and other's) have been using?

 

I think it was mentioned in bosco's HD thread. I'll have to go back and read it again. OK, maybe not the WHOLE thing! :lol:

GTCanada,

 

Thanx for the great write-up. Just a word for those new people on the forum who can only buy Outback wagons in the states. I recently did the whole suspension research extravaganza ont the forum to see what my options are for my car, and to say the least it was confusing... Nobody seems to make suspension parts for Outbacks (except Megan coilovers). The height of outbacks even confuses people who make parts for LGT wagons as far as where your Outback wagon will end up for height after spring and strut swap.

 

Doe to the minivan-like handling of my Outback, I had to take the plunge... Installed Perring sways, 22mm stiffest setting. It helped the lean but not enough. Went with ION sports for wagons / Bilstein HD's (talked to jack at ION) Drop was more than I expected - about 1.5" front and back. It dropped so low that initially I was worried that the tires would rub inside the wheelwell (OEM setup 225/55/17). So far they don't. Haven't packed the car with people yet.

 

Ride is much flatter, bit bouncy in the back, but the rear lean and float is gone.

 

Note - my other car is a suspension significantly modified '99 Corvette and I wouldn't want to go stiffer on my Outback due to discomfort concerns.

Update...

 

Ride is about perfect now after Jack's advice to trim the rear bump stops. Apparently for this kind of drop cutting stops is a must.

Pics...

I'm also a big fan of my ion springs. I had them on stock struts/shocks for a while and was unhappy with the OEM underdamped condition so I upgraded to the Tokico adjustables with JDM specific front Ion springs. That has been my set-up of choice for quite a while now, both on the street and at the track.

GTCanada - Ions may ride well, but they are cheap painted junk. Expect them to rust away in a short time. Start looking for a new set of Pinks

GTCanada - Ions may ride well, but they are cheap painted junk. Expect them to rust away in a short time. Start looking for a new set of Pinks

Two Chicago winters, salt and all. No rust, no issues.

I saw approx. 2 years old Ions from edmundu's car. Paint flaked all over.

 

Powdercoated springs (e.g. STI) >>> painted springs

Hmm, hopefully that was an isolated incident, certainly not enough evidence to condem the entire product run. My springs are doing well, significantly better than my Tokicos which have less red on them everytime I pull a wheel off.

unclemat - FYI our springs are first annodized then powdercoated. Like all things, proper maintence like routine washes are a good idea to keep things clean. If you wash them everytime you wash your car there'll be no issues.

Maybe it was a bad batch or an isolated incident on a fellow member's car.

 

I don't have Ions and the springs I have on the car do not require regular washing to stay in good condition