Future Suspension Upgrades

By beginning of August I will have a 06 LGT . I'm going to be pretty limited on money and don't want to mess with my warranty so, with what I've got, I'm probably going to be modding my suspension. I'm thinking of starting with some new springs (want the pinks) and sway bars. I've come to believe, from reading the forums, thats the way to go (correct me if I'm wrong).

 

That being said, I will be doing a lot of snowy driving during the winter and I want to make sure that the sways and other potential suspension upgrades (apart from springs, struts) don't negatively effect this type of driving.

 

p.s. I am a noob when it comes to the mechanics of driving, etc.

If you want to accelerate, brake and handle better as well as have great traction in all conditions, get some snow tires for your stock wheels and get a new set of wheels with some high performance summer or A/S tires.

 

After you have the tires nailed down then swaybars will probably be your best bang for the buck.

Yah, sorry forgot to mention that I'd be buying snow tires. But even with snow tires, sways won't negatively effect snowy driving? I had heard stories about sways (I guess that were too thick) screwing with handling in the snow..

Yah, sorry forgot to mention that I'd be buying snow tires. But even with snow tires, sways won't negatively effect snowy driving? I had heard stories about sways (I guess that were too thick) screwing with handling in the snow..

 

Oh, absolutely... increasing the rear swaybar stiffness will improve (dry) traction, up to a point. Once you cross that point you are reducing your overall traction, and making your car more prone to oversteer, which is much scarier than understeer in normal driving.

 

If you read some of my recent posts you will see that I have modded everything in my suspension except for the swaybars (intentionally).

 

I would rate suspension mods in the following order of importance (not factoring budget):

 

1. Tires!!!!

2. Struts - Increases comfort and performance, addresses a major weakpoint of stock suspension

3. Lower control arm bushings (stock or increased caster)

4. Springs (with Roll-Center correction kit if >1" drop)

5. Swaybars

6. Chassis bracing

7. Lightweight suspension components

 

Above all, get a good alignment!

thanks a lot! very helpful!

 

My new plan: tires, springs, lower control arm bushings, and hopefully struts.

 

I have been looking towards sti pinks but that was before I had considered replacing the stock struts. Given that I have a low budget, are their any struts that you'd recommend? strut/spring combos?

I agree with underdog that you should look to purchase the tires and the wheels before the suspension. The suspension will help alot but the tires and the wheels would be a better first thing to buy.

Yah, well I'm going to buy the new tires no matter what. I was just wondering what I should do after that.

 

So, should I just avoid sways all together if I'm going to be in the snow during the winter?

thanks a lot! very helpful!

 

My new plan: tires, springs, lower control arm bushings, and hopefully struts.

 

I have been looking towards sti pinks but that was before I had considered replacing the stock struts. Given that I have a low budget, are their any struts that you'd recommend? strut/spring combos?

 

Your plan sounds great. However, I would definitely do struts and put springs second to them.

 

I am running Koni adjustable struts with Swift springs. It is a very firm combo for daily driving and I wouldn't recommend it if your roads are choppy or you need a lot of suspension travel, i.e. mountain roads.

 

For you I would recommend Bilstein HD's, they are relatively cheap (~$550) & excellent quality. You could pair them with Pinks if you are interested in a lower, stiffer ride. However if you want to maximize comfort/performance, I would try and pick up stock spec.b springs (you need to use spec.b length front springs with Bilsteins, or more specifically, Bilstein-style tophats) and then decide if sways are still necessary after you've installed the struts/springs. You should be able to pick up stock spec.b springs for pretty cheap if you poke around the classifieds. Pinks will run you an additional $300+ for about .5" drop and ~10% increase in stiffness.

I run the swifts on stock struts. Rear 22mm sway (highly recommended to at least get the 20mm JDM rear bar). No need to change the front bar. Then again we don't see snow here in Fla (well maybe a few flakes every 30 years). 18 inch Spec B rims with toyo t1r's . Held up real well at our local Autocross this past weekend. Ran 2 sec behind a fully modded spec B with Hoosiers. In my opinion Tires first, Pinks on stock struts (you can upgrade struts later) , Rear bar, Bushings.

Welcome and read these....

 

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67940

 

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5941

great advice, thank you

I'm running Bilstein HDs w/ STi pinks on the front and JDM LGT wagon springs on the rear. For sways, I have the stock 20 mm FSB and the JDM 20 mm RSB.

Oh, absolutely... increasing the rear swaybar stiffness will improve (dry) traction, up to a point. Once you cross that point you are reducing your overall traction, and making your car more prone to oversteer, which is much scarier than understeer in normal driving.

 

If you read some of my recent posts you will see that I have modded everything in my suspension except for the swaybars (intentionally).

 

I would rate suspension mods in the following order of importance (not factoring budget):

 

1. Tires!!!!

2. Struts - Increases comfort and performance, addresses a major weakpoint of stock suspension

3. Lower control arm bushings (stock or increased caster)

4. Springs (with Roll-Center correction kit if >1" drop)

5. Swaybars

6. Chassis bracing

7. Lightweight suspension components

 

Above all, get a good alignment!

 

 

thank you. now i dont have to post here.

do all spec.b's have the same part number for the struts?

stop, control, then go! (some say control, stop, go)

 

either way, tires are the first to replace!!!!!

do all spec.b's have the same part number for the struts? Have they changed the struts at all from 06 to 08 I need to know this because I have to replace one of them.

well, its looking more and more like i wont have the money for struts...sucks. So, im thinkin i should just buy a pair of springs that match up well with OEM struts until the struts wear out. any good suggestions for springs? im gonna be driving I-80 to tahoe pretty frequently (kinda crappy road at times). im not very experienced with modding, and so im not really sure what my tolerance is for loss in ride quality but too me i feel like handling is more important than ride quality.

well, its looking more and more like i wont have the money for struts...sucks. So, im thinkin i should just buy a pair of springs that match up well with OEM struts until the struts wear out. any good suggestions for springs? im gonna be driving I-80 to tahoe pretty frequently (kinda crappy road at times). im not very experienced with modding, and so im not really sure what my tolerance is for loss in ride quality but too me i feel like handling is more important than ride quality.

 

I know it's tough, but IMO you're better off waiting and saving to do struts than going straight for springs. The mod bug does bite hard though...

 

I don't think that springs alone will give you an increase in handling that will offset the reduction in ride comfort. Perhaps if you go with something softer like Cobb springs it may be okay, but that is putting the cart before the horse.

 

Have you bought tires yet?

i still dont have the car...lol. its just all im thinking about so thats why ive been posting. i will have tires around the same time i buy the legacy, yes. another thing for me is that I like the lowered look A LOT so thats prolly one more reason im looking at springs on the stock struts. and yes, the mod bug is biting very hard, and i dont even have the car yet! haha