rB5

Yes, i put them on my 2006 XT that had about 50k miles at the time, with stock springs. The stock struts were not worn out, but i wanted to see if the GR2s made a difference, based on previous experience using GR2s on an Impreza (which did give decent results). Essentially, if you just need OE replacements, the GR2s will be fine, but they are not a performance option. Keep in mind that i came from lighter, more nimble cars to my OBXT, so my expectations are probably higher than your average OB owner. That said, the OBXT can be hustled through the canyons quite efficiently, even with the soft OE suspension*–*it just requires a little more dedication I believe you could use the 2000-2004 rears but the fronts are different and i'm not sure if the dampening spec for the rears are any different. The favorable reviews for them could be due to differences in weight, spring rates, etc. between generations but i haven't researched that.

Don't buy the GR-2s if you're looking for an improvement in handling. I currently have them on my OBXT and they made very little difference - i think the alignment and replacement bushings i installed at the same time made a bigger difference. If used with some OB-specific King springs, that would be better but then you may as well use the stock struts. The positive is that they didn't cost much at all and now i have a set of stock strut bodies to experiment with...

$1885 is a fair price, considering the current exchange rates and shipping, from a company that is actually in business bringing us parts from outside the continent, door-to-door. I researched several sources, and HKC's price is the lowest of all the professional importers that offer the kit to us (see earlier posts). If you want to go through a "friend-of-a-friend" then yeah, you'll probably pay less for the kit, but i hope you will compensate your friend in some way for the favor and doing the work - that's just me, though; i don't like exploiting my friends If we're talking a private group buy, then that's yet another deal...

It's the exact same kit as Mike's but you will need to source some other parts for it to fit our USDM Outbacks (read this thread from the beginning to find that info). There is no group buy for the HKC deal - if anyone is ready to pull the trigger on it, just contact them directly. Because of fluctuating exchange rates and shipping, the price may have changed (it's been over a month since i contacted them for that quote). As of now, this looks to be the best deal, outside of directly sourcing the kit from Japan yourself. The rhdjapan.com "group buy" prices are no special deal at all - even if 20 people were in on it, the resulting price would be the same or more than HKC's quote (rhdjapan price does not include shipping).

Just checking in - sorry for the wait. I've pretty much gone through all my potential contacts for the JDM BTS kit and the best i can see is the offer from HKC for $1800 shipped to your US address. There is no group buy. If you are interested, contact HKC directly. As for my involvement, i'm going to step out for a moment but i certainly hope that the collective here will crack this thing and get some decent suspension options in the USA for us!

I've been revisiting other options available in the US, none of which i believe are comparable to the Bilstein BTS kit: • KYB GR-2 struts with King Springs: Lifts the car slightly. GR-2s are not optimal (being rated as OE replacement) but King makes nice progressive rate springs. • Endura-Tech coilovers: supposedly good quality (better than Megan) and will be available in OB specific fitment by mid-year. • Koni Sport: only the fronts would work (using the cut-a-strut system, which is the Koni insert placed in your stock strut housing); there is no option for the rear and likely will never be from Koni. -Branden

Here's my summary of the latest on the JDM BTS kits: • Best price right now is with HKC for $1800 delivered to your USA address, with the possibility of a small refund at the discretion of HKC, dependent on currency and individual actual shipping costs at time of order. • I have one possibility with a contact in Japan i need to follow up with, but i'm not holding my breath on it being much cheaper. Will post ASAP. -Branden

Is the “$17,109.56” supposed to be the Yen amount or was it just a typo? At $1710, the price looks in line with what i was quoted from HKC, who explained that “credits will be issued back to you if we have over quoted after delivery of goods.” And here is their explanation when asked about that pricing strategy: “To be honest, I would be more comfortable issuing you and fellow members credits after delivery instead of having us fix the prices. Reason largely being unanticpated costs, fluctuating exchange rates and freight. Many of the other vendors would have straight up prices with you as they quote enough to secure these risks. We don't - we try to offer products at the best prices possible based on current factors while making a reasonable profit from the transaction.” Fair enough - they deserve a commission for handling it and their reputation seems solid on the forums. Honestly, i don't think we can do much better than those prices for the JDM BTS on this side of the Pacific, considering how weak our dollar is to the yen (and that won't be changing much anytime soon). I'm eagerly waiting to hear the results of the German inquiry... We'll crack this code yet!

Mike: thanks for offering up your springs for study - very generous of you. The main piece of info is the compression rate. In fact, am i correct in thinking that we could have springs crafted that use the USDM perches and BTS springs rates, saving us from buying some of the extra JDM pieces?... Slightly different note: King Springs (Australian co.) makes several nice progressive rate springs for the Outback. One set keeps stock height while upping the compression rate; they also have a set that raises the ride hide a bit while providing a 20-30% stiffer spring rate (the beauty of progressive rate coils), but i'm looking for stock or slightly lower than stock (up to 1") ride height. And thanks, tevaburns, for looking into OOPARTS - is the sales manager's name really "Fuzzy"?... I received a single-kit Bilstein BTS price of $1800 shipped to my USA address from HKC and am awaiting any word on a multiple order discount. Our weak dollar is killing us here: it places the Hirano Tire price of ¥128370 at US$1452 ... -Branden

Thanks, Mike for going above-and-beyond here to help enlighten the rest of us Outback owners with a suspension setup that actually works decent!... I encountered the same parts number confusion that was brought up. Hopefully your email to Bilstein Germany will clear it up. If anyone has had experience with a good JDM parts importer, please let me know and I can try checking them out. The BTS kit is still my #1 choice but if the German struts prove to be the correct fitment, I would definitely consider those and their less-daunting importation barrier. -Branden

Mike, thanks for the heads-up. I'll see if i can scrape up some info., too, on the Germany-spec stuff to see how it compares. The comprehensive JDM kit is definitely preferred, but i'm open to options. I'm thinking that if there are uprated struts, there are likely uprated springs available in Germany, as well, but even if there aren't, it wouldn't be too hard to have a limited number of springs custom made here by a reputable spring maker. To me, the BP Legacies are the last “real” Subarus - ones that had character and performance at a reasonable cost (i've owned 7 Subarus in the last 10 years). The suspension and HVAC woes are concessions to a marketing dept. that desires to be another Toyota (well, maybe not the troubled Toyota we see right now) and sell mass quantities of generic appliances. There is not a single Subaru in the new lineup that i would consider buying. But anyway... I have not heard back from the potential supplier for the JDM BTS kit. I will try contacting them again Friday or Monday. -Branden

Excellent - i'll try to gather solid info regarding pricing and timing. I have not looked into getting the tophats and spring perches yet (i was mainly interested in getting the BTS kit itself here). The tophats are easy to get in the US (USDM Spec.B units) but i can look into getting the JDM spring perches if enough people are interested. tevaburns: may i ask where you ended up getting the perches? Will post over on subaruoutback.org, as well but feel free to spread the word anywhere you think there may be interested people. More kits = less cost!

For those seriously interested in the BTS kit, i've started a thread regarding a possible group buy: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2841401#post2841401 I need to get my hands on a kit one way or another before my adventure on the Alcan 5000 later this year... >

For those of you BP Outback owners who have been drooling over M. Schneider's installation of the JDM-only Bilstein BTS suspension kit, I am working on the possibility of initiating a group buy through a trusted vendor on this forum (i'll reveal more info. later, if there's enough interest here). Post here if you would seriously consider committing to a group buy for the BTS kit. I'm still working with the vendor regarding cost breakdowns (more kits = less per unit cost) but i expect it to be quite a bit below the $2000 that other vendors are currently charging for the kit (i personally am not interested unless it is a good amount under $2k). Here are a few links for reference to the BTS kit discussed elsewhere in the forum: http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=114243 http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=111880 http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92260 -Branden

Thanks for this break down. I'm trying a couple of contacts to see if there's the possibility of getting a group buy going. Now let's see those pics!