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Underdog Motorsports - 2015 STI Steering Rack Swap


Underdog

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  • I Donated Too
Yes, clearly not the rack for the person who knows what they want, but not why or how to get there. :lol:

 

I dislike VDC because I find it far more predictable, stable, and fun, to control the car by steady application of throttle and steering inputs, allowing the differentials to work as intended, rather than relying on the algorithm selectively braking the slipping wheels. Then again I am always driving seasonally appropriate tires, so for those who are riding on less-than-ideal tires and don't want to pay attention to driving in general, or specifically for the conditions, VDC may be the better option.

 

I wish that the system handled traction and stability control separately. It would be nice to say "hey, I don't mind spinning tires, just not spinning the car" versus "hey, i don't mind rotating the car, just don't smoke individual tires" and finally "shut up, I GOT THIS"

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I wish that the system handled traction and stability control separately. It would be nice to say "hey, I don't mind spinning tires, just not spinning the car" versus "hey, i don't mind rotating the car, just don't smoke individual tires" and finally "shut up, I GOT THIS"

 

Yes, a more performance-oriented system would be a good alternative. Even better would be no VDC/TCS but with 2 helical LSDs and DCCD with a programmable controller and sticky tires. :)

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  • I Donated Too
Don't let your dreams be dreams!

 

Unless you know someone upgrading their STI (rare), they're impossible to find under $600, and that's just silly. The guys I know who found STI owners paid 200-300. And I've been poor since I bought a house anyway, so all I have are dreams :lol:

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Yes, a more performance-oriented system would be a good alternative. Even better would be no VDC/TCS but with 2 helical LSDs and DCCD with a programmable controller and sticky tires. :)

 

Torque vectoring diff in the back and DCCD would be the most win.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Installed the '15 STI steering rack in my '08 SpecB and it hasn't shown and problems with the VDC yet. The local Audi dealer supplied N10218708 jam nut worked perfect for the narrow profile needed. Directly associated with the rack, I also installed the whiteline KCA313 bump steer kit and the AVO steering rack bushings.

 

I only put 10 miles on the car so far because I also rebuilt the brake calipers, installed stainless brake and clutch lines, installed whiteline top hats and bushings in the front rear and differential, painted my rear subframe and installed Koni struts and sti Pinks (wagon). It was a short test run before looking over everything again.

 

It might not have been enough miles to register a check light? I'll update if I run into any problems and once I get it aligned.

Edited by b071dc0
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Installed the '15 STI steering rack in my '08 SpecB and it hasn't shown and problems with the VDC yet. The local Audi dealer supplied N10218708 jam nut worked perfect for the narrow profile needed. Directly associated with the rack, I also installed the whiteline KCA313 bump steer kit and the AVO steering rack bushings.

 

I only put 10 miles on the car so far because I also rebuilt the brake calipers, installed stainless brake and clutch lines, installed whiteline top hats and bushings in the front rear and differential, painted my rear subframe and installed Koni struts and sti Pinks (wagon). It was a short test run before looking over everything again.

 

It might not have been enough miles to register a check light? I'll update if I run into any problems and once I get it aligned.

 

 

That's great! I hope it continues to work without VDC issues. Looking to make this swap in the next year.

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Guys, does anyone has any insight about if this swap would work for 09 Legacy 3.0 H6 BLE? (non-SpecB)

Do I need a steering fluid cooler for daily use? (I never track my car)

So, if I got it correctly, shopping list looks like this:

- 2015 STI rack - 34110va120

- 2 pcs. of 14x1.5, 7mm thick nuts

- optional Whiteline KSR207 rack bushing kit (with bushing-extraction-tool included :-) )

- optional Whiteline KCA313 bump steer adjustment kit

 

Thanks a lot

Damir

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  • 2 weeks later...
Installed the '15 STI steering rack in my '08 SpecB and it hasn't shown and problems with the VDC yet. The local Audi dealer supplied N10218708 jam nut worked perfect for the narrow profile needed. Directly associated with the rack, I also installed the whiteline KCA313 bump steer kit and the AVO steering rack bushings.

 

I only put 10 miles on the car so far because I also rebuilt the brake calipers, installed stainless brake and clutch lines, installed whiteline top hats and bushings in the front rear and differential, painted my rear subframe and installed Koni struts and sti Pinks (wagon). It was a short test run before looking over everything again.

 

It might not have been enough miles to register a check light? I'll update if I run into any problems and once I get it aligned.

 

 

Any more updates on how the rack behaves / general thoughts on it?

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Thanks. Let me know what they had to do to get it to fit. As far as I know you still have in all the Outback body spacers, right?

 

Yes I still have those.

 

So I just got back from the shop with the car. With the new rack it's 2.5 turns lock to lock. I don't even know what it was before. OB2.5XT, you have the same car as me, do you know what stock is?

 

I had the STI Rack, Whiteline Bushings and Cusco brace put in. Didn't do the STI U-Joint because it was on backorder. As far as getting it to fit, they said it bolted right up. I also ordered the thinner lock nuts and they put those on, but said they wouldn't have been needed.

 

The resistance at the wheel is a lot more than it was before. Probably double; feels nice. Whe wheel doesn't automatically return to straight as well as it did before. I noticed on some turns where I use the turn signal, the auto-off doesn't work because I didn't turn the wheel enough to engage it. That is just what I noticed on my drive home from the shop (about 15 miles). The total cost (parts and labor) to have this done by a shop was $1600.

Edited by oldskoolbiker
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Sorry about the delay in response guys. I'm only about 350 miles in on the new rack. Over those 350, the VDC hasn't turned off once nor has any other issue arose. I beat on it up and down the canyon a number of times, respectively of course, some city driving and highway.

 

I believe I've mentioned it, but I also did a whole suspension upgrade so the whole car feels totally different. I cant really say what the steering rack alone did. Not only that, but I've also had the car torn apart for a so long comparison between old and new would not be accurate. I can say that I love how the steering feels. The wheel is very responsive. Like most other people lower speeds is harder turning but once moving over 5ish mph it feels very smooth.

 

It seems like there's a little air in the system as it does shudder every once and a while at low speeds. No bubbles in my tank so it isn't a leak. I did turn the wheel from side to side, many times, while jacked up. I think it just has to naturally bleed over the course of driving it a little while. The shudder has gotten less frequent from when I first took it out and never has happened at higher speeds. My blinker also functions normally, shutting off after a turn.

 

I have yet to get it aligned. My dad and I spent a long time making sure everything was close so I could safely get some mileage (500) on the suspension before alignment. He worked in a small town garage in his younger years so he had some low tech methods of getting everything close. And damn its pretty spot on for staying straight on the road. But I don't know what problems could arise from an alignment so I'm going to say its likely good to go in my VDC car.

 

I'll continue to update. I don't drive the car much in the winter because my job comes to a halt first snow of the season. Thank god you can't pour concrete in the cold. So we're able to go to a one car family and I get to play stay at home dad. But like I say, I'll continue to update once the miles start getting racked up.

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b071dc0, did you experienced the same issue like oldskoolbiker of steering wheel not returning automatically to its original zero position? If yes how did you/plan to sort it out? I am seriously into this mod chasing the parts right now, but would like to know is that issue something I just have to live with, or maybe thee is a way to rectify it by getting some more 15 STI parts on the steering column side (or something else...)

I really don't want to have the s.wheel which is not coming back... :-/

Thank you for sharing your experience and I really appreciate your work, courage, time and money to do this mod! :-)

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I've been driving around a bit more and it's fine. I did get an alignment done when the rack was put in. It was just my initial impression from the first drive.

 

After driving around for a couple of days it's all good. Just needed to get used to the extra resistance in turning the wheel.

 

BTW, I have the GT Spec flat bottom steering wheel which is a smaller diameter than stock, so I can really feel the extra resistance of the STI rack.

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Really glad to hear the joint bolts right up. Did you cut the tie-rod ends (as per underdog?) or just use the thinner jam notes?

 

I just got the DAMD flat bottom wheel. Looking forward to this.

 

Stock OBXT is something crazy like 3.5 or 3.7. It's more then the stock LGT.

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