impreza_GC8
06-21-2010, 01:34 PM
See second post for update and results!!!!!
See second post for update and results!!!!!
See second post for update and results!!!!!
See second post for update and results!!!!!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs115.snc4/36118_1311909400047_1299990492_31668022_3714135_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs020.snc4/34358_1309202332372_1299990492_31659486_2386841_n.jpg
I've been wanting to go a little lower with my wagon in the front, but not much. I don't want it bad enough to do the whole complete conversion, meaning removing the body spacers and converting the car to regular Legacy underpinnings. The writeup on how to do it that way is on here if you search.
So, I have GC8 2.5RS springs laying around so I decided to just take apart my front suspension and see if they would fit on my '97 Outback's shocks.
Basically, here is what I found.
1.) The RS spring, when sitting next to the Outback spring on level ground, is about 2 inches shorter.
2.) The bottom of the RS spring is the same diameter as the Outback spring, but it tapers as it gets to the top, whereas the Outback spring remains the same diameter all the way up.
3.) When I fit the RS spring on to my Outback shock and put the Outback upper spring perch on, followed by the top hat, the top coil of the RS spring actually sat a little inside the perch because, as I said, it tapers at the top. So instead of seating on the rubber bushing that goes around the perch, as it should, it sat a little inside. Does this matter? If you are only daily driving, nice and easy, and dont mind the occasional sound of metal on metal, it probably wont matter, but I wouldn't recommend it. I did actually drive the car like this for a few minutes before putting it back.
4.) With the RS spring on the car, the drop was only about an inch, although I'm not sure if I put the RS front or the RS rear spring on the front of my Outback bc I couldn't tell the difference between the springs and was just experimenting. Furthermore, I only did this to one side of the car, so the Outback spring on the other side may have been lifting the car a little bit. I will figure out which springs are front and back when I try this again though, as I am inclined to believe that I put the rear spring on given the smallness of the drop.
5.) Even with just a minor drop, I was able to get a LOT more negative camber control out of the wheel. With my Outback at its normal ride height, maxing out my negative camber bolt on the hub doesn't give me any noticeable camber when looking at the car, maybe 0.5 to 1 degree of negative camber at the VERY MOST. I don't have a way to measure it, but you can always tell when a tire visibly has a lot of camber. With the RS spring and the drop of 1 inch or so, I was able to max out the camber bolt and get a visible negative camber, I'd say for sure over 1 degree, probably closer to 2. This is a good thing for me because I tend to wear the outsides of my tires since the car rolls so much on the street when driving spiritedly.
But in the end, the RS springs didn't work because of the perches, so WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
The GC8 Impreza upper perches must be smaller than the Outbacks in order to fit that spring. So theoretically if I put the RS upper perch on the Outback shock then I can run RS springs on the shocks with no problem. This means, furthermore, that you could run ANY 2.5RS-compatible lowering spring on the shocks, although as it has been said before, too much of a drop on the Outback shocks will probably blow them and will compromise suspension geometry since you are having to fight the spacers that raise the car up. But the RS springs in the front would give the car a nice, slightly raked stance and will give me a lot more camber control.
So I will be finding some Impreza perches and trying my hand at this again in the next coming weeks. I'll keep you guys posted.
See second post for update and results!!!!!
See second post for update and results!!!!!
See second post for update and results!!!!!
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs115.snc4/36118_1311909400047_1299990492_31668022_3714135_n.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs020.snc4/34358_1309202332372_1299990492_31659486_2386841_n.jpg
I've been wanting to go a little lower with my wagon in the front, but not much. I don't want it bad enough to do the whole complete conversion, meaning removing the body spacers and converting the car to regular Legacy underpinnings. The writeup on how to do it that way is on here if you search.
So, I have GC8 2.5RS springs laying around so I decided to just take apart my front suspension and see if they would fit on my '97 Outback's shocks.
Basically, here is what I found.
1.) The RS spring, when sitting next to the Outback spring on level ground, is about 2 inches shorter.
2.) The bottom of the RS spring is the same diameter as the Outback spring, but it tapers as it gets to the top, whereas the Outback spring remains the same diameter all the way up.
3.) When I fit the RS spring on to my Outback shock and put the Outback upper spring perch on, followed by the top hat, the top coil of the RS spring actually sat a little inside the perch because, as I said, it tapers at the top. So instead of seating on the rubber bushing that goes around the perch, as it should, it sat a little inside. Does this matter? If you are only daily driving, nice and easy, and dont mind the occasional sound of metal on metal, it probably wont matter, but I wouldn't recommend it. I did actually drive the car like this for a few minutes before putting it back.
4.) With the RS spring on the car, the drop was only about an inch, although I'm not sure if I put the RS front or the RS rear spring on the front of my Outback bc I couldn't tell the difference between the springs and was just experimenting. Furthermore, I only did this to one side of the car, so the Outback spring on the other side may have been lifting the car a little bit. I will figure out which springs are front and back when I try this again though, as I am inclined to believe that I put the rear spring on given the smallness of the drop.
5.) Even with just a minor drop, I was able to get a LOT more negative camber control out of the wheel. With my Outback at its normal ride height, maxing out my negative camber bolt on the hub doesn't give me any noticeable camber when looking at the car, maybe 0.5 to 1 degree of negative camber at the VERY MOST. I don't have a way to measure it, but you can always tell when a tire visibly has a lot of camber. With the RS spring and the drop of 1 inch or so, I was able to max out the camber bolt and get a visible negative camber, I'd say for sure over 1 degree, probably closer to 2. This is a good thing for me because I tend to wear the outsides of my tires since the car rolls so much on the street when driving spiritedly.
But in the end, the RS springs didn't work because of the perches, so WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
The GC8 Impreza upper perches must be smaller than the Outbacks in order to fit that spring. So theoretically if I put the RS upper perch on the Outback shock then I can run RS springs on the shocks with no problem. This means, furthermore, that you could run ANY 2.5RS-compatible lowering spring on the shocks, although as it has been said before, too much of a drop on the Outback shocks will probably blow them and will compromise suspension geometry since you are having to fight the spacers that raise the car up. But the RS springs in the front would give the car a nice, slightly raked stance and will give me a lot more camber control.
So I will be finding some Impreza perches and trying my hand at this again in the next coming weeks. I'll keep you guys posted.