Coilovers + offroad?

[2.5GT]

a good combo? :lol: ..i'm so tempting of slamming the car but i occasionally take the subie offroad. Thinking i might break something due to the bumpy roads... suggestions?

I dont want to deal with the strut/spring combo. i was hoping i could run bigger tires with the coilvoers too..hm..

[decke48]

40mm 50mm coilover are good for offroad but suck for onroad because of the valving. they have a lower spring rate then most coilovers. plus they cost $3000+.. any track coilover will have too high of a spring rate and will just horrible for offroad. but if you could find a lower rate spring like 4k 6k spring it might be ok (most track/street coilovers are 8k 10k).. if its just occasionally of road i would go with a 32 way adjustible coilover (like a megan) and maybe find some lower rate springs

[2.5GT]

8k front and 6k rear would still be high...but doable right?

[decke48]

well i guess you can turn the valving to the softest setting and hope for the best... idk about how the endlinks, sway bars and control arms would do if your driving hard

[DOOK]

spring rates are far too high for offroad... it's going to be hard to find a coilover that compromises on and off road prowess because of the differences in valving and bound/rebound. You can turn down the dampening all you want, but you'll still have shitty rebound and you'll end up bottoming out your coilovers constantly and blowing them out in a short amount of time. You gotta take your pick on this one.

[2.5GT]

hm....time to go and look around..see what i'll find. i'd probably end up getting a set of coilovers anways.

[rougeben83]

Most street coilovers don't have the suspension travel to deal with off roading to begin with. This directly impacts your springrate because you cannot go very soft without the risk of bottoming out your spring.

You'll need to find coilovers specifically designed for off-road use. Off the top of my head, the 50mm DMS coilovers were designed as such...just look for any rally specific coilover if you want it done right (which usually equals spending some $$$)

[outbacktweaked95]

im in the same boat as you and what im thinking about using is a set of coilover conversions with struts. You said before that you were not interested in this idea but unless your really surrious about off road aka a rally racer its probally not going to fit your budget i looked up some prices and tein wanted about $10000 for a set of gravel/offroad coilovers. I mean with the strut and coilover conversion you can lower and rais your car just by turning the perch ring up or down that way you could still lower you car but when you went off road you could just crank it up and you ready to go. Also I was worried about them not being strong enough but ground control says that if anything breaks theyll replace it no problem for free no matter how rough you are. just some food for though.

[2.5GT]

yeah, i love driving on dirt/back roads..love jumping over bumps and tackling the corners...but anything over 1k for suspension is crazy.
although i do like the structured design of the spring/strut combo...but i cant go any wider tires than 215/60/16s. and i dont like the idea of using spacers either lol.

[MCarp22]

I can't see these holding up to well off-roading:

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1396/opentrackdayaaron060ys8.jpg

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7902/opentrackdayaaron064ah8.jpg

[2.5GT]

holy crap...story behind this? looks like a pretty sharp turn/bump :shock:

[MCarp22]

holy crap...story behind this? looks like a pretty sharp turn/bump :shock:

Not sure to be honest, I've only seen the photos with no real explanation.

I don't have any faith in the made-in-china coilovers though.

[outbacktweaked95]

yea thats what i was afraid of but i mean the strut was what broke on that and with a strut spring conversion you could choose your struts and ground control warenties everthing and they use eibach springs so i dunno. i mean is this seem like a pretty good idea to others as well or am i barking up the wrong tree on this idea.

[Airgne]

here is some, scroll down alittle.

http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/susp.htm

[2.5GT]

here is some, scroll down alittle.

http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/susp.htm

wow..4k :shock:

[Airgne]

here is some, scroll down alittle.

http://www.writerguy.com/primitive/susp.htm

wow..4k :shock:

yeah i know, but i knwo know of any other coilovers that would be good for street/offroad driving.

[deadlydave]

I took the plunge and put the Megan Racing units on my Baja. I'll sacrifice off-road performance for the amazing difference in on-road control. No complaints so far. :smile:

[gryffinwings]

You could check out Ksport, they have a set of Rally Spec Gravel Coilovers and they can make it for the application for your car, I asked them if they could do the same for my Outback and they said yes, just haven't got the money for them yet, they cost less than 2k though.

[J.McDonald Knives]

Would yall recommend the Ksport Rally Spec GR or the TEIN Type HG Dampers/Springs coil overs for my BG? Also with either of those could I get the extra 2" needed or will I have to make lift blocks?

[decke48]

i think the most lift you can get with coilovers is a half inch. so i guess you would need lift blocks.

[J.McDonald Knives]

i think the most lift you can get with coilovers is a half inch. so i guess you would need lift blocks.Thats what I figured. So which if the two do yall recommend for me as far as reliability, dependability, and best construction?

[Huffer]

Ksport get mixed reviews...TEIN are basically street/track suspension, they don't go offroad much.

[J.McDonald Knives]

Ksport get mixed reviews...TEIN are basically street/track suspension, they don't go offroad much.What kind of mixed reviews? Is there another brand that is better that offer rally spec gravel coilovers or better?

[Huffer]

Mixed review = equal positive, equal negative.

Check with an Impreza rally team, find out what they use.
eg. DMS Coil Over Rally Suspension

[J.McDonald Knives]

Mixed review = equal positive, equal negative.

Check with an Impreza rally team, find out what they use.
eg. DMS Coil Over Rally SuspensionWhat I meant was what kind of reviews? Did they snap? Was there a malfunction? What was the cause of the bad reviews?

[Huffer]

http://www.google.com/search?q=Ksport+coilover+reviews

[J.McDonald Knives]

I looked at about 2 dozen and most of them were good. I will still keep looking to see if there is a better one for my application.

[rougeben83]

I looked at about 2 dozen and most of them were good. I will still keep looking to see if there is a better one for my application.

Yes there's something better, and that involves raiding the Impreza parts bin for some real rally coilovers adapted to your 2nd gen Legacy.