Hi, Newbie Member here needs assistance......:)

[m5zoom]

I have a 1999 Legacy (30th anniv) wagon and would like to upgrade the brakes and suspension before anything else. I found an outfit in Australia, who has a set of STI Struts from a 2004 STI. Is this a good match, or is their a better setup out there to be installed on a wagon.

My goal is to make my "kid carrier" similar to the 1999 JDM BG5 GT Wagon and fast enough to make my 2 kids scream! This will be the first project in making this conversion happen.....

Thanks for your help,

-Marc

[Tris_STi]

Good to see more mature Subaru owners. You SURE you don't want a bodykit first?

Welcome, btw.

STi Take-offs would be excellent, however, I doubt they will work with your rear setup --wagons are a bit different, due to the difference in weight and overall balance. You can't take struts from a sedan and expect that they'll perform similarly when placed into a wagon. For really good uprated struts, I'd recommend some KYBs. The AGX line is superb, as they allow 8 different dampening settings, so you can have your sporty ride, but not jarr your babies' kidneys day in a day out.

To upgrade your brakes, it would be wise to upgrade your wheels, but I suppose that's crossed your mind when you were thinking suspension. You were thinking about upgrading your wheels, right? At any rate, you'll need to have bigger wheels, or else you can't shove bigger brakes down there. Subaru 4-pots are a great factory option, but you can also use rotors/calipers from any peformance Subaru on a similar year. I would suggest some H6 Outback vented rear disc rotors, as those are meant for a wagon, and in the front, you may want to have either stock or performance WRX rotors --slotted, drilled, or whatever. Don't skimp on the pads, though! Axxis metalmasters are very good, although I'm not sure if you can get them across the pond. Ask around your local Subaru places and speedshops to get an idea of what pad is preferred for what type of driving/performance. Oh, and as long as you're doing all this, please remember that you're only as good as the tires you're riding on --Good rubber is ESSENTIAL!!

Good luck, and again, thanks for joining!

[scottzg]

Its not a very good match, unfortunately.

The impreza, being fairly nose heavy, has much stiffer front springs. Your legacy wagon, being slightly rear heavy and set up to carry a load, has much stiffer rear springs. Assuming the 1st generation and second generation legacies have the same rates (very likely) the wagon has 132lb/in front and 170lb/in rear. You'd suffer from a little ass sag and oversteer/understeer would be compromised.

On top of that, the sti has different rear suspension geometry. This means you need to redrill the holes for the top mounts in back and you will have positive rear camber; rear camber bolts would be necessary. This can be worked around, but its a pain.

Whiteline makes springs for your application that are a touch softer than the sti bits (might be for the best for the kids) and you can swap your springs from front to rear with hardly any change in ride height.

[Tokio]

lol

[scottzg]

oh, and Ace:

Your legacy wagon, being slightly rear heavy and set up to carry a load, has much stiffer rear springs.

lol, i bet you know all about carrying heavy loads in the rear...lmao

edit

look, if you have a problem with me, say the words, ill give you my address, and you can fly yourself out here and hash it out in person, if you want to hide behind 3000 miles away and take stabs at me from behind your computer, please do it when it's not actually hooked up to the internet, nobody wants to read it.

[Reason]

Scott as I said before I'm glad you have joined and can tell you have knowledge for us to grow as a community. Being new and not know what goes on around here, we are a small close nit group. We like to bust each others balls. I'm not defending Tokio as he can do it himself.

Yes, I would love to see this site get huge. Are we hurting for members? sure. Its not because of smart ass comments, it's because of being such a young forum. I can tell you from experience from other Subaru forums people are jerks and try to flame you more than trying to help you.

This is an online forum to learn about our cars and maybe make a "friend" or two. Seriousness comes into play when needed. I hope because we get along with each other and have fun won't steer you away from SLi. If you have any concerns with the forum feel free to PM Desertheatracing, Pwise2326, or myself.

[Tokio]

lol

[m5zoom]

Ball breaking aside.....This is my first subie. So, all info will be helpful and much appreciated.....Thank You.

If the rear has sag issues, then would i want the rear to be stiffer. Ive noticed some of the springs, will lower the ride height 1.5" in the front and 1" in the rear> Will this help w/ the sagging?

Thanks.

[Tris_STi]

Ball breaking aside.....This is my first subie. So, all info will be helpful and much appreciated.....Thank You.

If the rear has sag issues, then would i want the rear to be stiffer. Ive noticed some of the springs, will lower the ride height 1.5" in the front and 1" in the rear> Will this help w/ the sagging?

Thanks.

It's intended to, yes. That way, your car has a more 'level' look to it, instead of a rake, or the 'nose-to-the-sky' hoighty-toity-my-name-is-toki-o-lestra-made-me-type-it syndrome. *phew* That's a quite a mouthful, literally.

[Tokio]

toki-o-lestra?!?!

[Tris_STi]

That refers to the shit that somehow manages to slip off your fingers, and onto the keyboard, ala anal-leakage-style.

Leave my boy alone, or you'll get more flames outta me than you ever cared to read. You live in Maine, I've got PLENTY to go around. :x

[Tokio]

l o l

[Pwise2326]

Well I don't think this site has had any flames up until Jesse and Tris first met, and now the flirting between you two has gotten out of hand. Save this b.s. for nasioc and legacy central, here we are telling new members how this site is close knit and theres no flaming, and yet you two are single-handedly causing all these off-topic one-upping tumors that are plaguing threads where people are just looking for a little help. Looks like you two should read the rules of engagment posted by Jeremy at the top of the main forum page. I forget the discipline that myself, Reason, and Jeremy are supposed to enforce for flaming, but since I'll be blamed for having the blown up ego as an Admin, I'll leave it to Jeremy to set you straight if you can't clean up your b.s. posts and be polite and respectful. This shits gotta stop now, all posts that are full of ego and not helpful or relevant to the topic at hand should be deleted or edited to clear the crap out. Capeesh?

...now for Jesse's backlash...

[Tokio]

Well I don't think this site has had any flames up until Jesse and Tris first met,

This shits gotta stop now,

...now for Jesse's backlash...

lol

[jdmconnected]

I can't speak for anything thats been mentioned so far, but the Bilstein struts that came stock on my BG here in Japan are an excellent mix of ride quality and performance.
As far as the ride quality I even regretted putting on my Tein coilovers because the only way to get around in the Tokorozawa area is to use side roads that are a little beat up. Stiff springs get old fast when you commute 2 hours daily on crappy roads. Again, the Bilstein coilovers are a very nice setup.
There are also many different aftermarket coilover setups specifically for the BG here in Japan if you can't find what you want locally. Shipping is not cheap if you try to import them yourself though.
As far as brakes, unless you are doing it for looks, actually racing, or just want to spend some money, I think a good set of pads (at the expense of rotor wear) is a sufficient upgrade for most situations.

On a side note, is it really necessary to create so much noise in this guys thread? He is actually looking for constructive answers and even responded as such. If someone searches through this thread, which could actually have turned out to be informative, why should they have to read through the unnecessary and excessive thread hijacking garbage that does nothing to answer Marcs questions?

[Tris_STi]

I can't speak for anything thats been mentioned so far, but the Bilstein struts that came stock on my BG here in Japan are an excellent mix of ride quality and performance.
As far as the ride quality I even regretted putting on my Tein coilovers because the only way to get around in the Tokorozawa area is to use side roads that are a little beat up. Stiff springs get old fast when you commute 2 hours daily on crappy roads. Again, the Bilstein coilovers are a very nice setup.
There are also many different aftermarket coilover setups specifically for the BG here in Japan if you can't find what you want locally. Shipping is not cheap if you try to import them yourself though.
As far as brakes, unless you are doing it for looks, actually racing, or just want to spend some money, I think a good set of pads (at the expense of rotor wear) is a sufficient upgrade for most situations.

On a side note, is it really necessary to create so much noise in this guys thread? He is actually looking for constructive answers and even responded as such. If someone searches through this thread, which could actually have turned out to be informative, why should they have to read through the unnecessary and excessive thread hijacking garbage that does nothing to answer Marcs questions?

Don't worry, they don't have to sift through too much, our bickering gets deleted nice and cleanly. Shane and the mods are good about that. To be fair, Tokio started it.

[Wiscon_Mark]

To be fair, Tokio started it.

And you carried it on. What is this, Kindergarten? Sorry, I try never to flame, but this is crazy. Just leave it alone Tristan, I'm sure Jesse will if you do.

[Tokio]

WOW, this is still going on?