[sperry]

Okay, with all the suspension threads lately, I've gotten to thinking about the suspension on the SVX. I'm "attning" Aaron, since I think he's gone down this route before on the BattleWagon.

My struts are blown (in fact the LF strut is starting to make evil noises), and my topmounts are probably pretty close to worn out, considering my car's got over 200k miles on it now. Also, once the 5MT is swapped in there, I'm going to need to lower the front a bit to even out the car once the ligher tranny is installed.

So, there are basically 2 popular options:

stock struts + stock topmounts + lowering springs:

People tend to think that the OEM struts are a little over-damped for the stock springs, so it's no big deal to go with a little stiffer/lower spring. I should get a bit of better performance, w/o losing the comfy ride.


stock strut housings + Koni SA inserts + GC spring perches + eibach springs + stock topmounts or GC pillowballs:

This is essentially what I've got on the WRX, though the SVX version wouldn't use quite as stiff a spring. The problem is that there is only one Koni insert available (and it's special order) for the SVX strut housing, and it's designed for autocross-able spring rates. So, while I'd love the handling of a nice stiff SVX, this is my daily driver, and I need it to work in the snow. I'm afraid that the spring rates I'd go with would be outside the range of the Koni's for proper damping, and that I'd end up with a way over-damped strut.


So... I'm actually trying to come up with a third solution:

stock struts + stock topmounts + GC spring perches + eibach springs:

I think this will give me the stock-like ride that I want, plus allow me to adjust the ride height so I can a) even the car out after the tranny swap and b) raise the height overall in the winter for snow (actually, the SVX is so damn low at stock height, last winter I was hitting the exhaust on the ice! So hopefully I can go higher than stock.)

Anyway: I'd like opinions on these options, especially on the third "hybrid" option of using the stock stuts with the GC perches. Will I end up destroying the stock struts too quickly with the non-stock ride height and spring rates? How hard is it to get/install the GC perches on an oddball strut like the stock SVX struts? Would the Koni route actually be better, even if I'm overdamped?

Also, for cost reference here are the parts prices off SubaruParts.com:

$72.02 - 20320PA011 - Front TopMount (priced each)
$84.96 - 20361PA000 - Right Rear TopMount
$84.96 - 20361PA010 - Left Rear TopMount
$99.02 - 20311PA001 - Right Front Strut
$99.02 - 20311PA011 - Left Front Strut
$114.26 - 20360PA001 - Right Rear Strut
$114.26 - 20360PA011 - Left Rear Strut

So all the configurations would cost $313.96 for topmounts. The stock struts would cost $426.56 new, while the Konis are more like $700+ for a set (I don't know the current price or availablility of the SVX insert). I also don't know the cost of the GC perch + eibach springs, vs. some lowering springs. I'm guessing that the full Koni/GC setup will be quite a bit more than the other two options.