[Libila]

I posted this over on Nasioc and the only helpful reply I got was from Kostamojen who was a former Reno member I believe. Anyway, here is what I posted-

"I've been looking at many different options for the suspension on my new (to me) '00 RS and I'm hoping to get a little help from people that have experience.

I had first planned on using SPT/KYB struts with Prodrive springs and STi tophats. I purchased the struts and now I've changed my mind. I will be racing auto cross and open track days frequently (hopefully) and I thought that I would benefit more from a better suspension setup than your basic strut/spring combo. I then began looking at what coilovers were out there for Subarus then reality set in, I'm on a budget So I started looking for other alternatives.

I got a recommendation from a few members over at rs25.com for the Ground Control/Koni combo with camber plates. I remember hearing great things about this combo from the Honda guys (I started auto crossing in a Honda). This combo is affordable, proven, and it gives enough adjustability options for a newb like me to begin learning about adjusting and tuning my own suspension. It seems as if my mind is made up but if that were the case I wouldn't have posted this. I still need help on the smaller details.

Like I had mentioned earlier, I have already purchased four KYB AGX/SPT struts. I know the popular combo for the GCs are Konis (revalved is even better from what I understand) but what about using my KYB/SPTs instead? What benefit would the Konis give over my struts?

I also wanted to pick your brains about spring rates. This car is my daily driver so I would like to use a reasonable spring rate, suggestions?

Lastly (for now) I wanted to get some input on camber plates and tophats. I've heard of and seen a few people only using camber plates up front with a hardened tophat in the rear. What is the reason for this? Is it a good idea or would it be wiser to have camber plates at all four corners?

That's all I have for you guys now; I've got to get to work. Thanks in advance."

Here is what Kostamojen wrote back-

"Pick my brain!!!

Personally, I think the AGX's are fine. Koni's are better, yes, but cost about twice as much because of installation costs to get them into the struts... Pain in the butt.

If you want stiffer spring rates, just go with the Ground Control coilover kit for the stock style struts, and get spring rates like 275/225. I had that before on my last car with the AGX's, and all the reno folks can tell you how well my car handled

Right now though on my new car, I just have the AGX's with SPT springs (215/195 rates) and the STI tophats. If I turn up my struts to 3 front, 7 rear, its as stiff as my last suspenison was and worked GREAT at the last autox I was at. There is nearly 0 body roll at those settings. I can even fiddle with the settings to get the car to handle completely differently... Last weekend I had it at 3 front, 6 rear, which is more of an understeer style setup, but taking it out to some backroads I found out that at those settings I could THROW The car into a corner and just let up on the gas for a sec to get the tail out then get back on it and it would tuck back in to where I was aiming the car Great fun! I usually run it at 2 front, 5 rear for the street, with 2 front/6 rear for agressive driving.

As far as camber plates, I cant get much front camber I found out with this setup... Only about -1 degree The rear, using rear camber bolts, I can get over a degree, possibly up to -1.5 degrees. For autox, it would probably be better to get front cambler plates. Rear camber plates arent really neccessary IMHO unless its a total 100% track/autox car (unless they came with the suspension you bought)"

Can anyone else give me some suggestions and/or help me out with my questions?