Springs on a 05 WRX

[Kavid]

I am in the market for springs for my 05 WRX and was wondering what everyone is running on their car for springs and such. I've heard Eibach Sportline, Megan Racing, and Tein S-Tech a lot when asking around but was wondering what you guys run on your cars. If possible can you tell me about how you like them personally?! I have most of the drop measurements and spring rates for the most part written down for most of the major brands right here on paper, but want to know what you guys prefer from experience. I want the fender gap gone!

P.S. Pics of your car would be awesome to see what they look like already!

[Jesubi11]

Do not go to low (s-techs) it jacks the geometry. I assume this is a dd, I would say prodive, or if you want a bit softer eibachs.

[Kavid]

Originally Posted by Jesubi11

Do not go to low (s-techs) it jacks the geometry. I assume this is a dd, I would say prodive, or if you want a bit softer eibachs.

This is a daily driver of barely under 10 miles round trip per day. So Teins are out I guess! Which Eibachs were you talking about, Pro-Kit or the Sportlines? A friend of mine just did the Sportlines on his 07 and they look pretty nice as for ride height. Do you or anyone know the spring rate for the different Eibach spring kits though? Eibach doesn't say on their site, only the drop in inches are on there. ProDrive only drops the car barely under 1" by my millimeter conversion, which doesn't seem like much to me....

[khail19]

Much more than a 1" to 1.5" drop is not going ride well, especially with stock struts. I really like my Prodrives, and I hear the Eibach Pro Kit is a bit less drop and they are a bit softer. If you care more about looks and getting rid of the fender gap, then I don't have much info to help you with. Here's my car lowered on Prodrives, the wheels are 17x7.5 ET48 with 235/40/17 tires.

[khail19]

This is an old pic of my car with different wheels and springs. They were Apex springs which I don't think are sold anymore, I think they were about a 2" drop. Wheels are 18x7.5 ET45, with 225/40/18 tires.

[Jesubi11]

The way Subarus are made, you will not get rid of all the wheel gap without sacraficing proper suspension geometry. I agree with the above statement do not go any lower than 1.5 in front. We all like the way they looked "dumped" but it is just not ment to be.

[M3n2c3]

+1 for Prodrive. They're manufactured by Eibach to Prodrive's specs to give a healthy drop that is tuned for compatibility with the stock struts (but would naturally also work well with aftermarket struts). Front rate is linear for handling, rear is progressive to help ride quality.

They also drop a bit more than the advertised 1". The front is dropped a bit lower than the rear to balance the wheel gap and give the car a little bit of a rake.

I love mine.

[Kavid]

Don't get me wrong, 8 out of 10 people love the dumped look, but I don't want to sacrifice too much of the ride quality. I want to find a happy medium between a nice drop and nice handling geometry. I realize the fender gap will never go away fully unless I get coil overs and sacrifice things, but that isn't what I'm going for. I want it to look nice and perform great. I am going to do some nice struts also by the way, I didn't mention that. I have some in mind already. What do you guys think of the Megan's? they are a 1.5" drop and I believe the spring rates are 250F 220R?

[M3n2c3]

I'm not sure about Megan Racing stuff. I know a lot of the guys on RS25.com use their coilovers and have good things to say, but we have to keep in mind that most of them have no other coilover experience. I've always found the cheap price to be a bit of a turn-off - I have to wonder what corners were cut to create an $800 set of coilovers. This worry of mine then transfers over to their other products. . .

In the end, though, I've never used Megan stuff. The best I can say is that I really like my Prodrive stuff. They have a lot of Subie experience, and I'm happy sticking with them.

What struts are you looking at?

[Jesubi11]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

What struts are you looking at?

Oh the selection

[M3n2c3]

Yeah, I know. . . we've got, what? Ohlins for $2000, KYB insisted over a year ago that there were some GR-2s on the way, aaaaaaaand. . . oh yeah, iffy washer mods.

I just wanna be sure no one mistakenly jumps to buy a set of AGXs for their '05 because an online vendor didn't bother to add to their description the fact that the WRX-listed struts are actually 02/03-specific fitment.

[sperry]

Isn't the "washer mod" dead yet? I thought someone was making billet adapter inserts that solved that problem.

[Kavid]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

I'm not sure about Megan Racing stuff. I know a lot of the guys on RS25.com use their coilovers and have good things to say, but we have to keep in mind that most of them have no other coilover experience. I've always found the cheap price to be a bit of a turn-off - I have to wonder what corners were cut to create an $800 set of coilovers. This worry of mine then transfers over to their other products. . .

In the end, though, I've never used Megan stuff. The best I can say is that I really like my Prodrive stuff. They have a lot of Subie experience, and I'm happy sticking with them.

What struts are you looking at?

I've heard nothing but good things about Megan Racing springs and the exhaust also, so I'm curious if anyone has the springs on their car or has in the past so I can get an idea of the difference between them and other major brands. If I don't get those Megan's, I'm thinking Eibach Sportlines. A friend of mine just put Eibach Sportlines on his 07 WRX and likes them for the most part. I'm looking to put the springs down on some KYB AGX Struts I think. They are adjustable and used them in the past so that was the deciding factor for me I think. I know Prodrive is a great company, but the only person that I know that has those on their Subie, they do not like them. I believe it is the ride he doesn't like though.

[Kavid]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

Yeah, I know. . . we've got, what? Ohlins for $2000, KYB insisted over a year ago that there were some GR-2s on the way, aaaaaaaand. . . oh yeah, iffy washer mods.

I just wanna be sure no one mistakenly jumps to buy a set of AGXs for their '05 because an online vendor didn't bother to add to their description the fact that the WRX-listed struts are actually 02/03-specific fitment.

Didn't even notice this post before I just responded. I was thinking of the AGX's, but maybe not now....Sounds like you know from experience. What did you end up putting in? Can you or anyone suggest a decent adjustable strut set that is comparable to the AGX's? I would like to do both springs and struts at the same time, but may wait now on the struts if I can't decide.

[M3n2c3]

I'm on stock struts at the moment, but I have done a crapload of research on this over the last two years. . .

The AGXs are not proper 05 fitment, they're specific to 02/03. The topmount attachment and springs are different. If you intend to do both springs and struts in tandem, your best solution would be to do topmounts as well, and buy everything in 03 fitment (03 springs, 03 struts, and 03 topmounts). A full swap fits up just fine.

There is a mod available that will allow 03 struts to bolt up to 05 topmounts, but there has been evidence to show that this is less than ideal and could cause problems down the road.

Currently there is nothing available for 05 that is comparable to the AGXs. Matter of fact, there's next to nothing available in the way of struts, period. Coilovers are all the rage with those who want to be (or seem) hardcore, so that's where most companies are focusing.

Jeremy, I double-checked boxer4's listing for those Ohlins struts, and they have them listed for 02-06. Know what that means. . .

[M3n2c3]

Originally Posted by sperry

Isn't the "washer mod" dead yet? I thought someone was making billet adapter inserts that solved that problem.

I've seen those, but I've yet to read about them being just as reliable as having the strut just fit correctly in the first place. . .

[Jesubi11]

Haha yah... Oh and kavid you might want to look at the tein ss coilovers if your going to do the struts and springs in one swoop. I don't have them but they seem like a decent solution to our situation. Soft spring rate and adjustable dampning. Lots of options but none of the perfect.

[M3n2c3]

^ yeah, those have 280lb springs IIRC. . . that's pretty good.

[Jesubi11]

They are the softest coilovers I can find. Should be good for DD

[Kavid]

I think I'm just going to do some nice springs on stock struts until I can fork over the dough for some coil overs. I'm not really into modifying and buying the 03 tops and all the parts and MAKING it fit. I know you say it fits fine but I would rather wait for KYB to make some struts or get some coil overs for my car instead. Thank you very much for the input on that though. I'm down to buying either Eibach's, Prodrive, or Megan's. I will make a decision from what I have gathered from websites and what you guys have said and go from there I guess. Thank you guys for the help.

[M3n2c3]

Well, if all the parts are 03, then it's an exact fit. No workarounds required. The problems arise when you try to mix, say, 03 struts with 05 topmounts and springs. I should also note that it's only the rears that apply. The fronts are completely interchangeable.

If you were to pick up a set of 03 AGXs, 03 Prodrive springs, and 03 stock rear topmounts, you'd have a nice setup.

[cody]

You could buy my Eibach Prokit Springs and 03 rear tophats for $150. Add a set of KYB AGX and you've got a sweet setup for ~$550.

And FWIW, I've been running the washer mod for about 5 months now without any clunks or issues.

Here's an excerpt from a post I made on another forum:

The washer mod was easy. I just bought eight 9/16" inside diameter X 1-1/8" outside diameter washers (4 normal and 4 extra thick). I ended up using 2 of the thick and 1 of the normal on each side…just enough to get above the lip. Make sure you use hardened or at least grade 8 washers. Mine were grade 9. Here’s a pic that shows where they go, but ignore the sizes they given on the pic. You’ll want to make sure the ID is 9/16” and that the OD is 1-1/8” or less but definitely no bigger.



Also, the stock struts have an allen screw in the top of the strut that allows you to hold the shaft still while you tighten the top nut if you have hollow top sockets and a hollow top socket wrench. But the top of the KYB AGX’s that I run have an adjustment screw there so you may need a strap wrench or a set of vice grips and something to protect the shaft from the teeth of the vice grips in order to get the top nut securely tightened. We just used the latter method. We didn't get near the 100 ft/lb spec, but it's fine. They aren't going anywhere.

You'll also want to borrow a spring compressor from the local Auto Zone, but you'll really only need it to get your stock springs off and maybe to get the front Crucials on. And don't forget PB Blaster and a breaker bar for the camber/strut bolts.