how do i lower a wrx?

somebody please tell me the cheapest ways to drop the wrx? I have read that the sport tuned suspention prevents you from just putting on cheap springs and it will ride horribly if you do. so what are some other cheap ways that wont totally mess up the handling.

There are none.

They are mostly talking about the damper rate and the spring rate, and if you try to cut the springs are change the setup it might affect the way the car handles.

The best way is to get the springs from Cobbs or other Subaru tuners.

Can we say eibach kit? Or suspension techniques? Or Konig adjustables? Or progress Springs? Or any other variation of coil overs from the hundreds of manufacturers.

Performance or quality = money, the cheapest way is that, Cheap

Cheapest springs that perform would probably be Whiteline.. lower around 1.5" (or more?) about $200...

well... what is meant when you buy just springs is that your struts/shocks will bottom out realllly quick, and you will have a bad ride. so you need to match your shocks damping height, as well as the actual length of the rod of the shock...

so at least buy struts... meaning that you are going to spend almost 800 on nice springs and struts, so just spring for some nice coilovers and get it over with...

you really dont wanna lower a wrx...the suspension that the factory gives it is key to its performance handling. lowering it will throw everything off. if you want to get something suspension wise, get strut bars, and the STI suspension. i seroiusly wouldnt get any lowering springs, or coilovers from anyone except STI.

yah
its not much of a good idea to lower a wrx from like small companies. the sti suspension is probably a good idea but because its from the subaru dealer, it would cost you a lot.
you can buy suspensions from large companies, because they are mostly from japan and they have proper wrx settings. but like said earlier, it would probably cost more.

in a way. cheap is out of the question. the best thing to do is to save up

Originally posted by ImportNut1212
you really dont wanna lower a wrx...the suspension that the factory gives it is key to its performance handling. lowering it will throw everything off.
I totally disagree. In stock form rex's have body roll. Whiteline springs are going to significantly decrease that. If you want details check out clubwrx.net, there is a few members there that have done this and are very happy with it.

i totally disagree with that statement.....look in the October 2001 Sport Compact Car. they have 6 articles on 6 different tuned WRX's. all of them basically say that lowering isnt the thing to do, maintain the regular height, but get coilovers, or more a more aggressive suspension set up...such as tie bars, and such. strut bars will rid you of that body roll easily.

u can get whiteline lowering springs at http://www.pdm-racing.com/products/subaru_corner.html for $75 per pair

DONT DO IT!!!
Seriously dont lower the car, you will kill what subaru has done with it. Just take the car off-road and do some rallying and you will understand.
If you must make sure to go with sti stuff, they know their shit.

Originally posted by ImportNut1212
i totally disagree with that statement.....look in the October 2001 Sport Compact Car. they have 6 articles on 6 different tuned WRX's. all of them basically say that lowering isnt the thing to do, maintain the regular height, but get coilovers, or more a more aggressive suspension set up...such as tie bars, and such. strut bars will rid you of that body roll easily.

I believe this is what you are referring to, it's already been brought up and dropped. Here is a quote from the thread and the link;

"2 inch+ drop will be fine and suspension travel will be even more generous than the short stroke. As I've said many times, SCC are complete idiots and have no idea what they are talking. Such blanket statement are horribly irresponsible of them and create confusion for the newbies."

http://www.clubwrx.net/forums/showthread.php?threadid=977&referrerid=0

Its all a matter of preference...if you lower your wrx, I don't think you'll lose enough handling to make it unbearable. In that, I'm assuming that you don't plan on doing any serious runs on the track or (obviously) any rally racing either. If you do plan on going out to the track, be prepared to spend some serious cash. I know, its been mentioned several times, but cheap parts = cheap quality.

The reason I do say that its not impossible to lower your car and still have a decent ride is that I've seen lots of lowered wrx's. Christ, look at the Cusco WRX. I know, I know, that's on a different level, but still, its possible to lower your car and have it handle the way you want it to. Its just a matter of how much money you have.;)

Its all a matter of preference...if you lower your wrx, I don't think you'll lose enough handling to make it unbearable. In that, I'm assuming that you don't plan on doing any serious runs on the track or (obviously) any rally racing either. If you do plan on going out to the track, be prepared to spend some serious cash. I know, its been mentioned several times, but cheap parts = cheap quality.

The reason I do say that its not impossible to lower your car and still have a decent ride is that I've seen lots of lowered wrx's. Christ, look at the Cusco WRX. I know, I know, that's on a different level, but still, its possible to lower your car and have it handle the way you want it to. Its just a matter of how much money you have.;)

Any ways you don't need a lot of money to lower your WRX I have the Tenabe lowering springs on mine as explained in the link I posted. THE BEST WAY TO LOWER YOUR CAR IS TO PUT SPRINGS :) Just needed that read. Anyways... Coil overs not coil over suspensions mind you are terrible, and coil over suspensions (i.e. Full suspension replacements) are very expensive. The best logical and most cost effective way to lower your car without losing total ride quality you get springs. If you read the post I have going on the springs in the link you will get more detail I just don't have time to re-type it all here :)

This is not all IMHO just facts.

Nick

I dont think the best way to lower a car is springs....you only get one choice in how far its dropped. if you get a coil over suspension, you can adjust it to your needs, if you want it for show, drop it to the ground, if you want it for track, it you want it for street, etc. yes, a coil over suspension is expensive, but worth it, you are totally set up for looks AND performance. but drastically lowering a WRX is not smart IMHO.

I hate to say it but 2" on a WRX is not a major drop! The car has a 4" gap in the fender well in front and 3" in the rear! You put a 2" drop on the car and you still have 2" in the front and 1" in the rear and that's not travel that's room between the top of the tire and the bottom of the fender well.

In my and others expert opinions lowering the car 2" is more a stock ride height then the way it comes. It's set up from the factory as a rally car. When you put the springs on you get a nice street-car and a great street rally car.

I agree you have more options with a coil over suspension I don't say know to that. For someone who doesn't have $2000+ to spend and wants a lower more progressive look as well as better handling I say go with springs for the $350 total installed price why not. Later on, when you save your $2000+ you go get a good coil over suspension if feel you have the need to.

I guess my point here is this... you are not going to damage the cars struts by installing springs, even ones that lower the car 2" because the strut travel is not decreased beyond the point of which the strut is designed to handle.

Nick

OK guys. The bottom line is that it all depends on what sort of driving you want to do. Street, Track, Drag or Off-Road.

Whiteline have spent a fortune ($$$ and time) researching the WRX suspension, for both the old and new models and they have some very good packages available. I'm not sure who cheap they would be to export to the US.

But if you want expert opinion on this subject all you have to do is go to:

www.whiteline.com.au

Cheers !!! :D

check out what these experts have to say on the subject...

http://rallyperformance.com/Suspension.htm

Lowering a WRX makes just as much sense as lowering any other car... Lowered center of gravity and all the handeling pros that come with it. Along with the handeling pros of a stiffer spring. If you do it right and buy the springs and shocks then you have just done somthing to significantly improve the handeling of your car.

As far as the opinion that lowering a WRX will screw up the apparently "Perfect" tuning that Subaru did. When a car company releases a sport sedan like the WRX, they tune it to appeal a little bit to a large portion of the market. If they only wanted it to appeal to the car enthusiests who wanted a performance ride, they would have released it with a more sport tuned suspension. However, half of the people who bu the WRX are people who just want a sporty car to drive to work, or pick up the kids in. They don't want a rattle your teeth, dropped to the ground suspension. So, Subaru hasn't tuned the WRX's suspension to the limit, and I would also venture to say that STi springs that lower your car say 1.5" are just as good as H&R or others that lower your car the same amount. So whatever you do, be sure you get the other associated bits :D

you have to be careful when you start messing with the suspension. the car handles great stock, and if you want to improve it you should get a whole set up, not just springs. if you dont care how it handles then springs may be the way to go.

quote from scooby sport, http://rallyperformance.com/Suspension.htm

"RallyPerformance and Scoobysport do not sell "lowering springs" without properly matched dampers, because they will ruin the handling of your Impreza."

ok i know cheap lowering was the key term there but i ust figured that if u decide to change yur mind you should definately go with a nice set of coil overs, try here: scoobysport (http://www.scoobysport.co.uk/chassiswrx.htm) i'm planning on getting leda coil overs when my rs comes in. whatever you decide remember its yur car and its yur decision. don't let others tell you how to mod if you think differently. good luck dude!

I figured i would ask since it is on topic i was thinking of lowering my wrx but with a good set of coilovers. the car will be for show mainly will i still have a good ride with the good coilovers?

coil overs in general are not going to give as smooth a ride as the stock suspension on rough roads. but it will decrease bounce over slight hieght changes int he road at higher speeds. from my experience the better the coil overs the better the ride is as far as coil overs go.

The Bilstein PSS9 kit for the WRX works quite well, and the ride is very good with a significant improvement in handling. It is designed as a street kit, so it's not as stiff as some of the other kits out there. The only issues I have run into are because of differences between the WRX and the STi, and that the kit was designed for the WRX, not the STi.

1 and 1/2 inch drop = perfect :biggrin:

Actually it would have been a bit more perfect if it was 1 and 1/2 front and 1 rear.

http://www.arimport.com/jastuff/ts2.JPG

somebody please tell me the cheapest ways to drop the wrx? I have read that the sport tuned suspention prevents you from just putting on cheap springs and it will ride horribly if you do. so what are some other cheap ways that wont totally mess up the handling.
Please give us a ring here at the shop
We manufacture our own suspension for the impreza that are not to bad for a inexpensive 0-3 drop for your vehicle.
We also offer other options also.
888-486-8449
WildCards Performance
http://www.wildcardsperformance.com

first to answer the 1st and main question "how to lower a wrx". i would say one of the best ways if you just looking to lower you wrx would be to get a set of tein s-tech springs. if you check out their site you will notice that the lowering rates for the front and rear are WAY different. but this almost evens the car out and at $175 or what ever they are going for these days is a pretty good deal. i originally had whiteline flatouts and they suck! very bouncy. if you are looking to to do it the right way i would highly suggest getting a set of true coilovers. i am currently running on DMS 40s and love them. quite spendy but in my opinion they are worth it because of the huge hight adjust ment and the 30pt. damper adjustment and hey being fully inverted is a plus for me also.

now to those of you who are saying dont lower you car because you are ruining the rally car look and the wrx was not intended to be lowered. look at all the different manufactures in the wrc over the past 5-7 years they all get lower and lower. its not all about the lowered stance alot of the suspension has to do with the dampening and overall feel of the car. im sure all the mechanics and tech guys arent saying "hey i think itll LOOK alot better if we lower it".