Do coilovers fit

Arturo · Post by **Arturo** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 1:55 pm

I have a 90' legacy LS wagon and im going to do it awd i was wandering can i put wrx coilovers on it is it posible if not i want to know what kind of coilovers i can put on it. I was thinking of tein's with EDFC im looking for something of that kind. Help

Post by **DLC** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 6:29 pm

Coilvers for a GC8 Impreza will fit, this I know for certain. I asked someone to check and see if the EDFC would fit on the BF Legacy and was told that it wouldn't, because of hood clearance issues.

A_DuB · Post by **A_DuB** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:10 pm

How long do coilovers last. Do they need to be replaced like struts and springs every 100 thousand miles or so?

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:44 pm

Fitting coilovers for a WRX will probably be a lot like fitting WRX struts and springs, so you'll want to search for info about that.

BAC5.2 · Post by **BAC5.2** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:24 pm

Coilovers generally have higher tolerances in valving (not to mention being adjustable, they have moving parts not found on regular struts), and as such they require maintainence. Seals mostly.

Generally, expect 20,000 miles or so for rebuilds if you track the shit out of them. Actual life is ENTIRELY depentant on driver and terrain.

I've found DMS struts to be of horrible quality, and I'd stay away from them like the plague.

Tein's are nice, HKS and JIC tend to be slightly more track biased and harsh. H&R, I've heard and seen nothing but good things, and GPMoto's LOOK good though I have yet to actually drive a set of them.

NuwanD · Post by **NuwanD** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 5:31 am

The only WRX coilovers you should use would be the ones that have height adjustability independent of spring preload... (ie JIC FLTA2)... since WRX rear suspension uses longer struts than the BC/GC chassis.

Trying to match overall strut lengths by using only preload adjustment will really mess up the ride quality

skid542 · Post by **skid542** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 9:10 am

Sorry for the half hijack, Phil, you don't like DMS?

greg donovan · Post by **greg donovan** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 6:21 pm

skid542 wrote:Sorry for the half hijack, Phil, you don't like DMS?

he doesnt like the DMS 40/gold. he had a bad exerience.

the DMS 50 and 60 for gravel rally are much better units.

hotbits is another brand you should check out. pretty competitively priced.

Post by **DLC** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 8:46 pm

I'm another one that doesn't like the 40/Gold models...bad experience with them.

So far my two experiences with Tein have been fair to exceptional. No JIC experience, but they seem to be popular and are gaining ground on this side of the Pacific.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 4:17 am

life expactancy of a coilover is not dependent on driver so much as it's dependant on the parts used for building. Customers of mine have 50k+ miles on their coilovers. installed on the car since new, with no issues.

coilovers from the GC chassis will fit, did it on my legacy before it was sold.

Teins, really and honestly are crap. If you enjoy the ride they give you, then you're really going to enjoy a set of quality made coilovers. shitbox engineering. I caught these fools taking notes and photographs in my booth at SEMA. They left without arguement.

DMS has poor tolerances and quality control. They are nice to begin with, but need rebuilding often.

GPMoto doesn't build their own units, they're pieced together using other peoples parts. What's that mean? They aren't actually engineering, they're just parting.

JIC = too harsh for daily driving, shitbox engineering. Also caught these guys taking notes and photographs in my booth. They didn't want to leave so easily. course, they didn't speak english, so they arguement was short.

edit to add... stay away from coilovers that have a wide range of dampening "adjustment." its another way for the manufacturer to cheat and not have to engineer the damper for your car. Those coilovers just use an insert that is used on a wide variety of apps. You'll spend 3/4 of the time you own them trying to "tune" your suspension. This will do you more harm then good.

another addition: If you're street driving, you will soon grow tired of any spherical bearing top mount. These transfer A LOT of NVH into the car.

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:01 am

JasonGrahn wrote: course, they didn't speak english, so they arguement was short.

This sentence amuses me.

Do you have any positive reccomendations, jason?

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:06 am

Not "officially" as "officially" my company doesn't manufacture a coilover for the car but.....

when i swapped to coilovers, i used H&R part number 29375-1 for the GC impreza. The handling was superb, the ride quality was awesome. I could drive that car anywhere. My girlfriend at the time really enjoyed the ride quality of the car too. They're pricy, but they're awesome.

skid542 · Post by **skid542** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:48 am

Hmm... I've learned a lot today.

How do the H&R's handle the gravel and rough conditions?

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:50 am

Define.

edit: Scott! You make me laugh at laughing at me.

I will not edit to fix cuz I think it's teh funnay!

skid542 · Post by **skid542** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:55 am

Loose and semi packed gravel and rough conditions as pot holes, 'corregated' surfaces, airborne (this would obviously be coupled with chassis stiffening upgrades and control arm/links upgrade).

I was under the impression that's where the larger DMS excelled at but that impression appears to be wrong so I'm curious as to what is the best in those situations.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 5:58 am

It sounds like you are going to be fully rallying the vehicle.

This is not a rally coilover.

skid542 · Post by **skid542** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:00 am

Okay, that answers it then. Thanks

.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:04 am

The DMS DOES work really well for this, but know that you ---WILL--- have to rebuild them often.

Now that we know this is a competition vehicle, not a street driven car, we can take better action toward finding the correct setup.

Ohlins - VERY good.
Proflex - VERY good.
Reiger - VERY good.

93forestpearl · Post by **93forestpearl** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:10 am

This amuses me. So many people talk about Tein like they are god.

I know you said the DMS dampners are pretty loosely put together, but how do you feel about their double-progressive wound springs? Seems like a really good concept.

Untill I feel like spending the loot on full coilovers, I was thinking STi pinks w/ KYB AGX's. Matching top mounts of cource. I'm only looking to lower the little bit that they do and I've heard nothing but good things about the pinks. (not JDM) Opinions?

Post by **DLC** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:17 am

I'll go with Jason on the Teins not being the greatest, especially on North American roads. On my BF, using GC8 coilovers and Pillow-ball mounts, it was...stiff and noisy.

The BE, with NA coilovers and some softer kg/mm springs is actually pretty close to what I'd expect from a normal strut/spring setup, which I'm all for.

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:17 am

blah blah blah, double progressive = buzz words. Progressive vs. linear is a question not worth asking anymore when it comes to proper suspension design for a street driven application.

For racing, sure, maybe. at the top levels of the sport, definitely. lower levels? no way. you have other things to care about.

DMS isn't doing anything new. DMS have a tapered spring - old technology combined with a very slight progressive wind - old technology. There are better ways of doing things. all that tapered spring does is add to the cost of the package.

93forestpearl · Post by **93forestpearl** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 6:24 am

gotcha

I guess I can be a sucker for buzz words and what not when I'm not in the know. No wonder the 40/golds run over $2200.

Subtle · Post by **Subtle** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 7:29 am

Oops!
I've got Whiteline bars on the twgn and have been planning to install DMS
springs. These can be ordered with the standard ride height and spring rates.

Wgn spring rates and stiffer bars provides a reasonable ride with good control of transitions from turn to turn. Also intended to install the Tein
adjustable shocks(edfc)

If the latter wont fit under the hood, then I'll have to use manually adjustable ones.

Any suggestions on the latter?

Arturo · Post by **Arturo** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:33 pm

The wgn is going to be used for racing so witch one should i buy TEIN, DMS , or any other one

JasonGrahn · Post by **JasonGrahn** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 4:57 pm

What kind of racing?

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Do coilovers fit

Do coilovers fit