[DrJ]

OK...since there have been more than a few reviews talking about 2008+ understeer "issue", what's the fix?

Sway bars, tires, alignment, suspension mods or what?

Why don't we just document low cost/minimal cost solutions for 2008+ owners, (maybe it's already been done, and I missed it - if so then please just kill this thread), to solve this issue and then move on to better things...(like having fun with our cars and waving to other STI owners and stuff like that)....

Let the solution list begin....

[farmboy]

There have been a few threads on this subject, and it sounds like a relatively cheap and reliable way to improve the understeer was a good alignment and a pair of sways.

That is on my list for things I want to do to the car. The alignment for sure soon and the sways later.

You can get a decent alignment for under $100 and a good pair of sways for less than $400.

[LaW]

Sways and alignment is really all you need to make this car do what you want it to do. Everything else is just a bonus. Even then, just sways help a lot!

[caveguru]

mine oversteers

[subielife]

just did another day at watkins glen and the only change i made from previous days was tires. the stock dunlops just are not happy on the track, loud, no feel and they just refuse to do anything that you ask of them. For my last track day i put on some Direzza Z1 starspecs. wow, the car is much more alive and willing to turn. they are very very good tires. car was willing to rotate with lifting into a turn or trailbraking. I could still find understeer if i drove like an ass but not like the Dunlops.

[Turninconcepts.com]

Best mods for getting rid of understeer are sway bars and a good alignment (tires are always number 1 so I left those out). Add to that an anti lift kit and you would be golden. This is basically the setup I have been running, sans some other bushings, on our STI for quite some time and have been very pleased with the results. It's good enough to keep up with almost race prepped vettes on track.

[LiftedCracker]

what kind of alignment specs?

[MEXSTIMPREZA]

Which Anti Lift Kit do you recommend (the whiteline or the psrs).
Also, if we change tires+sways+alk+alignment, and leave the soft coilovers and springs, aren´t we actually making the suspension softer?

[ConradSTI]

Originally Posted by MEXSTIMPREZA

Which Anti Lift Kit do you recommend (the whiteline or the psrs).
Also, if we change tires+sways+alk+alignment, and leave the soft coilovers and springs, aren´t we actually making the suspension softer?

What?? How would you make it softer without decreasing sway bars or spring rates. Increasing the diameter of your sways effectively increases the spring rate during cornering, this can be dramatic depending on sway bar size, ie to big a bar will not alow independent suspension movement.

Essentially the above minimal suspensions mods are working together to fix a major flaw in the impreza suspension design....struts are camber starved.

Alignment, go as negative as possible (-2 works on a DD), get camber plates if needed or cheap camber bolts. ALK, helps keep dynamic camber while cornering. Sway bars reduce body roll and help maintain static camber. Negative camber is the common denominator here and it is what we need most.


As far as ALK, get the whiteline. The Perrin PSRS (i had one) is better than stock, but does not create the correct geometry, which whiteline's does (i now have one). This will give you a huge increase in turn in feel and mid corner acceleration w/o understeer. Also, there is a free caster mod that you should do in congunction with the ALK. Both of these mods are easy and will net a full degree of caster.

You 08 guys shouldn't hide in the 08 forum and reinvent the wheel on suspension. Check out the suspension forum and you'll get tons of help. I think TIC has built and done write ups on their 08sti, including what has worked and what hasn't.

[sysfailur]

Originally Posted by LiftedCracker

what kind of alignment specs?

+1 on this as well please. Ahh L2read sys... didn't see the post before mine. Thanks for the info.

[DrJ]

Originally Posted by caveguru

mine oversteers

So easy to understeer that even a caveman can do it?

[DrJ]

Slightly off topic...who in the Bay Area can take care of me as far as nice sway bars and a performance alignment?

[pharo]

check out the norcal thread for good aligment places. For sways check out TIC's website or RCE, but installation is pretty straight forward.

[caveguru]

Originally Posted by ConradSTI

As far as ALK, get the whiteline. The Perrin PSRS (i had one) is better than stock, but does not create the correct geometry, which whiteline's does (i now have one). This will give you a huge increase in turn in feel and mid corner acceleration w/o understeer.

Careful -are you referring to your '07 re the ALK? The '08 front suspension is redesigned and the ALK kits from Whiteline and Perrin do not have the same design as the older ones (they are now shared with the 05-08 Legacy GT). Afaik, the Perrin one has about the same amount and type of geometry change on an '08 as the WL one does.

I found that while the ALK (I have the WL) made the car feel like it was "falling into" corners just like a bicycle with a shallower head tube angle does ("lays over more/faster"), I don't think it improved "feel", as in feedback, as much as I hoped. YMMV, of course.

If you are lowering your car, either through springs or coilovers, I highly recommend the Whiteline (or 6gun) roll center kits. This had an amazing affect on front traction and also helped reduce body roll quite a bit. Not sure how much it helps on a stock suspension, but I bet it still helps, especially with the body roll.

So easy to understeer that even a caveman can do it?

-3.0 front camber, WL alk and roll center kit, front lip, f+r sways, and only -1.5 rear camber pretty much explains the oversteer. Basically, I need more rear camber to match the front grip. Rear shock damping may also have been too stiff. It was very easy to modulate the car though- much better than I feared.

Frank

[ConradSTI]

Originally Posted by caveguru

Careful -are you referring to your '07 re the ALK? The '08 front suspension is redesigned and the ALK kits from Whiteline and Perrin do not have the same design as the older ones (they are now shared with the 05-08 Legacy GT). Afaik, the Perrin one has about the same amount and type of geometry change on an '08 as the WL one does.

O.T.
I've read conflicting reviews regarding the design change of 08s. Some say it's the same others say it has slightly changed and Subaru has in fact added a sort of stock ALK reducing the need for an aftermarket version. Either way, I'll let you guys be the expert there and I stand firm on staying away from perrins ALK. Perrin tried to copy WL and couldn't get it right for 07 and older models and I don't like their ethics regarding copying designs. But thats off topic.