[4banger]

I purchased my WRB STi back in December of 2004. I've done the basic stage 2 mods and a few suspension mods. About 6 months ago, I got serious about learning suspension theory. If you have been reading any of the more technical threads in the suspension forum, you might know me as the guy who posts up all the pretty blue and yellow critical damping plots. I intend to use this journal to chronicle the rest of my suspension build up.

The obligatory mod list:

Power
-PDE downpipe (Jethot 2000 coated), Stromung midpipe, Prodrive Oval axleback
-Walbro 255LPH fuel pump
-Crucial coated modified stock heat shield, Thermotec turbo wrap
-StaticX grounding kit
-ECUTEK

Suspension
-TiC SST Coilovers (7/6K)
-Carlab's X-brace
-Group-N front and rear strut top mounts
-Group-N rear trailing link bushings

Drivetrain
-Kartboy shift lever and knob
-Kartboy front and rear shifter stay bushings
-Kartboy transmission crossmember bushings
-Kartboy outrigger bushings (race)
-Kartboy rear subframe lock out bolts (botox bolts)
-TurninConcepts shift linkage bushings
-TurninConcepts pivot bushings
-TurninConcepts rear diff mount bushings (comfort)
-Whiteline steering rack bushings
-Group-N transmission mount

Brakes
-Goodridge stainless steel lines
-Ferodo DS2500 pads
-Stoptech titanium shims (front)
-Cusco master cylinder brace

Misc: JDM transmission cover, Cusco rear subframe brace with Subaru diffuser, Hawker lightweight battery,Crucial thermostat
Fluids: Motul 300 gear, ATE Superblue, German Castrol

Here are some of my favorite pics. You might recognize the location.

[4banger]

Here are some pics of my TurninConcepts AST Coilovers. i went with the 7/6K springs. Clint from TiC is still helping me work out a solution for rear tophats. I'll be sure to post up more pics of whatever we work out. Without tophats, they weight 11/12 lbs front/rear.

The taller one is the rear coilover.


Nice welds.


Check out the wrap around style ears. Very heavy duty.

[4banger]

I also posted the following information in the Suspension Forum. I was able to get everything installed on Saturday. Afer a few days of driving back and forth to work I feel ready to write an initial review on my TiCs.

With a little over 70K on the odometer, I have finally installed my Turn-In Concepts coilovers with 7/6K springs and Group-N front and rear mounts.

Background: Please take my review with a grain of salt. I spent several months in daily contact with Clint (TiC) and Stretch pouring over the details of the dampening. I am just a little biased.

Mods: My other mods include a Whiteline 29mm FSB, X-brace, outrigger bushings, rear diff bushings, and most of the TiC/Kartboy shifter upgrades.

One tip that I would like to pass on to everyone with an X-brace is that you should probably uninstall it prior to installing coilovers. After I put my car up on the lift and unbolted the old struts I was suprised to find that the orange tops for the X-brace shifted enough so they would not allow the the tophats to be installed in the car. Save your self some grief and uninstall the X-brace before you get the car off the ground. Otherwise, the install went great. Clint answered his cell when I called him Saturday afternoon to answer a question that I had when something looked strange. The brackets fit the abs and brake lines perfectly. This was surprising because my stock struts did not accomidate my Goodridge lines in the rear, but the TiCs fit them perfectly.

For now, I am running a 13.5" ride height front and rear. I know the front is too low, but it is still higher than my previous lowring springs and I was curious as to how it would handle. I also set the camber bolts to minimum camber.

The first thing that I noticed about the TiCs is that my car actually feels "sprung" now. It is hard to describe, but you can really feel the suspension working.

Previously, the front end of my car noisly crashed over speed bumps and the rear felt like it was launched into the air. The TiCs are silent and barely upset the car (pending of course on how fast you going) at appropriate speeds. In parking lots and other low speed situations I could hear what sounded like popcorn popping in the trunk. I was never able to determine the source of this noise, but it is now gone. On the highway, my STi would respond to hitting potholes with anything from a loud thud to a gunshot loud bang. The TiCs handle the bumps so much better. You can definately tell that the new springs are significantly stiffer, but the suspension soaks up the bumps with ease. No more bottoming out, that is for sure. There are some areas on the highway that where my STi would oscillate constantly. This still happens, but the magnitude of the oscillations is so small that it is barely noticable. I just can't get over how much more smoother the ride is.

When Stretch posted his review of these coilovers, he said that the TiCs were not better than stock, just different. I would have to disagree with Stretch. Granted, it has been quite some time since I've ridden on the stock suspension, but I have to say nearly every aspect for a daily driver has been improved. Small bumps are almost completed absorbed and the larger bumps are handled significantly better. I wouldn't have noticed one particular set of rumble strips at work except for the noise that the tires made going over them. The stiffer springs improve the handling, but the ride penalty seems pretty minimal. Mrs. 4banger's instant reaction was "It is sooo much less bouncy." I agree.

[WC LATHE WERKS]

nice setup! I have my TiC coilovers sitting here, just waiting for it to warm up a bit

[4banger]

Thanks.
The wait will be worth it. You'll love them.

[4banger]

Here is a pic from my recent trip to Savannah. The TiCs handled the city streets with ease.


Here is a pic of the rear adjusters. They poke out from the rear seat just enough to be useful, but are not overly visible.

[pearl boxer]

Subscribed! Very nice setup man.

[alphaSTI]

Nice write up. Glad the TiC's worked out.

[4banger]

Thanks for the replies. I've been so wrapped up in finding a new job that I' haven't been able to do any car stuff for the last few months. I've about wrapped the job search up and should have a few more improvements soon.

[4banger]

Today I swapped out my old transmission mount for Group-N rubber.

Pros:
-Upshifts seem to be a little crisper.
-Double clutching on downshifts feels significantly improved. It feels like you're sucked right into the lower gear.
-Overall the car feels more solid
Cons:
-Transients between shifts in lower gears are more harsh, but happen quicker.
-A small amount of additional vibration can be felt in the shift lever

Overall, I'd say that the increase in NHV is less than what I expected. The improvement in fell is less than what I had expected, so it all seems to even out. The install was pretty easy and I would definately recommend this upgrade to anyone who doesn't mind a slightly harsher ride.

More Group-N and Kartboy goodies are on their way.

[4banger]

I did quite a bit of work to the Suby this last weekend. Recently I went back to the stock swaybar from the 29/27mm Whiteline bar. I had noticed that the threads on one of the endlinks were borked, so I replace both front endlinks with fresh stockers. I also tightened down the coilover topnuts with an impact gun. These two changes fixed a clunking noise that I had been chasing for months. I had suspected that the swaybar was not being tightened enough, but I think the real culprit was the topnuts. I would encourage everyone with TiC's to double check the tightness of these nuts if your suspension is not COMPLETELY silent, because my front end doesn't make a peep anymore.

I can't say that I miss the larger front swaybar at all. There is definitely an improvement in ride quality coming from the increased independence of the front of the car. Bumps are less harsh and it is really amazing to hit a bump or pothole with just one wheel and not feel it on the other side of the car. I can definitely tell that the TiCs are more able to do their job now, and they do it incredibly well. I was talking to Clint and Tony at the Perry meet last weekend and I commented at how awesome their coilovers felt while going over nasty speed bumps at 30mph. That was almost going to be a new tag line for their advertisements until Tony mentioned how many lawsuits that would probably result in

I also made a few improvements to the rear of the car as well. First, using BigSky's tool and Williaty's excellent write up, I installed a pair of Group-N rear trailing link bushings.



The install was a snap with a lift and air tools. I also installed a pair of Kartboy rear subframe lockout bolts. The improvement of these two inexpensive mods was amazing. The stock bushings you could compress with your fingers enough to see movement on the bushing. I was unable to get any meaningful compression when I squeezed the Group-N bushings.

Pros:
-The rear of the car feels much more connected. For example, the feeling of rear end slop when going from a stop to first gear is completely removed. When you give it gas and get rolling, the car just "goes" without having to wait for the rear end to squish first. An improvement was felt even though I have several other bushings that aid in tightening the rear.
-The rear of the car follows the front through turns much better. The change is similar in magnitude to what I observed when I installed my X-brace.
-I haven't decided if this one is in my head or not, but it seems like there is a small improvement in the rear not hopping over low speed bumps as harshly as before. I've done a back to back comparison with Stretch, and the rear of my car definitely seems to jump off of low speed bumps more than his.
Cons:
-A slight increase in NHV. With all of the other bushings that I have done, the increase was barely noticeable. Overall, my car has a significantly more NHV than a stock car.

[wdb]

Nice writeup, nice choice of mods. Stiffer bushings hither and thither are well up on my list of next mods, especially now that my car is no longer being called upon for daily commuting duties. I'll be sure to refer back here for your latest changes!

[4banger]

wdb - Hopefully you'll be interested in a few things I have in the works:
Detailed Gas Mileage data
The free castor mod
A higher ride height to fit larger tires

[4banger]

Here is a little preview of things to come. I have yet to decide on my final ride height, but right now 14.25/14.0 front/rear is working out okay for my new 235/45/17 Dunlop Star Spec's.

[T3h_Clap]

still on stock wheels?