[RaceComp Engineering]

Prodrive RB320 Bilstein strut and spring suspension kit.

I would like to first say that I don’t post much on the forums any longer for various reasons, but this past week we had a once in a lifetime opportunity that I felt the need to share with you guys, the Subaru suspension community. We had the ability to install the new Prodrive RB320 kit on a 2007 STI. The day before , we installed a set of Ohlins fixed perch adjustable struts on a 2005 STI(with our Regular guys springs). I only mention the later because both have been compared many times and yet these highly capable strut combos offer 2 entirely different solutions for the “STI” owner. We offer both to clients and both are solid choices based on the needs of many consumers. My objective in writing this review is to give a real world account of what this suspension feels like. Not to analyze specs, numbers, theory or anything on paper. As a driver, racer and instructor who also is a dad and husband, I will try to identify with the things I valued when I commuted 1 hr each way every day.

I started talking to Dan @ Prodrive USA about 2 years ago when I noticed that Bilstein Japan was finally going to offer a fixed perch application for the Impreza and at that time, more importantly,..the then new, 2005 model STI. We had already played a vital role in convincing Ohlins USA to bring the fixed perch struts here, so as a suspension vendor, why not be able to offer Bilstein fixed perch also. After all my wife’s then new Spec-B had Bilsteins( love it)…my Porsche 944 turbo cup car had Bilsteins. My Jetta G60 had Bilsteins. My Dad’s old 450SEL 6.9 even had Bilsteins( auto leveling in the rear). So I was a “Billy” you could say. Having grown up in and around the brand.

So finally with all the talk and hype and threads and questions, and calls and e-mails and specs and prices….Prodrive finally introduces this kit ( offered in the actual RB320 model in memory of the late Richard Burns) and the Subaru community in the USA can finally have a piece of rally history with a suspension named after one of the modern day great rally drivers. More importantly new suspension buyers who don’t like the low speed heavy compression feeling( aka bobble head) of the OEM suspension on the STI can purchase the RB320 kit (designed by Prodrive and produced by Bilstein) for their STI and begin an instant life change.

Why life change? Gone are the days of watching your child’s head in the rear view mirror shake and bounce over the smallest of bumps. Gone are the confused expressions on the face of your passengers as to WHY your car feels like it has solid steel rods in place of what should be shocks. Gone are the complaints from the wife and girlfriend about driving the STI to the movies or mall.

Prodrive has been very clear in stating that this product is not intended to be a track kings best friend, yet could be very effective at the track. Instead they have set their sites on the “daily driver”. The enthusiast who likes the sport ride without the trade offs of what a track day suspension offers.

I was involved in the installation of this product. The build quality is noticeable, yet very OEM like. Nothing stood out or was different about these struts say over stock, other than the different perch size and that Prodrive has made sure that end users keep the purpose built performance springs with the Prodrive/Bilstein dampers. This has been done to ensure that what they designed is used as intended therefore guaranteeing years of predictable ride quality and performance.

Once we installed the suspension kit. I decided to take the 2007 STi for my usual 27.8 mile loop. This combination of highway, back road, industrial parks, railroad crossings, exit ramps, concrete banked, off camber bumpy, high speed multiple step down, and very smooth and wavy roads offer the widest range of real world test to subject a new suspension to. With a pre-approved “ok” from the client I was able to set out on what I will remember as one of the best test rides to date. First....” why one of the best rides to day.?”…Well normally when we discover a new product we don’t know what to expect. In this case, I remember what Dan at Prodrive had told me, but lets face it….each of us has different taste and I admit I had a super high expectation of what this product should feel like. Remember, I had done the same loop just 24 hrs earlier in a STI shod with the Ohlins.

Visually there isn’t much difference between the Prodrive lowering “look” and the RB 320 ride height. Slight, small, subtle things, but if you make the upgrade from the springs to the strut kit, your wife wont lock you out, because she wont notice the ride height. She will notice that there are less things shaking,…in the car. She will notice that as she talks on the cell phone her voice doesn’t sound like she is stuttering. And if by chance your wife used to own or still owns a BMW M3 ( E46), she might not notice that you are in the wrong car. She will very much be at home, in what should be dubbed the ultimate driving machine. Yes this kit transforms the STI’s ride quality into BMW M3 “feel”. Compression is softer than that of the stock STI. Rebound feels like HALF of the stock STi. This combined with the purpose built and designed Prodrive springs makes for a package that surpassed my expectations.

Small bumps are felt but not bothersome. Feedback is there without being intrusive. When pushed, the dampers push back !! When babied, you forget they are there. Within a short time, you don’t worry about adjusting anything, because the dampers are doing all that for you, and in typical “Billy” fashion ! Bilstein has always had this trait of being able to master each situation you can throw at it, or the road at you.

I decided to up the ante a bit and do some super late, “ I think my brakes have faded” type deep trail braking in to an exit ramp near the airport that is banked, and has the concrete grooves embedded in the surface. You know the ones that give you TONS of grip. Most suspensions that offer good ride quality don’t do much else, and especially when pushed near the limit. As the car settles into the corner, I did notice more body roll than I was accustomed to, but this wasn’t a bad thing. Because in keeping with the theme of this product, it was doing as intended. Body roll wasn’t bad or unsafe, but rather “absorbing” and that would be the very thing that a “daily driver” would need when encountering a mid corner bump at the limit. Remember, think daily driver and not track day. Once I could see out of the corner, I was able to get on the gas very early and I could feel an amazing amount of grip and not much rear squat at all. This 2007 STi had stock sway bars and really no other modifications. I was very impressed at how composed the car was in that situation.

One of the challenging situations for sport lowering suspensions is what we encounter on the high way sometimes that I refer to as a double step down. This occurs when driving along and seemingly the surface drops from under the car. As though you drove off a 4inch mini cliff in the road which causes the suspension to have to either slam down on its bump stops OR,...react very fast and absorb the step down. Well add to that, the step downs are spaced apart some distance. So taken at normal real world speeds of say 80 mph, this creates a super difficult situation. On my test route there is a section of road on RT 195 that has 1 mile of these constant step downs and step ups. As the RB320 clad STi negotiated these sections, I had to fight the smile. I could not believe what I was experiencing. I could not believe that this was the same car that had already done so many other things well. As time goes on when driving a lot of cars and a lot of suspensions, you come to accept that not all suspensions do all things well. This suspension was doing it all and that is what’s most impressive about it.


One of the things daily driver enthusiast deal with on a daily basis is bridges and the steel that connects the bridges as well as the asphalt that bubbles as a result of many hard winters here on the east coast . I sought out several of the more hated ones in the area and again….the first thing you notice is that the entire car is NOT upset by crossing these at highway speeds on and off angle. Again, the dampers absorb this motion and yet still maintain a certain level of control while communicating necessary information to the driver.

As I approached my turn off of Rt 95, I really wanted to keep driving. It remined me of when I had my first car and I drove around until I ran out of gas !!

I felt that the suspension exceeded my expectations and provided me with a new benchmark in what a daily driver should offer. Not many packages can duplicate this level of refinement.

If I had to make it better what would I do?...First I would say or suggest to anyone with this set up or buying it…drive it for while before making changes or adding things.
For the person who does expect to do autocrossing and or track events…..( which it isn’t targeted for but certainly capable of)…add sway bars, some caster, some camber, and work on driving. At this level, you will need to sharpen your driving skills to maximize the suspension and its capabilities, for this is a great one.

Myles Williams
Racecomp Engineering LLC.

[RaceComp Engineering]

[RaceComp Engineering]

[RaceComp Engineering]

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[RaceComp Engineering]

[RFFG]

Damn, nice write up...

I felt like I was riding shotgun in the car

[r12rex]

Myles,

Thank you for the very thorough, almost "I'm riding shotgun", review. I spoke with Dan and requested to have a ride in a vehicle equipped with this suspension. Still waiting for this, but this makes me THAT much more excited to get in behind the wheels of a car equipped with this suspension. It sounds very VERY promising for a daily driven STi. I currently have RCE T2's on my vehicle (400/350). How would you compare this set-up to the RB320? I know doing a comparison on these two would be like apples and oranges, but I was curious as to how the ride quality, etc. compare to my T2s on the street settings you guys provided.


I need to get behind the wheel (or even passenger seat) of an STi with this suspension set-up.


Kind Regards,
Ryan

[twiSTies]

How does this compare to the JDM Pink/Ohlins combination?

[stretch]

Originally Posted by twiSTies

How does this compare to the JDM Pink/Ohlins combination?

Aye, that was the comparison I was expecting by the last paragraph (since Ohlins were mentioned in the first paragraph).

[speedmonkey]

Hey Myles, Thanks for the great review of the Prodrive RB320 Suspension! Sounds like an amazing option for alot of people!

More great reviews from owners here:

Prodrive RB320 Suspension Pics

[BlueGold]

Originally Posted by twiSTies

How does this compare to the JDM Pink/Ohlins combination?

Or JDM Pink/stock struts????

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by BlueGold

Or JDM Pink/stock struts????

When names like Ohlins, Prodrive, and Bilstein are mentioned, the stock KYB hardware doesn't deserve a footnote.

[lackskill]

I am curious, IIRC, there is a coilover type RB suspension coming? The thing that stood out in my mind was that it was going to be tailored to people that wanted to be lower than this current offering. What if I want to be higher? Would I be looking at droop travel issues?

I know, if there is any info, it's VERY preliminary but maybe you guys have a gut feel? Or maybe my needs are too niche and I am unrealistic but stock ride height suits me fine, especially in the winter.