[Ravi Kumar]

Hi all,

I am from Sunny South Africa and i just took delivery of a 2008 Impreza WRX Sti. The car is great and i am really enjoying it however I am not too happy with the ride comfort.
Since i intend to use the car for normal commuting and highway driving, i find it rather uncomfortable on a long journey.
The car has standard 225/45R17 bridgestone potenza semi slicks.

I realise that the car is designed to give a rather firm ride but i would prefer a tad bit more ride comfort.
Can anything be done?
Is it advisable to revert to std road tyres?

Thanks in advance

[YeloFva]

Originally Posted by Ravi Kumar

Is it advisable to revert to std road tyres?

You just answered your own question. Once I switched my OEM tires to all-season Kumoho's I could tell the difference big time. The ride is still bouncy, but no where near as bouncy when it was stock.

[minskcity]

Softer tires would help a lot. I've got myself Michelin Primacy MXV4s ("grand touring" tires) as all-season set and the ride is SO MUCH smoother with Michelins - I can hardly feel any bumps .

You can tell which tires are soft by spotting the "touring" in their description. You can also look at what comes stock on Lexus/Mercedes (the less sporty models). Michelin Primacy MXV4s and Bridgestone Turanza seem to be some of the most popular "soft" tires. You might also look at the sportier (but still reasonably soft) tires such as Bridgestone RE-01 (I bet you don't need your tires to be all-season in South Africa).

Another factor to consider is the hight of the tire. If you go with 245/45/17 or 225/50/17 you'll get a softer ride.

Remember that going softer would generally mean less sporty - less control and less road feel, especially when changing the turning direction suddenly from left to right (and vice versa) or accelerating while straightening the car. I almost crashed one time when accelerating out of a corner before I got used to how my STI handles on a softer tire. I tried doing an autocross on my Michelins and it sucked big time; while the stock "semi-slicks" felt great during autocross runs.

Tires alone won't remove the firmness completely - you'd need to modify the suspension to do that. But then it's much cheaper to get a regular WRX instead of a STI and spend money bumping the power to STI's levels...

I hope this helps .

[polyol]

Originally Posted by Ravi Kumar

Hi all,

I am not too happy with the ride comfort.
e

You choose the wrong car basically. Tires alone wont completly solve the problem. You bought a car designed to handle. Handling and comfort do not go hand in hand...per say.

You could go to to a higher profile tire or you could repace the suspension...unfortuatly for you there is not many options with suspension since you cant just change to WRX suspenion and the aftermarket probably is not there yet. That is due to the revised rear end suspension the 08 has.

[Ravi Kumar]

Thanks guys for the advice.

I wouldn't say that i bought the wrong car as i really enjoy all the other characteristics of the STi.
I have been driving the STi around for a few days now and i must say that i am getting used to the ride.
I may change-over to normal tyres since i use the car for long distance travelling alot.

Go well !!!

[Miniwheat]

That is one of the STi's greatest characteristics is its lightning reflexes lol. Dont change the tires! let the car grow on you. You wont be sorry come summer. Go take your car on a track or even a windy road and after that ask yourself if you still want new tires. lol (my $.02)
+1 for oem slicks! (or close to)

[Ravi Kumar]

Hi chaps,

I am finding it hard to obtain michelin primacy mxv4's.
What is available are michelin pilot sport 2.
Would this offer the same ride comfort as the primcy's?

Thanks again

[T3h_Clap]

the Pilot sports will not grip as good as the RE070s and they will be softer.

[minskcity]

Originally Posted by T3h_Clap

the Pilot sports will not grip as good as the RE070s and they will be softer.

Pretty much anything will be softer than RE070. As somebody described RE070's ride, they feel like steel wheels with light rubber coating .

I'd choose Bridgestone's RE-01R over PS2. RE-01R is supposed to be better than Michelins in every aspect; except possibly the wear, but then PS2 are asymmetric and thus cannot be flipped inside-out if there is a lot of camber wear.

[STUKA]

Go Michelins!!!

[fullerton]

Originally Posted by Miniwheat

That is one of the STi's greatest characteristics is its lightning reflexes lol. Dont change the tires! let the car grow on you. You wont be sorry come summer. Go take your car on a track or even a windy road and after that ask yourself if you still want new tires. lol (my $.02)
+1 for oem slicks! (or close to)

It is fall there...

[minskcity]

You might also want to look at Tirerack's testing results:

Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Ride & Drive Review
Testing New Trends In Max Performance Tires
Even Grander Grand Touring Tires
Ultra High Performance Meets All-Season Capability