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04-26-2012, 11:42 PM | #1851 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
Installed Koni Adjustable Dampers, rears only, today. Here are some photos.
Donor struts (09 WRX) and Koni's (in boxes). Close up of the donors. Only using the rear top hats for this part of the install. Drilling out the top hats to 1/2" for the Koni's. Top hats drilled out, Koni's ready for assembly. Koni's getting ready, and a close up of the RCE Black spring. One assembled, and then both assembled. Install went pretty well. I had just installed the RCE blacks on my stock struts a couple weeks ago, so I'd been through this whole process recently. Since I did already have the springs on the car, my first step was pulling the OEM struts and RCE blacks off the car, then taking the springs off and putting them on the Koni's. I used the 2011 OEM bump stops and cut off the smallest lobe. I was able to get the bump stops on without drilling them out. I just pushed them on far enough to clear the threads on the piston. Then I installed the top hat loosely and used that for leverage to pull the bump stop on. It was very easy. Then I took the top hat back off and put the spring on. I was able to press down on the springs by hand and get the bolt started onto the piston by myself. Having another person would make this a lot easier. When doing struts one tool you'll definitely want to have around is a go thru socket set. You pretty much need it to remove and install the top hats properly. Once they were assembled, I put the top bolts through the car and loosely installed the nuts. Then I re-connected the lower control arms. After doing this a couple times recently, I've realized there's really only one order you can do it in that is relatively easy.
Once I got it all back together and tightened down I went for a drive. The car feels great. I'll definitely need to wait until I get the fronts installed and drive around a while before making any final decisions though. But so far, so good!
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04-27-2012, 11:58 PM | #1852 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 226359
Join Date: Oct 2009
Chapter/Region:
W. Canada
Location: Fort St John, BC.
Vehicle:2006 WRX obp |
Nice, I've had koni yellows on a couple of previous cars and I've always been very happy with them
-sean |
04-28-2012, 02:06 AM | #1853 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
I did the front Koni's tonight with the help of Roger from NF Performance!
Donor struts for the front, all cleaned up (09 WRX). Pipe cutter in progress. Very clean cut! Koni insert installed and then spring and top hat assembled. Car back on the ground. The fronts were a lot more work. Partially because I didn't have the right tools/setup when I started. I had a bench vice, but I never actually bothered to mount it to my workbench (more on this later). I started this install by finding the center of the strut and tapping it with a punch. I used a universal drill bit and drilled just far enough to punch a hole in the damper. It is under pressure so hydraulic fluid will spray out. Make sure to wear proper protective equipment. So, once I had the hole made, I turned the damper upside down and pumped the piston in and out a dozen times or so. Until fluid mostly stopped coming out. I taped over the hole for the time being (to reduce the mess). Next I started in with the pipe cutter. I got most of the way through simply holding the vice with my feet, lol. Then the pipe cutter broke. One of the screws holding it together stripped out. When I went out to exchange the pipe cutter I also picked up some bolts to mount the vice to the bench. Drilled a few holes and bolted it down. Once I did that the pipe cutter was 100x easier to use. Haha. It didn't take too long and it was cut open. I pulled out the guts and finished draining it. Then I flipped it over and got the universal drill bit back out and opened up the hole to 1/2" to allow the Koni bolt to fit through. The damper is a friction fit into the OEM strut (it has some nubs that hold it tight). You have to pound it into place, or use a bolt to pull it in. The stock bolt won't reach, so I bought a longer M12x1.5 bolt and a bunch of washers. I started with very few washers and tightened the bolt down to pull the damper into the strut. Once the bolt bottomed out in the damper I unscrewed it and removed washers. Repeat until damper is pulled all the way into place. Or at least close enough to use the Koni bolt (but I'd pull the damper all the way in with the larger bolt because the Koni bolt is an allen key and that's more likely to strip out). Torque down to spec (55 ft-lbs). Then finish reassembling. We could not get it together without using spring compressors. I've heard other people can (maybe with different springs?). Once that is completely assembled, repeat for the the other side. It's not too difficult, but the pipe cutter takes some muscle, and the overall process is quite time consuming. We put the assembled dampers back in and set the camber bolts to max negative camber. Now that the suspension swap is complete I'll have to get re-aligned and see how it turned out. The 09 WRX struts should give me a little more negative camber than the 2011's would have. Once we got the wheels back on and put the car back on the ground it was obvious it was lower than with the stock struts (same springs, RCE blacks). I measured the fronts at 13" from hub to fender (previously 13.5"). The rear is also 13" from hub to fender. I think it looks perfect. It is nearly identical ride height to how I had my coilovers set. Approx 1-1.5 finger width of fender gap. I set the dampers to 1 turn firmer than full soft. I think this is what Koni recommends for moderate aftermarket springs. I'm going to try it there for a while and see how I like it. I did go on a quick drive, and it feels really good. The car has so much better ride quality than the BC coilovers and still feels very planted in the turns. More thoughts will come after I've had the full setup in for a while. |
04-28-2012, 02:20 AM | #1854 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
Quick video of some drifting in the rain from last weekend
The full video will be coming soon. Eric Blume Photography is editing it now... |
04-28-2012, 02:22 AM | #1855 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 280754
Join Date: Apr 2011
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Hi
I’m looking forward to your review on your new suspension setup, and pic's would also be nice. Im trying to eliminate that annoying popping sound when the front suspension bottoms out. I did it with the stock set up and stills does it with Koni's/ H&R springs. I really like the beefie look of those black springs, do they help in travel, and how does the height affect cornering |
04-28-2012, 02:44 AM | #1856 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
Well, I guess the video was done sooner than expected!
Thanks to Erik Blume for shooting and editing this great video from last weekend at DCTC! The rain was a lot of fun! Getting sideways is awesome There are three 2011 WRX's in this video. Mine is the black one. The white one is Stage 2 + E85 and the silver sedan is Stage 2 on pump gas. I don't know how that Evo got in there FYI - We're not professional drifters (obviously). We were just out having some fun. This was my first time getting my car to rotate around like this. I had a great time! |
04-28-2012, 06:40 AM | #1857 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 249401
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Nord' St Paul
Vehicle:2005 LGT and 91 MX5 |
Quote:
Great video Ben. Looks like you guys had a ton of fun. |
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04-28-2012, 09:30 AM | #1858 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 249068
Join Date: Jun 2010
Chapter/Region:
South East
Location: Miami, Fl.
Vehicle:2010 WRX DGM Phatbotti Tuned |
That video is a trip.
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04-28-2012, 09:38 AM | #1859 | |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 182647
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: DC
Vehicle:2010 Impreza |
Quote:
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04-28-2012, 09:44 AM | #1860 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 163085
Join Date: Oct 2007
Chapter/Region:
E. Canada
Location: Montreal, QC
Vehicle:2019 '19 Ascent LTD '18 Impreza Sport |
nice car, love the BoV!
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04-28-2012, 12:41 PM | #1861 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 226359
Join Date: Oct 2009
Chapter/Region:
W. Canada
Location: Fort St John, BC.
Vehicle:2006 WRX obp |
The vids look like a ton of fun! I wish I had somewhere like that to drive
-sean |
04-28-2012, 08:30 PM | #1862 | |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
Yeah! It was fun! You missed out!
Quote:
BOV is gone. The Turbosmart Kompact BPV is on there now. Yeah, I was surprised honestly. I should have pics soon. |
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04-28-2012, 11:31 PM | #1863 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
Here are some shots of the ride height on Koni Adjustable dampers and RCE Black springs. 13" from fender to hub on all 4 corners.
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04-28-2012, 11:55 PM | #1864 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
Also, I picked up a used Tsudo Quad Tip exhaust today. It was in great shape overall. Here are some photos:
Overall, it seems OK for the money. The materials and welds all looked good. Getting the muffler section on to the y-pipe section wasn't too bad, but it didn't line up perfectly (the bolts do tighten down and the gaskets don't leak. The midpipe is a very close fit to the heat shield and the actual driveshaft. The flange looks like it could contact the heat shield but I haven't noticed any noise. The midpipe was hammered in by the previous owner to add additional clearance to the driveshaft. I haven't heard it hit. Getting it onto the hangers was a tight fit, but it all went on fine. The sound is noticeably louder and much deeper than the stock exhaust I had on there. After driving around, it is actually pretty quiet for an aftermarket exhaust. I would say it's quite a bit quieter than the Q300 when cruising. The exhaust note is very low. Probably the lowest I've had on any of my setups. This exhaust is pretty cheap and has reports of fitment issues, but it seems to fit OK for me, and the 3" pipes look great. Hopefully it increases flow compared to my stock exhaust. The sound is quite nice, but it is louder than stock (as expected). It is probably quieter than SPT (or similar) and definitely quieter than the Q300. Overall it seems very livable, but we'll see what the wife thinks. If she doesn't like it, it will be up for sale! Video coming soon! |
04-28-2012, 11:56 PM | #1865 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 226359
Join Date: Oct 2009
Chapter/Region:
W. Canada
Location: Fort St John, BC.
Vehicle:2006 WRX obp |
perfect
-sean |
04-29-2012, 12:28 AM | #1866 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 154112
Join Date: Jul 2007
Chapter/Region:
SWIC
Location: LV, NV
Vehicle:08 STi |
Great work on the Tsudo. Awaiting to see if it's better than stock flow-wise, and your sound clips! Love your reviews and pics!
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04-29-2012, 12:29 AM | #1867 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 188402
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Moorhead, MN
Vehicle:2013 BRZ DGM |
Hope it works great for you! Looks 19x then the stock exhaust on my car :/
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04-29-2012, 01:02 AM | #1868 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
Yeah, we'll see. I kind of miss the super stealthiness of the stock exhaust, but this one does have a nice note. The fitment is tight, but seems OK. The video doesn't seem to be working. I'll keep trying...
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04-29-2012, 01:25 AM | #1869 |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
OK, got the video to work. Here it is:
I'm not sure why there is so much popping when the rev's drop in the video. I've noticed this before in my videos. Those noises never happen when actually driving the car. It must have to do with revving it high and then letting it drop all the way back down to idle. |
04-29-2012, 12:33 PM | #1870 |
Scooby Newbie
Member#: 154112
Join Date: Jul 2007
Chapter/Region:
SWIC
Location: LV, NV
Vehicle:08 STi |
Nice. It does sound considerably louder than stock. Would it be possible to do an in-cabin sound check?
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04-29-2012, 01:19 PM | #1871 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 262503
Join Date: Oct 2010
Chapter/Region:
MWSOC
Location: Minneapolis
Vehicle:2008 Impreza 2.5i |
Looking/sounding good Ben! Is that a NF sticker I see on the top left rear window?
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04-29-2012, 01:41 PM | #1872 | |
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
Quote:
Went for a drive with my wife and baby today and this is what my wife had to say in the first block: "Car sounds louder." "Hurts my ears." "What did you do?" "WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!?" Not sure how long this exhaust is going to last. LOL. I think it sounds great though. Nice low rumble. Yeah, I have one on the front and rear. Black for stealth |
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04-29-2012, 03:49 PM | #1873 |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 276300
Join Date: Mar 2011
Vehicle:2015 Ford Mustang GT Oxford White |
i think your wife's ears are too sensitive. my wife has no idea taht i even have a new exhaust. went from stock to a full catless turboback Q300. the only thing she noticed were the gauges on my dash.
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04-29-2012, 09:08 PM | #1874 | |
Scooby Specialist
Member#: 267837
Join Date: Dec 2010
Chapter/Region:
Tri-State
Location: NY
Vehicle:2022 WRX Solar Orange Pearl |
Quote:
I had this on my car for a year. The sound was ok but too quiet for my taste. Those right side tips are pointing down severely! (I'm sure you know this.) Mine were lower on the right as well. I didn't wanna heat the pipe up and chance breaking a weld on it. I just sold it for 300 bucks. It's the perfect exhaust for your car though I think. Oh and popping and rumbling is always welcome! Makes the car sound meaner! |
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04-30-2012, 09:27 AM | #1875 | ||
Scooby Guru
Member#: 261612
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Vehicle:2002 WRX - 750WHP 9.5s @ 150mph |
Quote:
Quote:
The Tsudo will probably go up for sale soon. I think I'll try to sell it locally though. Shipping a cat back doesn't seem like much fun. One of these day's I might have to make an exhaust video of the stock exhaust with my current setup. Just to show how quiet 460WHP can be |
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