Slight lowering spring & damper setup for '97 Outback

[ArtechnikA]

Searched through many of the current vendors' offerings and they appear to be interested only in new cars. I'm looking for new struts/dampers to replace the originals - after 10 years and 150,000 mi I figure I've got my money's worth... I have a couple sets of 205-50 tires (911 takeoffs) to use for summer tires - I have snows on the OE wheels...

So I'd like a slight (~1") lowering to reduce the gaps. I wouldn't mind a slight increase in spring rate and I do like a fair amount of damping. Price is a factor - this is the daily drive commuter car, not the weekend play car. As much as the KYBs seem to get a bad rap, they appear to be the only affordable option (who makes the OEM dampers?). Tire Rack shows them as somewhere between low stock/back order/ special order but they at least show the application. Most of the other sites lose interest past '04 which makes me wonder how well they can offer support...

I'd prefer to get a package of springs and struts from the same place all at once so I can have reasonable assurance they'll play together with a minimum of finger-pointing.

So who can sell me a package like that for my '97 Legacy Outback Limited Edition ?

Thanks.

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[ballitch]

if you get the struts (kyb GR 2's or AGX's) and lowering springs for the legacy sedan, you will drop about 2 inches, and have more spring rate. all the outback is is a legacy wagon with bigger struts and springs, bigger motor, and bigger rear sway bar, and 4.44 gearing.....be warned, if using lowering springs, you might want to stay away from the AGX's, and go with the GR-2's, the AGx's dont like to be lowered like the GR-2's do. try ebay, for struts your looking at about $270 shipped, the springs are about $250 shipped. i keep tabs on those items, ill be lowering my legacy sedan soon.


~Josh~

[ArtechnikA]

Originally Posted by ballitch

if you get the struts (kyb GR 2's or AGX's) and lowering springs for the legacy sedan, you will drop about 2 inches...

2" may be more than I was looking for but I could cope if there are no clearance issues. (i figure to lose about another inch with the tire change...)

went looking through EBay and interestingly, most of the vendors there seem convinced a '97 Outback is an Imprezza. I thought the '97 Outback was basically a Legacy wagon with a trim kit. true or not - my '97 Outback is definitely a Legacy - not an Imprezza. says so right on the car, and the Owners' Manual.

and the part numbers I found on the KYB site are not the ones being suggested by the vendors, so there is some kinda confusion evident...