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Old 02-18-2018, 06:20 PM   #1
cheever13
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Member#: 360935
Join Date: Jun 2013
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Ann Arbor
Vehicle:
2003 Impreza WRX
black(with blue mixed in)

Default Harsh ride in 03 wrx sedan. Looking for insight.

The ride is very brutal. I feel every bump and I'd like to improve on that.

I'm at 215kmiles with a refresh last done at 165k. (When I bought it.)
I don't think the shocks are bad, but jury is out (doesn't bounce a lot.)

-Tokico DSP-10 struts
-MadDad progressive rate springs
front 202lb 24% more than stock 1.1" drop
rear 187lb 57% more than stock 1" drop
-STI strut caps
-TiC bushings all over.

Could this be a case of too soft springs on a lowered car? Bushings gone bad? I don't care about the car being lowered. I daily drive it. If I ever make it to an autocross or track I'd be super happy just to be there rather than care about shaving a few tenths off.

Thank you for any input/direction.
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Old 02-18-2018, 06:34 PM   #2
jamal
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Member#: 71875
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Montana
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Those struts are adjustable, have you tried setting them softer? The adjusters will make about 8 turns. All the way in clockwise is full hard. Start by trying, say, 5 turns from full hard up front and 5.5 on the rear struts. Then test drive and make small changes from there.
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Old 02-18-2018, 06:44 PM   #3
cheever13
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Member#: 360935
Join Date: Jun 2013
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Ann Arbor
Vehicle:
2003 Impreza WRX
black(with blue mixed in)

Default

Yes, my mistake I forgot to mention those settings. They were originally at 4 turns from full stiff. I just pushed them out to 7 turns. The car still seems pretty rough.

I'll give it a day to see if my spine still shatters over bumps.
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Old 02-18-2018, 07:18 PM   #4
jamal
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Ok. Another possibility could be your bumpstops. Of the stock ones were just put on with the lower springs that would contribute to a worse ride. Unfortunately you've got to take the struts and springs apart to shorten or change them.
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Old 02-22-2018, 12:31 PM   #5
cheever13
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Member#: 360935
Join Date: Jun 2013
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Ann Arbor
Vehicle:
2003 Impreza WRX
black(with blue mixed in)

Default

I got around to driving around with the struts on full soft. I do not believe I'm bottoming out on the bump stops as I get a nice smooth bounce over bumps on the highway. The heavy jarring is gone, which is good.

I did find that, especially at low speeds, a clunk on the front left side. I was able to isolate by driving over some oscillating bumps on each side of the car. Front left has a clunk. I have a stock front sway bar with perrin endlinks (spherical bearing type). I've read that these can cause noise?

Thank you Jamal!
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Old 03-07-2018, 01:54 PM   #6
cheever13
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Member#: 360935
Join Date: Jun 2013
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Ann Arbor
Vehicle:
2003 Impreza WRX
black(with blue mixed in)

Default

Thank you again. As a follow up I think I have multiple bushings worn and possibly my shocks, maybe even springs/ are wearing.

As I don't care for the lowered height I'm exploring options to go to ~stock/raised setup anyway.

Thank you again.
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Old 03-07-2018, 09:20 PM   #7
Bikelok
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Member#: 254851
Join Date: Aug 2010
Chapter/Region: BAIC
Location: Nor-Cal Bay Area
Vehicle:
2002 WRX wagon 5mt
PSM

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Those springs are LOW. You are definitely hitting the bump stops.
Swap them out with stock springs if you want a cush ride and are not too concerned about being low or “going around corners like it’s on rails”.

STI springs will also work great, but they are firmer than stock.

You can also look into King stock height springs too.
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Old 04-10-2018, 11:31 AM   #8
cmiovino
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Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Vehicle:
2004 WRX Premium
PSM

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Junk those springs - they are too low. When you're too low, you don't have enough travel and hit the bump stops. This sends your effective spring rates through the roof and leads to a harsh ride.

Go with some STI take off springs for a proper ride height and increased spring rates to about 223/195. You may want to adjust the dampening on the struts to match.

Another source of your harshness is probably all the TIC bushings.
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