2015 Subaru WRX & STi - WRX Wagon on the way?
- Thread starter CodeRedR51
- 551 comments
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- 15,460
- Orange County, NY
- GTP_GT916
- Nii916
I saw this one at the NY Show two weeks ago:
- 60
- United States
- 15,401
- TRAPPIST-1g
- ProjectWHaT
I think it looks great. Even with the stickers and lowered suspension.
To me, a riced car is when it's poorly done and/or over done. Stuff from Underground 2 era.
To me, a riced car is when it's poorly done and/or over done. Stuff from Underground 2 era.
dsgerbc
Premium
- 2,577
- dsgerbc
99% of lowering jobs are crap, doesn't matter what it's 'lowered on'. It changes OEM steering geometry and introduces a lot of forces/moments not present on OEM suspension since suspension roll/steer centers are carefully lined up. I'm pretty sure they didn't bother with properly engineered roll-center correction kits. There are none available for that car yet, and I'm sure they didn't blow several grand to pull a one-off job. And easily available roll-center kits for other subarus are only good for at most 0.5" lowering. Which pretty much means the car has LOADS of roll/bump-steer. A terrible thing for control.
On top of that, much lower-than-oem offset oversized wheels likely change scrub radius from negative to positive and make the car unstable under braking. A terrible thing for tracking.
That front splitter is stupid w/o more downforce in the rear. If will make the car oversteer at high speed. Again, terrible and dangerous for track.
With that wheel/body clearance you cannot track that. It'd shred the tires in corners.
Overall, that's a car with ruined handling.
But do go on, keep on oversalivating over some random appearance modes hastily thrown together.
Looks okay, I'll give you that.
- 15,401
- TRAPPIST-1g
- ProjectWHaT
Ever heard of the phrase "Form over function"?
- 60
- United States
I have a set of Mazdaspeed Coilovers on my Mazdaspeed 3. Mazda contracted KW to design and manufacture the coilovers (They are essentially KW V3 but with higher spring rates). Even at its maximum height, it still sits lower than OEM and thus, altering suspension geometry.
So, does that mean that Mazda's decision to green light such coilover system is "crap"?
ITCC_Andrew
(Banned)
- 18,532
- Kitchener
Honestly, there's definitely something to lowering a car's center of gravity. I drive an Impreza 2.5RS. That thing has half a foot of clearance between tire and fender. It's well documented that lowering it improves handling. However, I like the 2" rule - you should always have at least an inch or two, between the tire and the fender, but not more than, for example, 4".
Too low, and it will look amazing, but not be as good handling. Too much sacrifice to make it sit that way. I have a feeling that both cars are for picking up some lady friends, though, and not as much for tracks.
Too low, and it will look amazing, but not be as good handling. Too much sacrifice to make it sit that way. I have a feeling that both cars are for picking up some lady friends, though, and not as much for tracks.
dsgerbc
Premium
- 2,577
- dsgerbc
Highest setting is around 7mm lower than OEM, iirc, that might be an acceptable worsening of bump/roll steer to lower the overall CG, but I wouldn't do it w/o roll-center correction.
The car pictured is lowered a lot more than that.
And just because people buy stuff from the manufacturer, doesn't mean it's good. It just means there's demand.
ITCC_Andrew
(Banned)
- 18,532
- Kitchener
I'm not convinced that it's lowered more than 7mm. It really doesn't look that much lower than the OEM one that Mäkinen drove at the top of the page.
- 60
- United States
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you're wrong or anything. TONS of people on Mazda forums get sandblasted for driving on budget coilovers (Raceland, Megan, Teins, BC, you name it) and slamming their cars, because the stock setup is not half bad at all. All I'm saying is, such a blanket statement like the one you originally posted isn't going to sit well with people.
Because there are people who believe in "form over function". For me, if I don't do it right, then I'll leave it stock.
Also, my Mazdaspeed Coilovers aren't for going super low. The lowest setting they allow is 17mm.
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dsgerbc
Premium
- 2,577
- dsgerbc
All else equal, it *could* improve cornering speed. As for handling, there's a lot more to it than the steady state speed the car could carry.
I do not remember right now how the roll centers change from lowering the RS, but IIRC an equal lowering F/R moves the rear roll center further down than the front one, which just makes the RS understeer more. You're gonna have to fix that with some other mods. Anyway, I'm not against lowering, I'm against lowering that screws up steering geometry, aka 99% of lowering out there.
- 60
- United States
I can't agree with that completely, not when the lowering springs are ill-matched to the damper and dampers start failing left and right.
dsgerbc
Premium
- 2,577
- dsgerbc
I have no problem making blanket statements that aren't true for <1% cases. Proportion of people lowering their cars and buying roll-center correction kits is less than that. Even a 7mm drop warrants a roll center correction kit on cars with front strut suspension. I have no problem with mods to form, but those are collectively called rice, because they don't improve the function. KW V3 is a good coilover on a budget for track, but they way you use them is to
a) do small adjustments to corner-balance the car for predictable handling
b) use shock bump/rebound adjustment to match all four corners (or front/rear) as close together as possible. And not to adjust bump/rebound after a single autox run of a couple of laps on the track. How many people with adjustable suspension you see doing that?
ITCC_Andrew
(Banned)
- 18,532
- Kitchener
I mean with proper suspension parts. No one's going to buy a $60,000 car Impreza STi and then put $200 coilovers on it. It'd be better to stick with the mint condition OEM suspension which is good enough to be used at Nürburgring without breaking...
- 60
- United States
Haha, but the existence of Raceland sort of invalidated your point though.
ITCC_Andrew
(Banned)
- 18,532
- Kitchener
Given that I've never even heard of them, I'm going to assume they're rubbish? Kinda more proves my point, doesn't it?
- 60
- United States
Given that I've never even heard of them, I'm going to assume they're rubbish? Kinda more proves my point, doesn't it?
Basically anyone who gets a set from them deserves to be slapped.
- 26,911
- Houston, Texas, USA
- JMarine25
You know, I like the newer WRX. It has meanness while still being purely stylish. I've been seeing commercials for the WRX when I was watching NBC Sports Network's coverage of the 100 Acre Wood Rally. Call its design whatever you want- just don't call it boring, because it isn't (at least to me). Judging on the pictures from Post #384, that WRX looks like what a Subaru WRX would look like if it raced in the Australian V8 Supercar Series, minus the aggressive front hood/bonnet, of course. I think this is a sweet car.
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