MarkJHarris

That only sorts the front and only then if you really want to drop it a way. But doesn't do the back. It's a longer ball joint basically. If you fit this and lower your car all round 1" then the roll centre is kept higher at the front and drops like a stone at the rear. The line that joins roll centres is the roll axis and by tilting this you get a very different feel under cornering. I've found by changing the ride height at the rear by 10mm I can totally alter the feel and make the car lean into the front corner instead of the rear. Small changes can make a big difference.

If you don't believe me, try changing your toe out by one flat each side 1/6th of a turn and see how the car is transformed.

8 years? Is my Hawkeye that old? wow. I'll just have to keep it until Subaru or anyone else actually makes something better then......

Ricky Evans Motorsport.

http://www.heatedwindscreen.com/

If you are changing springs, you'll really want to swap the "spring assisters", sorry bump stops. Prodrive did them and I think Peter Cambridge still does.

The O.E. dampers give a ride height that just keeps you off the long progressive stops and once you corner the outer wheel is on them giving rise to a higher rate and under damped feel.

The poor dampers get confused as the car bounces onto and off the rubber stops.....it isn't nice and any change of spring if you want a lower ride will leave you permanently on them.

Remember the golden rule of Struts.

If you drop ride height by 1" you'll lower your centre of gravity 1", but you'll lower your roll centre by 3-4"!

Not good.

Full job, there's a Rally supplies place that sells them. WRC cars have no heater and just a heated screen and a roof vent. I think they're like the Ford one.

Diesel will defeat even my mighty Sottozero M%S tyres to be honest. It's nasty stuff, and at the price it is I still can't understand why people waste it....

It is were me I'd get a heated screen fitted. They cost a bit more and you have to wire them up but I'm definitely doing mine when the time comes...

I hop you rang the police? Nobody will clear the Diesel and someone else could be killed if they don't know! Here on the IOM if you inform the Police they get right on it and shut the road or put warning signs on and partially block the road until the sweeper can come and clear it. The stuff is lethal to bikers.

You'll notice the ALK will cause the car not to crash and bump so harshly under hard braking and less understeer under power when cornering. Huge improvement on it's own. I'd put stiffer Steering rack bushes in at the time as well as it's the only time it's easy to do....

It can. But the stretch bolts give and weaken the grip on the HG more easily with help from higher pressures. I've heard many say 1.2 peak is about as far as you'd want to go. It only peaks at around 3-4k and falls away after as the flow can't keep up. The VF35 on my 2006STi only puts out 1.5BAR peak and falls back towards 1.0 at the red line. The engine is built to take far more but it will last a long time as is.

Fingers crossed the the HGs! 1.2 BAR should be safe, but definitely make sure it's warm first and if the temperature ever creeps up stop playing! Good luck.....

Oil splashes ont oteh bores under the piston and the oil control rings then scrape it off as the piston descends. Not all is wiped off...... Depending on microscopic scores, wear and other irregularities, more can be left on some cars than others. Mine is built loose by AJ and needs a 1/4l every few weeks.

I'm surprised Andy only recommends studs and gaskets on 400bhp mods. My STi blew it's head gaskets at 350bhp without much hard use, so really anything over stock needs to be clamped down properly. Even stock cars do their heads pretty readily. The stock head bolts just stretch too easily. The leak and lack of water pressure causes localised heating that then causes ringland failure and bob's your uncle.

At least you'#ll not have the boost pressures on a WRX, you can get lots out, but the rest of the car isn't built to take it- brakes, hubs, gearbox and diff all take a battering that are already uprated in the STi. The best upgrade for a WRX is to start by buying an STi.......

er...

1. I had fun telling my company I was putting on the spoilers and wing and badges from he Standard STi as my Spec D was debadged. as original. No extra charge.....

I have the AP clutch on my car. It's lasted through three hard launches and 12,000 miles of abuse fine. I can get it to smell after a launch but it doesn't slip and has a nice firm but not too hard pedal to it. Doesn't half smell if you slip it though......

Generally happy though.

I'm in the same position with my bike to be honest. It's a rare Homologation special Honda. Lowish miles too and if I choose, very original. There are a few on Ebay being advertised that are a piss take. 120 miles speedo on a 48,000mile bike for nearly £16K is a joke. The thing is, it was meant to be a race bike. Modifying machines is just how I'm programmed, so bit by bit the original stuff is being reconditioned, repainted, etc. to be like new and bubble wrapped for the loft. Finding race kit is rarer than Hen's teeth but I've slowly got a few parts and bits together.. noe day it will emerge as a clone of a race bike. However, if needed, it can be made absolutely original in a few hours.

My Spec D wil ltake a few more hours, but I have the original bootlid and spoiler in the loft and the O.E. excuse for suspension too. Removing the Whiteline parts will be a ball ache but the original kit is there. I got rid of the stereo and sat nav though and fitting that will devalue the car so I won't bother. It was crap from the start.

Come to think of it. I'll just run the car until one of us dies I think. I love it as it is too much to sell.....

I got it because it was the 0nly STi on the Island for sale at the time and in good condition. Plus they're worth less by a couple of hundred. Every standard car is just a canvas to work on anyway. I like leather trim, more classy than the blue....

The Spec D is absolutely worth modifying....the Stereo is crap, the suspension is crap (standard) the Sat Nav is crap and the low rear spoiler is crap. Plus their worth less than standard STi's despite having leather trim and a nicer cabin. Plus like any other 2.5, if you don't forge it,. forget it! Mine's been attended to on all counts. Does an Engine Tuner rebuild, high (genuine) spoiler, ER series coil overs, whiteline bits and a nice touchscreen double DIN stereo make it worth less?

Not bothered as I ain't ever selling mine....

I swear by it. A freshly RAINEX'ed screen should start to shift at 40 or just over. We used to put it on our aircraft too, but the present lot won't spend a penny unless they absolutely have to. Shame as it's even better at 120mph on approach....

There's loads more to set up than ARBs. The first problem with a Hawkeye STi is the suspension is utter crap....The springs are too soft and the car relies on the bump stops to keep it from falling over...The car has loads of anti dive/anti squat in the front and not enough wheel travel to cope with UK roads. You find your car "leans". What is happening is that the car squats slightly on the back and the lower roll centre there causes the car to rotate about an inclined roll axis. The car feels like it sits down in the rear outer corner and lifts the front inner wheel up.

This gives under steer and as the outer wheels are on the bump stops the effective spring rates are not too much for the damping, giving a wallow, where the inner wheels are in droop and have harsh damping. It's simply fitting stiffer ARBs won't fix this. But it will help. The 22mm three position rear ARB is all you need, together with your existing drop links that are metal balljoints and better than anything else. You may wish to get the Whiteline rear ARB mount kit too, as the O.E. mounting brackets are weak.Standard front ARB is plenty stiff enough for road use, unless you really want to keep hitting your head on the side window on speed bumps!

For my car, I fitted the 22mm rear bar, mounts, front Anti Lift Kit that repositions the lower rear arm pivots to eliminate the anti dive/squat and BC Coil overs for ride height adjustments. I used long travel ones with assister springs and 6/5kg springs. Probably should have gone with the 5/4 though.

The one thing you don't need with a Hawkeye STi though is aftermarket Drop links. Yours are the best you can get as standard.

Remember the strengths of the Subaru suspension as the fact you have decent lengths to the lower arms and upright struts so you can get a supple ride with little roll if the geometry is good. Too low is what makes a Subaru roll. Lowered cars are moving the roll centre far away from the CoG and the roll torque increases hence the need for very stiff springs and resultant harsh ride.

Mine sits slightly higher all round than O.E.

I also had some but might have chucked them. Sorry.

I know Baz, but if you are going to a so called specialist garage and paying for a specific set up you should get this kind of information. You'd get it from ATS and places like that, but not if you went to a rally or motorsport preparation place, or probably yours if it was being done by an old school expert...

Fundamentally, if you had the car returned with clearly non symmetrical settings, you'd expect the rigger to want to give you some data on why. I know I would want to know just what was going on!

My car was done at a Rally shop BTW, my Wife's at a garage advertising alignment services. Her Grande Espace got a before and after sheet and this listed the specs an variances. Definitely made it better too. Mine was paper free, except the invoice....and lairy it was as well. I've since experimented and it's no longer the same and far smoother. Amazing what one flat of the steering tie rod can achieve!

Sounds like you've been mugged....Most coil overs are shorter than stock, which is basically a bad thing. You need your car generally to be set up with marginally less arch showing at the rear than front, and slight rear toe in and zero front toe plus minimum rear - camber on the adjustable bolts that are fitted stock and maximum front - camber likewise. Only then the top mounts should be moved from the centre position.

And any set up should come with a print out of the before and after settings!!!!

Good luck.

Depends if the bottom mounts were set the same as there's nearly a good degree of camber available just in the free play. If they're out down there, the same adjustment at the top will produce a noticeable difference in placement on either side.

I'd be surprised if they didn't try to adjust the bottoms first, just loosen and pull then nip up really, then do the tops, so more like something else wrong that they corrected in the top mounts.

How does it ride now then?