steel and alloy lower arms

[dubbedup]

My v1/2 GC8 has alloy arms that look like they have been there for awhile, i was just wondering if only the sti's got them or some wrx's??

What wrx have you got and did it have alloy arms?

[funkytown]

 dubbedup said:

My v1/2 GC8 has alloy arms that look like they have been there for awhile, i was just wondering if only the sti's got them or some wrx's??

What wrx have you got and did it have alloy arms?

STI sedans get them, and the BH legacies on.

The STI wagons didnt get them, neither did plain WRX's

Where things get murky is the early v1's as there was no V1 STI.. so i cant comment there. - i would suspect they didnt have them.

I know Nicks V2 STI RA however did come with them.

Im not sure if the V7 STI wagons got them, and there were no V8 STI wagons..

have a v3 sti WAGON - didnt come with alloy arms from factory

[Pappu1]

how much does it "really" matter ? has anyone changed it and noticed any difference and if so what sort (obviously there wud be theoritical difference abt less weight etc but am asking in real world situation is there a quantifiable difference)? ???

curious...

[funkytown]

no weight differnce.. lets clear that up.. they are identical or as near to.

the alloy ones just flex less, should give you better wheel track and geometry. They are more brittle tho and snap easier should you smash the curb.. (although seeing Nicks bent one ... it just bent not snapped.)

i swapped and did roll center and Anti lift at the same time and it was alround MILES better.. how much you attribute to the arms is anyones bet.

[Pappu1]

hmm didnt know abt no weight difference..so must be the stiffer nature of it..

i guess not that much of a difference ay

[off2harrys]

zero difference in my opinion look nicer though (but who cares about the underneath)

[ben-jamminn]

 funkytown']

[quote name='dubbedup said:

My v1/2 GC8 has alloy arms that look like they have been there for awhile, i was just wondering if only the sti's got them or some wrx's??

What wrx have you got and did it have alloy arms?

/quote]

STI sedans get them, and the BH legacies on.

The STI wagons didnt get them, neither did plain WRX's

Where things get murky is the early v1's as there was no V1 STI.. so i cant comment there. - i would suspect they didnt have them.

I know Nicks V2 STI RA however did come with them.

Im not sure if the V7 STI wagons got them, and there were no V8 STI wagons..

have a v3 sti WAGON - didnt come with alloy arms from factory

Was there no V1 STi? I thought there was, just called the Impreza WRX STi, no fog light covers, and a really tall spoiler?

found this on the net;

The first STi was known simply as "STi" (there was no "version" moniker added to the name until the version II). 100 Imprezas per month were produced starting from February 1994. In March, production was stabilized to 100 STis a month. It had 250 PS (184 kW; 247 bhp) at 6500 rpm and 31.5 kgf·m (309 N·m) at 3500 rpm and weighed 1230 kg (2,710 lb). Before the STi, the highest trimline of the Impreza was the WRX and the WRX RA, first manufactured in November 1992. This version of the STi was the only version where the standard cars were taken at the end of the assembly line and replaced by STi parts. After this version, the standard STi was built alongside the WRX on the production lines.

[funkytown]

i should have put... my knowledge of the V1 is crap.. so i dont know... either way be interesting to know if they came with the alloy arms.. none of the BC/BF legacies did of that era.

[Tony]

All the early GC8s that I have seen underneath of (whether WRX or STI) have had alloy arms. My old 93 WRX did. I was under the impression that it was just the wagons that got the steel arms...

[Pappu1]

 off2harrys said:

zero difference in my opinion look nicer though (but who cares about the underneath)

well this post nails it i reakon lol... ;D

i remember reading abt the v1 sti or simply sti as they had in the magzine (cant remember what it was - maybe autocar?) anyway , they had a copmaro between the sti and the porche911 of the era and the summary was that the sti was a way better car for the $$ and beatn the porche wel and truley.. since then i had started of deaming a dream (susan boyle anyone 8)) of owning my own sti one day...

[dubbedup]

heard taurauga is the place to get sti's

[nt_a_foz]

haha not likely mate head over the kaimais to hamz and youl get all the sti's, std's and all the other bits you want to go with it hahaha

[Shale]

The version 1 STi is a 1994, but the original Impreza predates it. IN OTHER WORDS... they may have been d!cking around with prototypes in Average Joe WRX before said car Stranger things have happened.

[dubbedup]

 funkytown said:

no weight differnce.. lets clear that up.. they are identical or as near to.

the alloy ones just flex less, should give you better wheel track and geometry. They are more brittle tho and snap easier should you smash the curb.. (although seeing Nicks bent one ... it just bent not snapped.)

i swapped and did roll center and Anti lift at the same time and it was alround MILES better.. how much you attribute to the arms is anyones bet.

really no weight difference?

[funkytown]

no none decernable.. held them side by side.. so its the bicep-ometer, no official weightings sorry.

[dubbedup]

Shale when you change yours can you chuck them on some scales to see the difference..more for interest sake than anything else

[Koom]

I'd guess they'd be about the same weight. The alloy ones are alot chunkier than the steel ones. IMO they'd be made from alloy to make them faster/cheaper to make. Much less fabrication involved.

[BC5RA]

I've weighed them on a bathroom scale before, wrote it down somewhere..

From memory they were mid to low 5kg's with the steel arms about 2-400 grams heavier.

Certainly not exact.. but stuff all difference.

Some Rally guys stick with them as the Alloy ones tend to be more easily damaged.

[DPI]

I think you will find that subaru wanted a better, more ridgid part and decided to make it in alloy so they could 'beef it up' and keep weight down.

Obviously, as many of you have stated, Subaru did this (spent sh1tloads of time and money , tooling for production etc...) for no reason at all... :

[Swindog]

They should be slightly lighter being alloy.

They help turn in and corner steering control as mentioned above...probably wont be a huge difference to most people but combined with good bushes and struts theyd be good. Not the most cost effective upgrade you can get. Id spend the money on anti-lift and sway bars.

[Koom]

 DPI said:

I think you will find that subaru wanted a better, more ridgid part and decided to make it in alloy so they could 'beef it up' and keep weight down.

Obviously, as many of you have stated, Subaru did this (spent sh1tloads of time and money , tooling for production etc...) for no reason at all... :

IMO it is also a hell of alot easier (read: cheaper) to make a sh**load of castings and machine a couple of holes in them for bushes/balljoint rather than cutting tonnes of plate steel parts, pressing them to form the correct shape, setting them up in a jig and welding them up then checking they haven't pulled majorly out of line when being welded. Accountants always have a huge amount of say in these matters.

Without actually comparing the stiffness of either, I'd say the steel part would be as stiff, if not stiffer than alloy.

[EJ20T]

ive seen plenty of the steel ones banana, im gunna go check out my ASDM/NZDM ver2 wrx to see if its got alloy or steel, im betting steel. RSK has alloy arms but id say you would have no idea if they got swapped out to the steel ones

[BC5RA]

 DPI said:

I think you will find that subaru wanted a better, more ridgid part and decided to make it in alloy so they could 'beef it up' and keep weight down.

Obviously, as many of you have stated, Subaru did this (spent sh1tloads of time and money , tooling for production etc...) for no reason at all... :

It's not unknown for manufacturers have spent "sh1tloads" of money and still get it wrong.

I agree with Koom on a whole; I think the added strength outweighs the weight savings, Particularly load bearing parts.