Simon C

Having tried a firmly damped set of coilovers with softish springs (F:R 6:4) on stock swaybars (20mm), and a softly damped set of coilovers on similar springs (F:R 8:4) and much bigger swaybars (24mm), I can tell you that both will handle well, but the second setup is much more comfortable.

The other choice is to do a conversion to 5x114 hubs, then you will have a much wider choice of rims.

Why not just use a boost controller?

Volk Challenge F-Zero.

New swaybars are in, big thanks to Shale!

Probably need to put the car up a bit then. What's your fender to hub centre height?

You shouldn't be getting rub on those coilovers at 35mm drop from stock, I certainly wasn't. Unless you're talking about a 35mm drop on the stock suspension?

New Whiteline front and rear swaybars arrived today. Thanks Boostcut!

50mm of lowering is going to screw up your suspension geometry. 35mm is about as low as you can go with a GDB without going to uprated shocks. But each to their own.... If you can tolerate a higher ride height, RaceComp Engineering in the US do a set of springs called "Yellow" which are highly rated. You can often get them second hand from NASIOC. The spring rate is set to complement the factory KYB damper rates, and they're the maximum drop you can get without upsetting the suspension geometry. But no way you'll get 50mm of drop out of them.

Car now has a 330mm aftermarket steering wheel. I love not having factory airbags. ;D

Video tape him. Send it to the police. Sorted.

Used new gaskets? My headers (integrated upppipe) leaked like crazy until I got some new OEM gaskets, no problems after that.

The MY05 STi was rated the same. Spec C got a VF36, which is a VF37 on ball bearings, so I would expect it to spool faster but not make any more power. Of course, 206kw was a lie, as it has been for a long time. The major advantages of having a Spec C lie in the weight savings and suspension, not in the greater power.

No boot release or rear speakers on my 02 Spec C. V10 Spec C is awesome. Just get it. I don't miss having those things (or any of the numerous things missing in any Spec C).

That thinly sliced hand was one that went in a paper shredder. Angle grinders are nasty because they don't just cut, they grind out a chuck of tissue so it's actually missing. Sometimes you can't just stitch things up if too much is missing. I fix a lot of angle grinder injuries at work.

Got the steering hub adaptor for my new steering wheel, only to find that it doesn't fit properly! Out came the Dremmel tool, fabricated an adaptor plate out of the bottom of a plastic salad bowl. Voila!

You have to take the intake manifold off to get the turbo inlet off intact. Otherwise, I agree, just pull it and snap the fitting. Those silicon ones can be a mission to get on though. Mine was a really tight fit, and not much space around the edges to get the breather hose back on. I've got the AVO one, which is the only one-piece extended silicon pipe which goes all the way to the airbox.

Motorsport = awesome. Skids ≠ motorsport. Drift on track = motorsport = awesome. Drift on streets = skids = fail.

Contrary to a lot of other people in the thread, I'd firmly agree that the Spec C is hardly the be-all-and-end-all of STis. There are lots of places where it can be improved. In Kev's case, best bang for buck: 1) Track time 2) Proper tires 3) More track time 4) Handling goodies from Whiteline 5) Even more track time 6) Full exhaust/boost controller/decap injectors/ECU retune 7) Still more track time

Are you talking about compressed springs or cutties? Cut linear springs retain the same spring rate. Are you referring to cut progressive rate springs? If you are, then yes, you will change the average spring rate across the spring depending on which end you cut coils off. But even if you cut the soft end off a progressive, you won't end up with the increase in spring rate that you need to take up the reduced travel. If you're referring to heat treated, compressed springs, then yes you are right, the spring rate will increase. My "research" is simple applied high school physics. For which I represented NZ internationally at high school. And I'm not going to list the piles of webpages I read when picking my second set of coilovers, but am happy to direct you to search NASIOC and IWSTI as an excellent starting point. Like you want me to present my research, please feel free to present your own research to the contrary if you think my physics are wrong. I don't have an issue with lowering springs. In fact, there are some really good lowering springs out there that are well suited to the factory standard shocks. If you want to slam your ride, that's your perogative, just be aware you'll more than likely compromise your ride to do so. But cutties are just dumb. Really plain dumb. I don't see why I'm the villain for pointing that out, or for supporting my arguments with information you could find from any reputable source. And for bedtime reading, here's a very good thread from NASIOC about what happens when you put a JDM brand name, captive spring with insufficient spring rate / coil length into a standard shock. Enjoy: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1267918

It's not just that. Cut springs don't have enough rate to stop your suspension from bottoming out against the bumpstops, or going to full extension, even if they're captive at full droop. So if you hit a minor bump on a corner, your suspension on that wheel will suddenly overload, bounce that corner airborne, and you'll snap into oversteer or understeer. Also, lowering your suspension on an Impreza too much screws your camber curve. Too low and you'll go into increasingly positive camber when you corner, and again you'll skid out. A stock car will outhandle a car on cutties any day. Just like noone deliberately mods their engine to make less power and torque, I find it hard to beleive that anyone who bothers to do some reading would do the same to their suspension. Yeah, you could argue that those guys + speed + lack of skill + possible alcohol were a guarantee for the coroner. But quite possibly they might have made it around that corner if they weren't riding a deathtrap.

If you've got shortened shocks, I'd be interested to know how much bump and droop travel you've got left.

They're legal if they're captive at full droop. Legal doesn't mean they're not potentially lethal. If you f$&@k up your car's handling and wrap yourself around a pole, legal or otherwise you're still dead. Cut ties are a bad idea, pure and simple, unless you're a suspension engineer with a suspension engineer's workshop. Either you don't know the difference between legal and lethal, or else your priorities differ from people with a bit more common sense. Tell me, if you read in the Herald tomorrow that someone from ClubSub was found dead around a tree because their car left the road on cutties would you feel bad? Guilty? Remorseful? Personally, I'm guessing you wouldn't go back and edit your post above....

Don't see how they can argue it, as they've admitted fault already by siphoning out your car and refilling it with the right stuff.

Sure they're HIDs, or just normal projector clusters?