King Springs to H&R

[Nizmatik]

Hi team,

Fellow NZ'er here, Kiwi

I own a 2006 Subaru Legacy (aka 'Liberty' for Australians) 2.0R - Non turbo and recently installed some King Springs for lowered suspension. The drop was approximately 30mm-35mm and car seems to sit at a reasonable height but I'm planning on going slightly lower. My first choice was to install a Tein kit however on the day there wasn't any stock, so I decided to go with the King set (rather impuslive buy). At present I'm finding the ride a little too 'bouncy' for my liking and did a bit of research and found H&R to be a respected spring but slightly more expensive.

Would the H&R kit be a significant improvement to the King spring kit? Are they known to provide a better ride (firmer and not bouncy) as opposed to how I find the Kings at the moment? I've been told the H&R kit may not lower the car alot, however I believe there are different kits I can select from - I'm looking for maybe a 40mm to 45mm drop.

What would your advice be on this, I will have to save up again for this and kind of regret buying the Kings

Your help will be much appreciated, first post and seen some awesome rides on here.

[Arith]

Honestly, if you're planning to go lower I can only recommend coilovers. Not only can you adjust it to the height you want it, but the shocks are better matched with the springs. You'll have a controlled, yet still tolerable ride. Otherwise whatever springs you throw in at such a lowered height will have you bouncing around regardless, to the point where it's just dangerous.

[Hotwire]

How many kms has your car done before getting the springs?
I'm thinking that if the car has in excess of 70,000kms then your dampers/shocks are more than likely worn and not coping with the firmer spring rate, thus the pogo stick effect. No other spring is going to change this, as it is a problem of the shock is not damping the oscillations caused by a firmer spring (of any brand).

I tend to agree with Arith here that for the height you are looking for (40mm drop) coilovers are the best option. Or for slightly less drop (30mm drop), go a shock/spring combo like Tek has done here:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6735&hilit=+loco%2A

[teK--]

^^^ What he said and what the other he said.

The best springs in the world aren't going to fix the bouncy feeling if it's due to inadequate dampers (either they are worn out or they were never adequate in the first place).

Coilovers will give you the flexibility of height if that is what you need however you should be aware of the caveats of running coilovers as well. Less service life than a comparable price range strut/spring setup, more care needed to set them up properly, and a lot of the time the adjustment dials are not accurate which can lead to different damping rates at each corner of your car.

Also unless you want only cosmetic lowering at any cost you will need to fit other gear too to fix up the alignment and geometry if you go much lower than 30mm.

[Nizmatik]

Hi all,

Thanks for the great advice, the information given has opened up my eyes to what I thought was a simple modification, lol.

How many kms has your car done before getting the springs?
I'm thinking that if the car has in excess of 70,000kms then your dampers/shocks are more than likely worn and not coping with the firmer spring rate, thus the pogo stick effect. No other spring is going to change this, as it is a problem of the shock is not damping the oscillations caused by a firmer spring (of any brand).

My car has done approximately 97,000km. I travel quite alot so I've nearly done 100,000km since 2006 (September) when I first purchased the car (brand new). I guess this is why comfortability is important for me, and the 'bouncy' effect is not so nice at the moment. I'm actually thinking of uninstalling the Kings and going back to my stock springs until I find a better solution.

The intention for the lowering setup was done mainly for 2 things, better handling and cosmetic enhancements. The 30mm drop is actually enough, but I would've liked the wheel 'arch gap' to be filled in a bit more. Definately not planning on going too low as I prefer not to bottom out too often!

I did some research on coilovers, don't know too much about them but they are alot more expensive then what I thought. Is there any recommendation of what I should consider for my vehicle? For example brand, model etc. If I'm able to find them here in NZ, I will probabaly consider them. And yes, cost will be consideration. I'm hoping to get the best price/performance solution. Let me know what your thoughts are and again thanks for everyone's advice so far

[teK--]

Firstly, what is your budget?

[Nizmatik]

Firstly, what is your budget?

Hi teK,

I was thinking in between $1000 to $1500? Weather this be installed, I can always figure that out later.

[teK--]

$1500 will barely buy you a decent set of entry level coilovers, not including fitment (BC racing or similar).

It won't get you a decent set of new springs and dampers unless you buy second hand, in which case keep an eye out for second hand Bilsteins and STi pink springs or similar they regulary go for around $600-$800 for a full set in good condition.

There aren't many options in terms of sports dampers for our cars, except for Bilstein or Koni and both are 1500+ just for the dampers excluding springs or fitment.

[Nizmatik]

$1500 will barely buy you a decent set of entry level coilovers, not including fitment (BC racing or similar).

It won't get you a decent set of new springs and dampers unless you buy second hand, in which case keep an eye out for second hand Bilsteins and STi pink springs or similar they regulary go for around $600-$800 for a full set in good condition.

There aren't many options in terms of sports dampers for our cars, except for Bilstein or Koni and both are 1500+ just for the dampers excluding springs or fitment.

Hi teK,

Yeah I guess I was being a little too unrealistic about how much to spend lol. I'm sure I can save from 2K and up, will have to shop around I guess and hopefully come across something good. Any idea if BC Racing coilovers are any good?

[Hotwire]

Have a read of this review of BC versus Tein for a Legnum VR4 - similar size/weight vehicle to a Liberty:
http://ozvr4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5702&highlight=coil%2A
Personally, I think the BC's are fine for most street applications and you would be very happy with them. And they can be had for under your current budget of $1500

[drndrn]

I just had a set of BC BR's fitted to my lib last week, they're a nice bit of kit for the price. Ride is still firm, but controlled. Still trying to fiddle with the damper settings to get it to my liking but so far so good. They're a lot better than my previous set up, (S-techs with stock non-bilsteins). My old set up was very very firm and uncontrolled, jarred over big bumps and hopped along over small ones.

As the guys have previously said, if you want a big drop, go coilovers.

[Arith]

They're a lot better than my previous set up (S-techs with stock non-bilsteins). My old set up was very very firm and uncontrolled, jarred over big bumps and hopped along over small ones.

Sorry to get off topic, but did you end up ordering and installing the S.Techs meant to be paired with the Bilsteins? Because when I had the S.Tech/Bilstein, the ride was very comfortable, controlled, and settled. So much better than the previous STi/Bilstein setup.

Just wanted to clarify because I don't want people to think S.Techs are bad springs just because they weren't paired with the appropriate dampers.

[drndrn]

lol Jim. Nah mine weren't the special PHAT edition ones. I'm sure they are great springs, just not paired with the non-bilstein struts! haha.

[Nizmatik]

Thanks guys for the input,

Well I will continue to hunt around for a good (and also well priced) set of coilovers. I consider my car as more of a cruiser so just looking for something that will suit a daily driver. I still currently have my stock 17" subie mags installed, so I'm hoping in the near future to put on some aftermarket rims. I had 4 people in my car last night and was already 'bottoming out' on some speed humps, so I don't think I'll be adjusting the height much lower then what it's currently set at (but maybe just a tiny bit more lol). Can only think the springs are rather soft, and the coilovers won't sag as much as springs do when people get in? Will see how things go.

A friend of mine has a set of KSport coilovers installed in his BMW, they seemed ok in terms of comfort? Something I find tolerable when we were cruising around last night - but KSport doesn't seem to be a well regarded set of coilovers? I know Subie Boy has them installed and from what I read he seems to be happy with them. But I think he said that sometime last year so unsure how things have been going for him since then. Finding them pretty cheap around here, can pick up a set for about $1300 or so, plus will need to add further cost for installation etc. Will consider this as an option, BC is also on the list but will hunt around and do more research.

[teK--]

Your spring rate has as much to do as ride height, when your suspension bottoms out under heavy loads.

Ksport are crap.