Best springs for 3.0RB - Tein S Tech or Eibach?

[GTbee]

The choice has been made

[GTbee]

An update to this thread....

I just have had the following installed:

Tein S-Techs from
Cusco front and rear braces
Cusco front and rear sways
Metal LCA bushes
(all above from Phat)
New Bilsteins front and rear from Wheelpower, as some of mine were apparently shot, even though car has only done 45,XXXkm

Now I haven't had a chance to test handling etc as I was only driving home in heavy traffic at slowing speeds etc but car feels more stable and positive. I'm sure when I take it for a spin in the coming weekends it will be very good.
However.....I am (so far) not happy for two reasons:

1) The drop seems more than I expected. The front isn't too bad but with the rear I can only just fit my fingers between the lip of the guard and the top of the wheel. Is this normal for the S-Techs? When I first say the car after the suspension work was done I thought there was a dead body in the boot. And going by other posts it would be expected that the springs will settle over time which means the drop will be further increased. Which leads me to....... 2)

2) The harsh ride. I wasn't driving on a goat track - just on typical Sydney roads with those concrete sections with joints in between. Before, the ride wasn't that fantastic except on the crappier roads but I reckon even with the increased NVH expected from the upgraded LCA bushes, the ride is probably 30% worse than before. If the Teins are supposed to be one of the better after market springs then imagine how shitful the cheap stuff like Kings etc would be. Honestly I am now thinking of changing to Eibachs if I know they would be an improvement as there is some suggestion they are more progressive with a lesser ride drop. But I just spent a crap load on all the parts and the labour and I would really went to be certain if I made any further substitutions that they would work. I'm wondering how the new Bilsteins from Wheelpower are contributing to the harsh ride. Do new shocks need time to "bed in" to dampen shocks more effectively? If so, then maybe that is the source of the harsh ride I am presently experiencing..?

[Kekotic]

1) There are probably hundreds of pics of peoples cars with S-techs on these forums, so if you didn't want it lowered that much you shouldn't have bought lowering springs!

2) I agree with the S-techs being too harsh, I'll be changing to coilovers in the new year. You should have just bought some coilovers instead as a lot of them are actually softer (especially the adjustable ones), seeing as you went and purchased new billies

[GTbee]

1) There are probably hundreds of pics of peoples cars with S-techs on these forums, so if you didn't want it lowered that much you shouldn't have bought lowering springs!

2) I agree with the S-techs being too harsh, I'll be changing to coilovers in the new year. You should have just bought some coilovers instead as a lot of them are actually softer (especially the adjustable ones), seeing as you went and purchased new billies

From the photos others have posted of their cars with the S-Techs didn't look that low. To be honest if the ride was better I could live with the lower ride height as whilst it is lower than expected it is not stupidly low.

I didn't get coilovers because decent ones are very expensive, because I had just purchased new Teins which I expected to be half decent given so many here have them very pricey, because I knew I could get the new Bilsteins cheaply if I needed them (which turned out to be the case), and because I didn't need to be able to endlessly adjust the car as I'm not going to track it etc.

Some people had the opinion that the S-Tech ride was similar to a stock WRX. I can't agree with this having experienced these springs now and having ridden in 3 different late model WRX's. The WRXs were far more comfortable. I found myself consciously trying to dodge every pothole and rut in the road on the drive home from the suspension installer.

I am going to see how the car goes for the next few weeks. Maybe the spings and shocks will settle. If not I will create a new thread regarding Eibachs and try to get as much feedback from others with this spring.

[stew07gt]

what psi have you got in your tyres? how much do you lay down in your seat? i discovered last week how much these two affected my ride 'feel' asuch.

i also put new billies in 2 weeks ago and mine have settled a bit, but ive got the king springs, and i find them fairly comfy

[GTbee]

I checked the tyre pressures soon after I came home. They were 30 PSI front and rear, a little lower than the pressure recommended on the door plate.

I was under the impression the Kings were harsh so maybe if my suspension settles like yours it will feel better if not more so. Let hope....

My seating position is average in terms of the backrest (I don't drive in a reclining position like habibs do ) except I do have the height low as I am 188cm.

[stew07gt]

hmm nope nothing odd there at all. i havent had a car with teins sorry. i think mark ( cruisin) has had both kings and teins, maybe he could shed some light, as i was looking at upgrading to the teins anyway, but this has got me thinking...

[Rome_BRZ]

Give it a bit of time to settle and you might find it's not as bad as you thought. I don't want to sound like I'm having a go at you or anything but it's a bit unrealistic to comment on the ride quality given the fact that you didn't just do the springs, you did handling mods as well by changing front and rear sways and the bushes, these mods are designed to keep your car rigid and firm and improve handling. Phat even says in his thread about the bushes that as they are aftermarket bushes you will feel more of the road through the steering wheel. When you turn what is supposed to be a luxury version of subaru into more of a drivers car you have to substitute some comfort I did rear sway bar, front h brace, front bushes and tein springs on the same day and my experience was the same as yours in terms of ride quality, but after a couple of days it settled a bit and I loved the ride and handling improvement but that's just my opinion

As for the ride drop, my teins have been in since April I think and my back wheel sits just on top of the back wheel which is the perfect drop imo. It looks perfect in a car park, sitting nice and low to the ground, makes me smile every time I see it!

Worst comes to worse if you end up changing your mind there are plenty of people who would be willing to buy your used parts!

[GTbee]

Thanks for your post. I'll give it some time and see how it goes.

I did notice this morning that the ride seemed to be slightly better than the previous day, probably because the new Wheelpower sourced shocks have had a chance to work after sitting in a box for say 4 years.

[fatfrog02]

To OP

Info taken from legacygt.com forum.
Eibach Prokit vs Tein S-tech springs

Eibach: Front drop 1.0in, spring rate 3-4kgf/mm
Rear drop 0.76in, spring rate 3-6kgf/mm

Tein: Front drop 1.5in, spring rate 4.2kgf/mm
Rear drop 1.5in, spring rate 6.0kgf/mm

If you want to know how much drop you got from standard, get a tape measure and measure the Centre of Wheel to Guard (CWTG). That is from the centre of the wheel hub to the lip guard.
Standard height is about 360-365mm.

[fatfrog02]

If you want to raise the rear of you car slightly, try these rear spacer shims.
http://www.paranoidfabrications.com/sho ... 2-07-hdpe/

3/8in is about 9.5mm, but I think you have to change the strut top studs for 3/8in and greater size spacer.
I used the 1/4in which is about 6mm.

[GTbee]

Here is my car, as it looked with the Teins



The front was not too bad...

..but the rear was too low. It looked lower than other Libs with the same springs.

There was no dead body in the boot when the pics were taken

I will post pics soon to show what it looks like now.