Member Profile - Shav *07 Liberty GT Premium*

[GONEWALKABOUT]

meh i have never really heard anything good about king springs. As far as i can see there primarily for the low look on a budget, they dont do much for performance. They are pretty popular amongst commadore owners.. so that should some them up

[shav]

meh i have never really heard anything good about king springs. As far as i can see there primarily for the low look on a budget, they dont do much for performance. They are pretty popular amongst commadore owners.. so that should some them up

haha, thats true. What other springs would fit bilsteins other than STi pinks? I'd really like Eibach's but not sure if they do them for billies???

[alexeiwoody]

meh i have never really heard anything good about king springs. As far as i can see there primarily for the low look on a budget, they dont do much for performance. They are pretty popular amongst commadore owners.. so that should some them up

They're popular because of their price. The quality of the ride is mostly down to the shocks and how they're programmed. Kings are fine in that regard.

Obviously the spring rates need to work together with the shock setup or you'll have a big mess regardless of which springs you use.

IIRC Coyote, whom I've never known to be wrong so far about anything Subaru related, recommends Kings and that's all I need to know.

[shav]

meh i have never really heard anything good about king springs. As far as i can see there primarily for the low look on a budget, they dont do much for performance. They are pretty popular amongst commadore owners.. so that should some them up

They're popular because of their price. The quality of the ride is mostly down to the shocks and how they're programmed. Kings are fine in that regard.

Obviously the spring rates need to work together with the shock setup or you'll have a big mess regardless of which springs you use.

IIRC Coyote, whom I've never known to be wrong so far about anything Subaru related, recommends Kings and that's all I need to know.

Interesting. Is Coyote still around? Would he recommend the Kings lows with Billies?

[alexeiwoody]

meh i have never really heard anything good about king springs. As far as i can see there primarily for the low look on a budget, they dont do much for performance. They are pretty popular amongst commadore owners.. so that should some them up

They're popular because of their price. The quality of the ride is mostly down to the shocks and how they're programmed. Kings are fine in that regard.

Obviously the spring rates need to work together with the shock setup or you'll have a big mess regardless of which springs you use.

IIRC Coyote, whom I've never known to be wrong so far about anything Subaru related, recommends Kings and that's all I need to know.

Interesting. Is Coyote still around? Would he recommend the Kings lows with Billies?

He recommended them to myself and others. I got custom made fancy springs similar to Eibach/H&R. If the shocks are setup badly, the ride sucks. I had different cheap springs in too - didn't change smoothness, just cornering.

The problem is...billies aren't that great stock. And if you're going to revalve them as Coyote, 3.0rbspec and myself have done - it's quite hard to get it perfect the first try. Revalving them twice places this option into the 2k zone, right in the decent coilover area.

If you're not worried about corners and can get a good price on the billies, could be the way to go. As always I reckon you should find someone with the setup and ask for a testdrive!

[shav]

He recommended them to myself and others. I got custom made fancy springs similar to Eibach/H&R. If the shocks are setup badly, the ride sucks. I had different cheap springs in too - didn't change smoothness, just cornering.

The problem is...billies aren't that great stock. And if you're going to revalve them as Coyote, 3.0rbspec and myself have done - it's quite hard to get it perfect the first try. Revalving them twice places this option into the 2k zone, right in the decent coilover area.

If you're not worried about corners and can get a good price on the billies, could be the way to go. As always I reckon you should find someone with the setup and ask for a testdrive!

thanks bloke. I am interested in better cornering than Im already getting. But not for track work so its relatively important but not THAT important, if you get my drift. Revalving is overkill for my needs, and yeah, if Im spending that sort of coin I may as well get some Shockworks coilovers. Im just looking for a noticeable improvement in the hills but it doesnt have to be race spec.

[bigBADbenny]

You'd hope that Heasmans, Fulcrum, Quadrant et al would keep these re-re-re valved billie codes yeah? I hope so...

According to 3.0rbspec the trick is to ask for "comfort" damping spec as their "sport" spec is ridiculously firm for street.

[KelvinTaylor88]

I may be a bit late on this one but maybe my experience can help a bit in deciding on new suspension.

I upgraded my springs to pinks on my spec b - I'm happy with the trade off between improved handling and greater stiffness but still decent comfort.
I did a lot of research before deciding on the pinks, reason being they are made for the billies and give good performance, suspension travel and decent stance.
The overall consensus seemed to be that if you want a more aggressive stance then swift springs and also H&R are a good way to go.
Honourable mention to Eibach springs but they sadly stopped making them for our cars, also phat's s-techs are a popular choice but they seemed a bit harsh from what I read.

Unfortunately I'm basing this off tons of reviews and forums posts as I've only driven the pinks, members like Cruisn have driven on multiple springs (he preferred iirc) so they might be a good source of info.

[shav]

I may be a bit late on this one but maybe my experience can help a bit in deciding on new suspension.

I upgraded my springs to pinks on my spec b - I'm happy with the trade off between improved handling and greater stiffness but still decent comfort.
I did a lot of research before deciding on the pinks, reason being they are made for the billies and give good performance, suspension travel and decent stance.
The overall consensus seemed to be that if you want a more aggressive stance then swift springs and also H&R are a good way to go.
Honourable mention to Eibach springs but they sadly stopped making them for our cars, also phat's s-techs are a popular choice but they seemed a bit harsh from what I read.

Unfortunately I'm basing this off tons of reviews and forums posts as I've only driven the pinks, members like Cruisn have driven on multiple springs (he preferred iirc) so they might be a good source of info.

Your not too late Kelvin, I haven't purchased anything just yet. Im still waiting for funds to free up as well as waiting till the last minute before I buy. Yes Eibach's would have been my first choice but due to them being discontinued, it squashed that idea. I have heard the STi pinks were a bit harsh in ride quality. I didn't necessarily want to make the ride quality any bumpier if I could avoid it. As for shocks, well Billies are an excellent choice but finding them for a price underneath say Koni adjustables is difficult. Im thinking if I cant buy brand new billies for less than Koni's I may as well go the Koni's and have some adjustable fun. Some say just go the coil overs but I know in SA, if caught with them, I get defected and I really cannot afford to have my car off the road for any length of time. I could weld the nut locked in position but that kind of defeats the purpose of coilovers. So a fixed shock/strut and selected spring choice is the way to go for me. I just want bang for buck as well as keeping as much ride quality as possible without sacrificing handling.

[bigBADbenny]

Add Epic Engineering to the H&R, Eibach and Swift list.
Plenty of info on LGT.
Tein or Bee R for moar lows iirc...
Postfl Sti pinks are a bit higher than prefl iirc

[KelvinTaylor88]

I may be a bit late on this one but maybe my experience can help a bit in deciding on new suspension.

I upgraded my springs to pinks on my spec b - I'm happy with the trade off between improved handling and greater stiffness but still decent comfort.
I did a lot of research before deciding on the pinks, reason being they are made for the billies and give good performance, suspension travel and decent stance.
The overall consensus seemed to be that if you want a more aggressive stance then swift springs and also H&R are a good way to go.
Honourable mention to Eibach springs but they sadly stopped making them for our cars, also phat's s-techs are a popular choice but they seemed a bit harsh from what I read.

Unfortunately I'm basing this off tons of reviews and forums posts as I've only driven the pinks, members like Cruisn have driven on multiple springs (he preferred iirc) so they might be a good source of info.

Your not too late Kelvin, I haven't purchased anything just yet. Im still waiting for funds to free up as well as waiting till the last minute before I buy. Yes Eibach's would have been my first choice but due to them being discontinued, it squashed that idea. I have heard the STi pinks were a bit harsh in ride quality. I didn't necessarily want to make the ride quality any bumpier if I could avoid it. As for shocks, well Billies are an excellent choice but finding them for a price underneath say Koni adjustables is difficult. Im thinking if I cant buy brand new billies for less than Koni's I may as well go the Koni's and have some adjustable fun. Some say just go the coil overs but I know in SA, if caught with them, I get defected and I really cannot afford to have my car off the road for any length of time. I could weld the nut locked in position but that kind of defeats the purpose of coilovers. So a fixed shock/strut and selected spring choice is the way to go for me. I just want bang for buck as well as keeping as much ride quality as possible without sacrificing handling.

Ah sorry forgot you didn't have the billies already.
The STI pinks aren't too harsh imo, I actually find the driving experience is nicer but that's because the car feels a lot more planted and handles flatter, you do feel the bumps more. Obviously it's all subjective but the fact they aren't as big a drop means you have more suspension travel and a little more comfort.
I've heard good things about the koni adjustables, definitely could be a good option.
Ben's suggestion is a good one too, forgot about epic springs but they sound really nice and they have great reviews on LGT.
Seems like koni/billies with a nice progressive spring will suit your needs, just depends how low you want to go/how much ride comfort you want to sacrifice for choosing a spring.

[bigBADbenny]

Vogtland is another quality long shot option, another German OEM spring mfg

[shav]

Max drop of 1.5" to front and 1" to rear. No more than that.

Never heard of epic springs before. Will look into it.

[GONEWALKABOUT]

what about something bilstein orientated like the b6 struts?

[shav]

GONEWALKABOUT - Not sure what the B6 struts are, I'll have to look into it. It will come down to costs. If the price for Billies is anywhere near Koni adjustables, I'll go for the Koni's. For me to go Billies the price will need to be worth it. Also will be looking at new items not second hand suspension with for e.g.100,000km on it for me to rebuild later. Just dont want the hassle and dont have the time to fart about.



This isn't really an update, but more a plan of attack for my car for the future.

I know I have been procrastinating about suspension, wheels and god knows what else. So here is what I plan on doing so I can keep track of these intentions over the course of 12-24 months.

- Buying rear lip spoiler, new grille and eye lids DONE
- Getting grille, front lip spoiler, rear lip spoiler, front and rear bumpers resprayed as well as some marks on the bootlid and drivers front guard fixed & sprayed.
- Car engined serviced, trans cooler fitted, transmission service, CV boot clamps replaced, sway bar bushes replaced.
- exhaust mufflers to be readjusted to fit under the rear bumper better. (currently stick out too far for my liking, also may look into quad tips welded to mufflers in lieu of single)
- Suspension upgrades (Strut/lowered spring combination due to insurance reasons) brands yet to be determined.
- New wheels and tyres fitted. (Looking at getting 19's)
- paint brake calipers once new wheels are on.

Once the above is fully done, I will be looking at an upgraded TMIC & BOV, then getting it retuned. I will not be pushing the power beyond these mods. There will be no intention for me to change turbo unless the stock turbo gives out for some reason, then a VF52 could replace it. But that will be the limit. No E85 intentions either.

I think these will be the only things that will change. I will just drive the car and enjoy it.