Arnie

I think you need to reconsider the STi pinks as, AFAIK, they are not available for the Wagon. Assuming you want to use the Pinks (note that 02/03 and 04 are very different springs) for lowering, they will look like crap and not perform optimally. The rear springs are not designed for the wagon's extra weight so you will have the hanging butt aesthetic that many here complain about. Prodrive spings are about the only spring that can be used for both sedan and wagon and still have great performance and aesthetics. There is also the Eibach pro kit for the wagon. both these are only available so far for 02/03's I believe. These springs can be paired with the Koni inserts. Currently there is no AGX option for the wagons. Some are combining the GC8 fronts with WRX rear AGx's with decent results. Be careful about the use of Sedan specific struts on the wagon. due to the difference in front track, the sedan struts on a wagon will not allow you to get much negative camber. And that is something you will need for any performance driving.

Another option is the STi/SPT wagon kit for the 02/03's. Can also be used on the 04's with the proper hat. These are designed for the wagon and provide great handling, a decent but firm ride (depends a bit on your tastes, tires, hats and roads). But, nevertheless, a much better ride than just about any coilover.

For your needs a decent spring/strut combo will be best. I agree, coilovers will be way too much suspension for you. As Mike Shields used to say, there are more ways to get your suspension wrong! Getting an adjustable damper is plenty to mess with. Using a coilover to get an "aesthetic drop" rather than a "performance one" happens all the time. To each their own but these folks had better not come on this board and start spouting off about how well their slammed car handles. Anyway, back off my soapbox...TEIN also offers the Wagon Coilovers. They are a height only adjustable coilover, no damping adjustment. Folks like to think of them as a nicely paired spring and strut that happens to be height adjustable. They kind of have funky spring rates though, with a very soft rear a comparitively hard front.

A general warning about these Japanese race coilovers like JIC, TEIN, etc. They all have a pretty short stroke as is normal in a track situation. Even if you set your dampers to soft, they will still crash bang over big bumps. As an example, the new TEIN Flex's are really short. When the car is jacked up entirely, at full droop, the wheel to fender gap is about that of a stock suspension WRX...on the ground! I think these coilover have, at the most, about 1/2 the travel of a stock WRX suspension. Perhaps less. I personally can't stand them for a road going car. Give me lots of travel any day. You can still have lots of travel and a very controlled suspension if you get the right setup.

Anyway, sorry about the the verbal diarrhea...

What I recommend?

Prodrive Springs or the Eibach Pro Kit on Koni inserts (or AGX's GC8 front WRX rear, if you want to experiment)

STi/SPT suspension kit for the wagon

Christian

i bought my tein SS' for like $950 brand spankin new drop shipped.

<))><

and taking out the rear seat isnt too much of a problem it only takes like 5 minutes

escaflowne

iTrader: (6)

where?! that's a baller deal. i might be able to afford coils if i can find SSs for under 1K.

blue5spdwrxwgn

Coilovers lack sideload compensation in the spring and therefore result in considerable ride friction. Look at a strut/spring setup and notice that the spring is angled relative to the strut rod axis. This provides a sideload on the strut which counteracts much of the natural bending loads on the strut (due to the frontview offset between the strut axis and the wheelcenter plane).

Lowball

iTrader: (8)

https://www.i-club.com/forums/suspension-handling-brakes-195/hey-wagon-guys-newbie-needs-some-suspension-advice-58940/

Some good info here.

Lowball

adizon

iTrader: (25)

Sorry for the "sub thread"

Soren I have the same suspension set-up more or less (also have Helix rear bar with endlinks middle setting). Why do you have the front setting softer than the rear (3/4)? Do you use that setting on the street or track? Just curious about your take on the prodrive/AGX combo!

~g

MO REX

iTrader: (2)

I'm with Arnie on this one. Spend the extra $/time and go with some koni's rather than the KYB's.

If you really want the ability to adjust ride height and still maintain a fairly comfortable ride I would go with a Koni/GC setup with some D_REX spacers. Ground control uses Eibach racing springs and you can pick the rates and length you want. If this sounds good you need to do some research since there are some issues with travel if you don’t use the D_REX spacers.

I'm in the process of buying some GC coils and maybe camber/caster plates to install with my Koni's. I’ve had to do a lot of research to ensure I get exactly what I want but I think it will be worth the time spent in the long run.

BTW, don’t let Arnie's post count fool you (post counts don't mean ****). He is an extremely knowledgeable guy that has helped me and many others make good decisions on suspension setups. (I'm assuming Arnie is the same Arnie that posts over at nasioc)