Small inital review. Keep in mind that this is after a day of driving.

Right now I have them set in the middle for dampning and rebound. With the factory suplied settings they do not realy lower the car at all. Allthough the front seems just a tad higher than the rear. Everthing fits great, you do however need to secure the front ABS sensor line with Zip-ties or some other way. Since it is for a rally car no provision is made for it.

I have Volk CE-28Ns in 17x8 +44 offset with 225s they just barely fit. The remote reservoir on the srut is real close. The spring perch is close too, I thing that I could only lower it maybe 20mm more (if that) or run the risk of rubbing the the inside of the tire.

The ride is incredible, even though the car is higher than with my JIC's It corners fantastic. I love back roads, that is where I do most of my driving. I have to say in this aplication the HG's kick the JIC's ***. I am betting at the track it might be a different story. Even though they are technicaly a dirt and gravel spec, it seems to be that on these paved curvy back roads they are in their element. Where I used to break traction and get tossed around, the car now grips and soaks up the bumps. I need to try out full soft and full hard next. Auto-x has yet to be tried as well. I'll update as I gather more info.

 

Are the struts inverted? And how much/ where did you get them?

 

No, they are not inverted. I got them from www.subarustore.com

 

stratos

are you at stock height now? and can you lower the car more? and if so how much lower than stock? also, what springs are you using?

thanks

josh

 

I am at about stock hight in front and slightly less rear. It could maybe be lowered about 1/2 more before you would run into the spring perch rubbing the tire (they use big stock type springs, so the perch is large). I am using the default springs that come with the set; 4.5kg front and 3.5kg rear.

 

yeah, quite honestly, a rally suspension is best for street and even track use. (tracks i've seen arent exactly the smoothest in the world) i dont see any reason why you would wanna lower a car with rally suspension though... but if that is a concern you can get shorter length springs.

BAN SUV's, if you didnt know, TEIN says inverted struts are no good for rally. I can ask the TEIN guy why next time we meet at a rallyX, but I am content with taking their word for it.

I wish I knew of subarustore.com before cuz I was looking for this suspension and all I found was info on the Japanese TEIN site and a price of $3000 with a long wait.

Anyways, congrats on a sweet suspension, now all you need are some 15" rims & gravel tires, then you can use this suspension for what it was intended.

 

Yeah, I am quite happy with it at Tein's recomended ride hight. It handles great and I have ground clearance to boot. No slowing for dips or speed bumps..hahaha they mean nothing now! I am looking in to getting some 15" , have to find some one that wants to trade for some 16" speedlines.

 

hey

i agree on the lowering. subarus generally handle better stock height to 1" lower, not any lower. the lowering springs (eibach comes to mind) with the adjustability of these struts (both height and rebound/compresion) woud be an awesome combo. i plan on living in the mountains, and raising the suspention in the winter has always been appealing, but stiff coilovers are not. this could be the set up i am looking for...

josh

 

I have a custom KYB/ Ground Control/ Eibach set-up and its great, however lacks the R&D and the resulting fine tuning of the TEIN HG, but I do ride at 2" over stock for daily driving and can take bumps and dips like a mad man. Not the best choice, but definitely the best choice at the time and for the money. Ride isnt bad, a lil rougher than stock. Makes a lil noise in back. Perches are stuck. But other than that it handles great on the street or in the dirt/mud/gravel/etc.

Only reason I see for lowering the car below stock is for corner balancing, or looks, or aerodynamics. I have noticed no great handling increase by simply lowering a car when you already have nice shocks and stiffer spring rates.