STI springs for a Foresters

Hi everyone first post here.

I just got a straight 2.0l 2002 Forester based on the newer (SG?) shape.

At the moment it is factory height but I was wanting to lower it an inch or two. I have read that the best springs to use are from STI imprezza's?

I was it lower but not on the ground. This height would be nice: http://i543.photobucket.com/albums/gg467/jamieinauckland/Car/eastcoast.jpg

Is this true? Will they handle better than aftermarket ones purchased from somewhere like Repco?

There are a few floating around on trademe like http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=461145004

Would these be suitable?

Those Genome shocks have been on trade me for a really long time.

Get them checked before you buy them.

You cant quite compare aftermarket to oem replacements when they arent specific to your model but a) people have said they are an improvement over stock ride b) they do lower your car, with addition of camber bolts etc (depending on model and year of vehicle etc)

foresters, what ever you do, DO NOT put impreza springs on the forester strut. you will bugger them faster than... well yeah. damn quick.

spring + strut combo from an impreza is the way to go, will give you about a 3-4 inch drop.

get the impreza turbo wagon struts + springs + camber bolts.

if you use the sedan struts you won't need the camber bolts, but you will end up with the dreaded "saggy butt" where the rear of the car sits maybe an inch or 2 lower than the front, because of the extra weight.

v7sti ones are really nice, i'm running them with v3 sti wagon springs. its a stiff ride but when you get in to the twisties they are really good.

heres how mines sitting

Thanks for the advise - I will try and find a V7 STI wagon springs, struts and camber bolts - would it be advisable to get the sway bar from the impreza as well?

Any recommendations on where would be a reasonable place to pick them up? I've found a few places that wreck crashed sub's so I was going to try there during the week.

sti swaybar onto a forester is one of the best cheap mods to do imo. I felt a huge difference straight away, so much better through corners... Makes it a lot less like a boat and more like a car haha. That plus the sti struts and you'd be set pretty well i reckon

Sti v5 rear swaybar in mine, almost as much of a difference as changing the struts. Hoping to get hold of a front swaybar some stage soon too

Fozze, you thinking of increasing from the standard 19mm front?

What size you thinking? 23mm? That may cause an under steer situation again wouldn't it unless you increase the rear to match?

Cheers

It sure would... I'm aiming for a 21/24mm combo with solid endlinks eventually

So Waiuku Car Spares came back to me with a price of $900 for the kit - springs, struts, camber bolts and sway bar. (Not fitted just as parts)

It sounds pretty reasonable to me - but then I am no Subaru parts expert

My red struts cost me a set of tien struts and a set of gc8 struts ( about $200) re use your top hats. Autolign in mt wellington do camber bolts for about $130, strong for subaru did my rear sway bar for $70. Total coat, $400, plus a bit of grease to get the struts sliding nicely, and a bit of skin from my knuckles.

Red struts (late model inverted ones, v7/8 sti) had an issue with the lubricating grease. It'd dry out and start to clunk. Very simple fix, pull them apart, clean out the gunk, pour a butt load of new grease in and go for gold

Trademe is a good place to start looking, saw a set of sti struts sell there not so long ago for under $100. Granted, they needed re greasing but thats a piece of cake, just messy.

All up, you could tecnically do this for under 500 bux in parts, and if you dont know what you are doing, maybe an afternoon with your car up on blocks and a box lol. Sure there are plenty of us around keen to give any subbie fan a hand

Pappu is able to get a hold of v8 struts with sti springs within your budget if you're interested.