FWD with AGX

[SubaruCO]

Allright…for better or worse here’s the story. I don’t know if there is anybody else out here who has done this setup (probably are) but I just finished working out the bugs and thought if there was anybody else interested in the process they might learn something from my struggles. First let me say that unless your interested in adjusting the damping rates on the struts, just get the GR2’s and springs and call it good. However, if you like projects, wrenching and learning new techniques like bodywork (yes this mod involved extensive bodywork, and yes I learned it on this project) then you might have fun.

First I’ll run through what the finished product uses as ingredients (labor and busted knuckles sold separately). To keep prices in check the only thing I bought brand new were the struts and the tires so as to prices YMMV.

1. KYB AGX adjustable struts for all-wheel drive Legacy
2. H&R sport springs
3. Whiteline ALK (not really part of project but installed at the same time)
4. H&R Track+ wheel spacers (25 mm front and rear)
5. Stock Leg Turbo wheels 15”
6. 205/55/15 front tires and 195/55/15 rears

All of the modifications to the car were done in the rear. The front pieces bolt together with no issues and work great. The rear was another story entirely. The AGX struts were made to fit the AWD hub so the mounting point is different. The first issue is a slight clearance needs to me made in the bottom of the mounting flanges on the strut. Grinding and smoothing out about a ¼” will allow the clevis bolts to slide home. Of course this means that the bottom spring perch on the strut sits closer to the hub which creates tire clearance problems. You will need some degree of spacing to move the tire away from the strut (I’m guessing that 15mm is about minimum, though I got my 25’s for free so that’s what I went with). The overall wheel and tire diameter is then the next issue. My wheel/tire clears the lower spring perch by about ½” but if there are camber concerns for racing then adjust accordingly as this will tip the tire closer to the perch. Now of course everyone’s asking “Your effectively running what kinda backspacing on your wheels? I’m sure this going to rub like a mofo!” The answer is yes it does rub, but not as much as you might think. The front wheels are good and have yet to rub under any circumstances regardless of weight or highly illegal speeds on twisty roads. The rears again require serious work. You cannot drive it without this modification or really bad things will happed to the tires. All I can say is that the bodywork was a pain. It requires a lot of patience, good skill with a welder and metal work (please don’t use bondo here, as you’ll give us all a bad name). I won’t go into details since this work was art not science. Suffice it to say that it took about 25 hrs., 36 tiny squares of 22 gauge sheet steel, about 500 weld beads and careful shaping and finish work. Now, my job won’t pass as pro street-rod carpet queen work but it is strong, well finished and looks factory.

Now the important part, handling. Aside from the above I have swaybar endlinks and a few strategic custom made (I did them) poly bushings. The ride can best be described as really flat (courtesy of the spring rate, endlinks and 2” track increase) and a bit harsh. I drove the 350z and the new RX-8 the other day and they managed good handling with a very nice ride. Of course they spent millions developing their suspension. As long as the road is smooth (damn Colorado potholes) the car just rips. I’m going to get my car to the track soon so I can find the limits and see what all my meddling accomplished. All in all I’ve sort of gone the cheap route of obtaining the coil over solution (without ride height adj) and am so far pretty happy with the results. Well, that’s about it but I’d love to answer questions or entertain “Gee, you’re not the smartest cookie I’ve ever met” comments.

[Brat4by4]

Pictures!

[Legacy777]

Yeah.....I pretty much knew why the rears wouldn't work, and knew I didn't want to get myself into that mess. I'd sooner do an AWD swap and use the right struts for the right hub

How's your ride height in the rear. I would think the rear would be sagging slightly.

[ciper]

Why not just get AWD hubs and such, and use only the outer portion of the axle?

[Legacy777]

I had thought about that, but I'm not sure if that would work with the bearings and all that.......however I'm not sure. If that would work, it'd be a relatively simple fix.

I don't have enough knowledge of the hubs to know whether it would work.

[Grant]

Since people have done AWD conversions on FWD cars I would think it would be changable.

[Legacy777]

it's changable, however I don't know how the hub is setup. With a FWD car you have spindle that bolts to the lower control arms and the strut. This then has a shaft that the bearings and everything else rides on and is secured with that big wheel nut.

On the AWD cars it's a similar setup except that big nut attaches directly to the CV axle. I don't know how you would rig something up to use just an outer portion of the axle......or if it would cause any weird problems.

[SubaruCO]

I did think about pulling a set of rear AWD hubs, but ended up getting stuck in this mess. I suppose it would be possible to do this in the future if I wanted to. The ride height looks normal now with the redone rear fenders and the whole car sits flat with respect to rake, and I still kept the travel in the rear suspension. I’d love to get some pictures, but a camera is a purchase I just keep putting off till next month (hell, I even have a place to host them. I promise you'll see pics someday soon. I'm not going anywhere and I'll be keeping the Leg for awhile). Oh well, what’s done is done, right?

A bit OT, but my philosophy for this car is: “learning project”. I know all the intellectual Subaru tidbits, technical details and racing theories (I have all of Carroll Smith’s books) but I need to get my hands dirty and build a car up. I’m doing this one for cheap, because let’s face it, when I do eventually go rallying a FWD NA Legacy w/ 150k on the clock is probably not the best place to start. The lessons I do learn here like metalwork, engine rebuilding, chassis welding, roll cage design etc. will serve me well when I do eventually drop the big bucks to do it right. For example, when someone says, “I don’t think those DMS 55mm rally struts fit your particular GC8 application.” I’ll respond, “Well, let me see the dimensions and I’ll make ‘em work.” Then later when I take an off on a stage and bash my door in, I can confidently go home, cut, re-weld and rework the chassis so I won’t miss tossing the Scooby in the weeds the next time around!

Grant – Looks like you want to go Group 2? Any plans yet. Some of my biggest concerns were the lack of decent limited slips for the FWD legacy, and the fact that with 4 valves per cylinder your adjusted displacement with a 2.2L motor is 2640cc. This puts you in the Group 5 class. I could be mistaken with all this, but it might be worth a look. If you could get into G2 then with a few low cost mods (and a bit of driving talent) I think a FWD Scooby could be competitive.

[evolutionmovement]

So did you just exaggerate the standard muted box flares? I always felt they should have pulled them out just a little more. I was thinking of that as a dream project on mine.

Steve

[Grant]

Yeah it will be Group 5 initially for rallycross events and any Club events I do. My plan is to build the safety and suspension and leave drivetrain and engine pretty much alone and race it in rallycross G5 and in the Colorado Hill CLimb Associations 6 events next year. They split into FWD and AWD. I'm basically in it for the driving experience though and to get myself out of Seed 8 possibly. Then I want to do a drivetrain and engine swap next winter after I'm out of college and build it into an Open car and start racing in some of the Club Rally events until I hit the powerball # and build a Subaru WRC car. Are you going to the rally cross this weekend out at Watkins? www.coloradorally.org has info. It should be fun. Also CHCA is www.chcaracing.com

[mTk]

My coilovers (GAB Revolution II) are based off of the agx struts. The fronts fit fine with no issues at all, the rears did have a few issues.

with the coilovers set at their highest position, the rear was lowered exactly the amount i was looking for... but the camber was waaay to negative and was eating up my tires. The outer fender in the rear also tore into the sidewalls of the tires on both sides during turns, but that was easily corrected by rolling them with a piece of PVC pipe. I ended fixing the camber issues with adjustable rear control arms, which also allowed me to put on a rear swaybar. Tires are 205/45/17

MK

[Legacy777]

just get a disposal camera and get digital prints during development.