Ride comfort

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 4:24 pm

I've been driving a lot more here lately, and I've been wondering. Is there anything I can do to improve the comfort of the ride. Aside from the seats, which are comfortable but after a while its like ugh. I don't believe my schocks/struts/springs whatever have been changed since the car was new. Would newer items help? How comfortable are the gr-2's? Also what is the difference between a shock and a strut? I've also been wanting a lower profile. Are there a good set of springs that lower a bit but wont be too harsh on me bum?

Also, I'm fairly certain but ill ask anyway. Would new tires help that much. The ones I've got now aren't that far gone, but still pretty old. The left side has always been lower than the right. I don't know why but I have to top them off every so often. So would new tires help the comfort? What about wheels, If I went up to 16 or 17 with tires that made the combo about the size of stock would they be harder on me?

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 6:41 pm

if you want that soft, plush, comfortable ride, take out your replaced struts (no such thing as a shock on a legacy) and trade with me. My 90k mile worn out struts are just the soft, sway happy, butt-yummy ride you crave.

Intrax sells springs that lower you without increasing the spring rate.
A progressive spring/shock combo will absorb bums a bit more nicely while still gving you some handling prowess. I dont know of any progressive subaru setups offhand though.

all for show....

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Wed Oct 01, 2003 7:14 pm

I don't think I want worn struts, I'm pretty sure mine are worn enough. I'll check out intrax though.

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 2:33 am

I've got a set of shocks that are lifetime warranteed at les schwab. When I get my whitelines in, I'll send you my old shocks for the price of shipping, and you can take em in and get new ones if you like.

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 5:19 am

Are they stock or aftermarket? How do they feel?

LaureltheQueen · Post by **LaureltheQueen** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 11:07 pm

stock replacements. I dont know how they feel. Ever since I've been driving the car, they've been blown

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 11:39 pm

MAybe I'm saying this wrong. Or maybe I have a different opinion of what feels good to my ass

. I don't really want a hella hard suspension where you feel everybump, but at the same time I don't want hella soft and mushy where you don't feel anything until you hit highway speeds then all your car does is bounce. Is there anything out there that is stiff but not hard? Or am I just lookin in the wrong place for comfort and I should be focusing on upgrading the stock wheels? Does going to a lighter or heavier wheel do anything for the ride besides make it accell. faster or slower respectively?

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Fri Oct 03, 2003 11:40 pm

Also thank you for the offer laurel, though I'm undecided what to do.

evolutionmovement · Post by **evolutionmovement** » Sat Oct 04, 2003 12:20 am

The Gr2s are a great compromise. I can't tolerate too hard a suspension as the women hate it and I have to live with New England roads and occassional dirt abuse. They also handle very well, too. It's no Silver Cloud, but then it doesn't handle like one either. I highly recommend them for bang for the buck. I believe they're about 50-65 a piece.

Steve

scottzg · Post by **scottzg** » Sat Oct 04, 2003 5:16 am

ahh well

great handling and sublime comfort are mutually exclusive when dealing strictly with strut/spring/rim setups. To attain improved handling AND comfort, the suspension setup itself must be redesigned. To us, this equates to buying a new luxo car.

That said, any uprated shock (gr2, agx) spring (whiteline, H&R) or wheel (wrx rims, whatever) will reduce the plushness of your ride, but increase its handling prowess. The best thing to do would be to buy stock replacement struts, or play with your tire pressure. There are other alternatives, such as replacing your springs with base model impreza ones, but this will make your car handle like a steaming pile of poop and therefore i dont even want to think about them.

Basically, if the car is too harsh for you in stock spec, get a different car. An old legacy, (appologies to homeslice and prolly many others) is not a sexy auto that draws stares, nor is it a quiet, soft, squishy buick.

vrg3 · Post by **vrg3** » Sat Oct 04, 2003 2:48 pm

scottzg wrote:great handling and sublime comfort are mutually exclusive when dealing strictly with strut/spring/rim setups. To attain improved handling AND comfort, the suspension setup itself must be redesigned. To us, this equates to buying a new luxo car.

Well put. It was so weird for me to drive my dad's new Audi A6... I couldn't get the "body roll = bad contact patch" concept out of my head, since I've been used to driving McPherson strut Japanese cars.

123c · Post by **123c** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 4:01 am

How about Bilstien's? They will most likely give the softer, yet sporty ride. I know they have been the OE supplier for Mercedes-Benz for the last 30 years for this very reason...

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 6:46 am

They didn't have any on their site for the 90-94's only 95-99 outbacks and 00-03 wrx's

Dr Nick · Post by **Dr Nick** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:50 am

In any case, Bilsteins are often rock-hard in comparison to OE equipment.

You need to decide exactly where you want your ride/handling compromise to sit and then go and seek out a suspension specialist who can help.

Personally my Turbo is a great balance between comfort and handling. Anytime I think things are a bit hard then I remind myself that if it wasn't I'd struggle to get round some of the corners over here!

THAWA · Post by **THAWA** » Sun Oct 05, 2003 1:59 pm

Yeah i went riding around today and was riding in two different cars on the freeway, and for mine being at least 10 years older than one(truck) and 14 older than the other(SUV), with worn suspension I'm going to have to say my baby still feels nice. Maybe I just need to replace the old worn stuff, or maybe I should go to gr-2's. What to choose

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Ride comfort

Ride comfort