legacycentral bbs

I am fairly new to my Legacy but am setting it up for Rallycross. The suspension info is a little confusing as some people are setting up for Rally, some for autocross, some for the street.

So I have a 90 legacy ls AWD n/a 2.2. I am thinking I want to be legal in the Prepared all wheel drive PA class.

The rules say:

2. Any sway bars and their mounting may be used or removed
7. Front and/or rear strut tower bars are permitted.
8. Any dampers may be used but the damper must mount to the original
mounting position using unmodified mounting points. Springs may also be
replaced, but they must be of the same type and use original mounting
points. Threaded collars and camber plates are allowed.

So I may be wrong but pretty sure a coil over setup is out but probably more than I want to spend anyhow.

Not sure if the sti setup is legal or not?


So recommendation from any other Rallycrossers????

I believe it also states somewhere that non-adjustable shocks may not be replaced with adjustable.
The STi's are a good way to go as they have the large diameter inverted bodies. There is a company in CA (Feel suspension) that'll re-valve them to your specs.
Combine with stock springs, disconnect front swaybar (and/or replace rear with SS/TW), and go dominate!

I'd suggest keeping the front anti-sway bar, and just upgrade the rear, if you can.

would regular Impreza WRX struts work good also or are the sti struts completely different?

So a larger sway bar in the rear sounds like it would be in order?

How about strut braces?

atvtrailrider wrote:would regular Impreza WRX struts work good also or are the sti struts completely different?

So a larger sway bar in the rear sounds like it would be in order?

How about strut braces?

STi struts are inverted and have a large body diameter making them significantly stronger. Keep in mind though, only '04 MY will bolt on without modification.
Anything that will stiffen the chassis can't hurt, including strut braces. Check on class legality, though.

Legacy777 wrote:I'd suggest keeping the front anti-sway bar, and just upgrade the rear, if you can.

There is an ongoing debate about this very topic on DI. I think the current consensus is, it depends. If the course is fairly smooth and flat, its better to run a FSB. If the course is rough or particularly bumpy, people have had success disconnecting the front to let the suspension work better independently. Personally I'm too lazy to crawl under my car to disconnect it, so I can't comment on the difference.

Well I have started. This week I installed 2004 STI struts with the stock Legacy springs on the front. Front ride height is now almost 1 inch higher than before. Does anyone have ground to fender measurements on a stock Legacy? I am thinking that my Legacy was sagged to start with given the front struts were already blown.

What an amazing difference. The car is very firm but not harsh. I went for a test drive on some dirt roads and really like it. We will see next month how it is on the Rallyx course. But before then I have some 15" snow tires to mount.

And yes I removed the inserts and repacked them with grease before installing.

When is your first rallycross?

May 14th

Here are some scans of the various wheel arch heights.

http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... s_1990.jpg
http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... 2-1993.jpg
http://main.experiencetherave.com/subar ... s_1994.jpg

Thanks Josh. Right now mine is measuring 16 inches in the front at 14.065 in the rear. So it seems I am sitting about 1/2" higher than stock in the front withe 04 STI struts and stock springs. I haven't done the rear yet.

The perches on all '02-'04 WRX struts is a little higher than earlier struts (I think). You could measure the distance between the perch and the lower mount and compare the two.

You could also use Fwd struts as we found out they are just a bit taller.

Well I don't think I actually want it any taller. I was surprised that it was taller. I expected it to be about the same height as stock.

'05+ WRX springs would drop it just about an inch and give you a bit more spring rate.

beatersubi wrote:

atvtrailrider wrote: There is an ongoing debate about this very topic on DI. I think the current consensus is, it depends. If the course is fairly smooth and flat, its better to run a FSB. If the course is rough or particularly bumpy, people have had success disconnecting the front to let the suspension work better independently. Personally I'm too lazy to crawl under my car to disconnect it, so I can't comment on the difference.

I have the same setup, STi struts with stock springs, and it works great. I've tested over two seasons with and without the front anti-sway bar connected, and with the bar disconnected the back end is *really* loose. Its great for tight turns, BUT is hell on the slalom or even just braking. If you lift, even just a little, or brake in something other than a perfectly straight line and the back end steps out dramatically. I've driven lots of rallycross cars, and its the loosest in the back by far. Hell, now that I've removed practically all the interior, and with the front bar connected its still the loosest car on the field.

I haven't done any tests to measure, but the theory is with the bar disconnected the car gets looser because the front is gripping more, thus the back is gripping less.

czei,

Do you have them in the rear also? I am planning on doing the rear soon also.

How about a bigger swaybar in the rear? I have heard that helps

I sure like the front sti struts with stock springs. I had second fast time in the afternoon sesion at the last Rallycross.

Czei, thanks for the great input. Have you tried running with both disconnected?