stilover

Was thinking about having the Prodrive spring kit fitted to my 05 STI uk.
Has anyone else had them fitted? and what are your thoughts? Does it improve handling enough to justify getting it fitted? Do they make the car too hard?
Was thinking of the front & rear strut braces aswell, but they seem a little pricy to me.

Your thought will be most appreciated

ru'

Not much help, but I'm having prodrive springs fitted on Monday (together with prodrive geometry, PPP and flaps).


Mine's an 05 WRX though, sorry!

Had to post 'cos I'm excited!

compshack

With the handling on the MY05 being near to perfect I don't really see the point. I had the full works done on my MY04 STi and it did make a differance but on the 05 I don't think you need to bother.

If anything I would change the wheels to Prodrive 18" mainly for the looks less for the handling.

Elmer Fudpucker

I have got the Prodrive spring kit,f+r strut braces and 18'' wheels fitted



The springs don't drop it as much as earlier models,but they certainly tighten up the drive alot,without making the car uncomfortably firm

Jon

WR 1mposter

iTrader: (1)

I've got them fitted along geometry(which dealer should adjust FOC)

F/R STI strut braces also 18"ppf7's
the whole package makes a difference
but whether it will make the 05 any better
i dont know?
did you know Eibach make the springkit for
Prodrive ? a rumour i heard but it's a lot cheaper to!

mid_life_crisis

I have an 05 STi with the Prodrive springs, do it is my advise but the ride on standard RE070 tyres is fairly firm. 18” wheel / tyre upgrade brings profound improvements to ride and road manners, and you tend to go the direction you intended in the wet

corradoboy

The general consensus has always been that the Prodrive spring kit is an excellent upgrade, greatly improving handling with virtually no detrimental effect on the ride. Eibach do make the springs for Prodrive, but to a completely different spec, so the cheaper Eibachs will not get you as good handling. As for strut braces, I wouldn't bother. The new-age chassis is extremely rigid, and you would have to have significantly stiffened many other suspension components before you would feel any benefit from bracing. However, you could divert the money saved into uprating the rear anti-roll bar and droplinks. Most go for the 22mm adjustable Whiteline, which can be set to it's firmest level for standard springs, and softened off to suit firmer set-ups. The drop links help substantially too. Finally I'd recommend looking into lightweight racing alloys, which can make a big improvement handling. My personal faves are OZ Superlegerra, but there are some others of similar lightness.

stilover

Thanks for all your comment. Will now seriously think about it over the next few weeks (Bonus at the end of the month). Will probably go for it though, aswell as the 18" Alloys.
Have to agree with Mid Life, I'm not a fan of the RE070's. Have lost it in the wet, while on rear most setting on the DCCD. Have found the Michielin Pilot Sport 2's to be an excellent tyre, so will prob opt for them.
I must admit, I've never upgraded/modded a car before, but can't help myself thinking of things I want extra on my STi. The modding bug is starting to bite. Damit !!

mid_life_crisis

Out of interest I weighed the standard 17 x 8 + RE070 225/45/17 90W against my new Superleggera 18 x 8 + Zeta Linera 225/40/18 92W. The new combination is just on 3Kg per wheel / tyre lighter. That’s a lot is unsprung weight terms which I believe contributes greatly to the improvements in road manners and ride.

mid_life_crisis

IMHO DCCD-A is quite poor in the wet on the auto setting as it sends far too much power to the rear. Driving in Auto mode the 2005 STi acts like a high powered 2WD car, on the open road switching to manual and rolling the dial forward to the second orange makes the car handle and act like a 4WD car, in other words you can apply a fair bit of power coming out of a corner without the rear loosing the plot. In auto mode even if you brake the rear end away on purpose (under power) DCCD-A does not seem to react by diverting more power forward. I think DCCD-A is all about eliminating oversteer at almost any cost, which does tend to put excessive power to the rear much of the time.