Group N motor/tranny mounts and other bushings

Car Whore

Car Whore

New member
Has anyone upgraded to these? I'm hearing these are a great upgrade.Someone said not to bother with the pitch rod as they didn't notice a difference,but it's only $40 and if I was doing the others anyways...?

My suspension is STOCK,so I'm starting from scratch here.Here is my list-

05 WRX sedan

Sti/Prodrive/H&R springs

STi Group N strut mounts

Sti Group N motor mounts

Sti Group N tranny mount

Sti Group N pitch rod "dogbone"

Whiteline/Kartboy rear diff bushings

STi rear sway bar (w/upgraded endlinks?)

17x7.5 wheels/225/45/17 tires

I just want a nice ride/handling balance,and for as little drivetrain movement as possible for efficient power transfer..without being unbearable for a daily driver.Anything you think I could leave out,or should add?

 
Evan

Evan

Active member
looks good.

fyi, the STi pitch rod is the same as the early impreza one, like the one that was on my '93.

the motor mounts will probably do the most for you. you may notice a little more engine noise and vibration in the cabon though.

you're doin chromes right?

 
mikebike357

mikebike357

New member
Skip the pitch rod and go for the motor mounts. I've also heard from some that the KB Rear Diff bushings pass a lot of noise into teh cabin too. One guy actually took 'em out because he couldn't take it. To each their own, but something to consider. I'm not sure how the steering rack busings are on the 05's, but you might want to consider the whiteline steering rack bushings too.

You gonna go with the STi pink rear sway bar or the black 20mm one?

 
S

soposube

New member
Matt,

I know your all about going w/oem upgrades but what about getting an adjustable sway bar?(or is the sti bar adjustable?) I've heard some say that its a nice option to have, especially in the winter so your back end isn't always try to swing around on you.

 
Runnah

Runnah

New member
Gah I can't imagine replacing all those parts!!!

That sounds like a good solid weekend right there.

 
R

Rightseat

New member
hate to be a wet blanket, but you are headed down a road of uncertain return

you're on track to take a perfectly nice well tuned road car and turn it into a loud, bouncy, half-baked tarmac rally/autox car

most of the mods you're talking about will significantly increase the road noise. they will have a definite overall effect on how the car rides and handles, but you may well not like the treadeoff in road noise and bouncy rough ride. with Gp N bushings, stiff Prodrive suspension and those 17s, you will crash over potholes like your RS was a skateboard. with such stiff bushings, precise alignment becomes super critical. if you don't get and keep the alignment just right, the car will drive worse than it did sotck, and wander all over every ridge and ripple in the pavement. it'll be so stiff that railroad crossings will sound like you're driving over large logs. etc etc

your list of mods will help make the car handle more predictably at the limit, but seriously...how often are you driving the car there? how much have you worked at making YOURSELF into a better driver to exploit the already considerable potential of the stock (or more mildly modded) car???!!

if this is a second car for you, it's probly OK to go so far down the mods list...but if you have family or a long commute, you might want to think twice about so much work on the car.

trust me, your wife or g/f is gonna hate it...found out the hard way about this. if you want a race car, get a race car. if you want to spunk up your daily ride, then realize that if some mods are good, more are not necessarily better.

DG

 
Car Whore

Car Whore

New member
hate to be a wet blanket, but you are headed down a road of uncertain return

you're on track to take a perfectly nice well tuned road car and turn it into a loud, bouncy, half-baked tarmac rally/autox car

most of the mods you're talking about will significantly increase the road noise. they will have a definite overall effect on how the car rides and handles, but you may well not like the treadeoff in road noise and bouncy rough ride. with Gp N bushings, stiff Prodrive suspension and those 17s, you will crash over potholes like your RS was a skateboard. with such stiff bushings, precise alignment becomes super critical. if you don't get and keep the alignment just right, the car will drive worse than it did sotck, and wander all over every ridge and ripple in the pavement. it'll be so stiff that railroad crossings will sound like you're driving over large logs. etc etc

your list of mods will help make the car handle more predictably at the limit, but seriously...how often are you driving the car there? how much have you worked at making YOURSELF into a better driver to exploit the already considerable potential of the stock (or more mildly modded) car???!!

if this is a second car for you, it's probly OK to go so far down the mods list...but if you have family or a long commute, you might want to think twice about so much work on the car.

trust me, your wife or g/f is gonna hate it...found out the hard way about this. if you want a race car, get a race car. if you want to spunk up your daily ride, then realize that if some mods are good, more are not necessarily better.

DG
Click to expand...
Thank you for saying this,because that's what I needed to hear.There is nothing SIGNIFICANTLY wrong with my car the way it is,and for the most part I like the way it drives.I don't want to ruin it by making it TOO stiff.Maybe I should go back to keeping it simple with just springs/sway bar? The motor and tranny mounts intrigue me,though,as long as they don't introduce too much noise.I've read a few threads on NASIOC about them,and people have said that they are noisy at first,but once they are broken in they quiet down.....? Is that just people getting used to the new noise,or could that happen? They say the tranny mount makes shifting feel very solid,and the motor mounts make power transfer smooth and immediate.I like the sound of all of that,so long as my car won't crash around like a rally car! I realize that I do drive fairly hard maybe half of the time,and normally the other half.I would just like to be able to take the car to a track day or something this year and have it be set up pretty well without going overboard.

Leave out the strut mounts and diff bushings?

Do the motor/tranny mounts,springs,wheels/tires,and rear sway bar?

Forget the mounts,do the rest?

 
R

Rightseat

New member
Do the springs and rear sway bar for starters--they'll wake up the car's handling nicely without making it a racer wannabe. try not to lower car more than 3/4 or 1 inch tho--, there's expensive stuff down under there you don't want to crunch. also do not go for super stiff springs (more than about 30% stiffer than stock) without a corresponding strut upgrade to handle the increased spring rates.

But the #1 simplest and most cost effective performance upgrade is better tires. Keep your 16s, tho--the 205/55 size is a carefully designed tradeoff between decent turning response and reasonable ride quality. the 225/40-17s are basically just rim protectors, and they don't even do a very good job at that. easy to taco a rim with low-profile tires. you are also likely to have rubbing issues with those fat 17s. Look for something like Pirelli P Zero Nero all season for all around (but not serious winter) use--they give great handling and have a nice open tread for wet tarmac and light-duty gravel fun. I bought Yokohama ES100s--nice sticky dry-tarmac gumballs but def louder than I like and kind of sketchy in the wet.

one correction to my earlier post, tho--forget the alignment issues I was referring to...that's based on doing Group N suspension bushings in addition to the other stuff you were listing..my bad, you weren't talking about putting them on your RS.

DG

 
Car Whore

Car Whore

New member
I have a WRX,actually. ;D

I know about the ES100s...I had them on both my 99 Civic and my 96 Miata.They worked well on the Civic,but the Miata was way too rough.They definitely were too greasy in the wet.I liked the dry grip a lot,but they tramlined way too much for my comfort on the Miata.

Thanks for the advice.I'm still torn on getting 17x7.5 wheels.I'll try the springs and sway bar first.

 
Car Whore

Car Whore

New member
trust me, your wife or g/f is gonna hate it...found out the hard way about this.
Click to expand...

x 2

Keep the wife or g/f happy...
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heh.....well, if you consider...

no, no i'm not even going to say anything....

heh.....
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So I don't have a girlfriend anymore!!!! There!!! :
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You probably don't either now!!!!
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They're expensive,what can I say?

 
Car Whore

Car Whore

New member
Matt,

I know your all about going w/oem upgrades but what about getting an adjustable sway bar?(or is the sti bar adjustable?) I've heard some say that its a nice option to have, especially in the winter so your back end isn't always try to swing around on you.
Click to expand...
I might go with that.They aren't much more than the STi bar,really.It's just a piece of painted metal anyways.

 
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