'05 WRX "sway bars" vs. "end links"

How many miles are on it? My '99 Outback with 100k is noticably less stiff than when new. Maybe you just need new struts.

I am looking for a cheap and effective way to stiffen the body roll. I ran across something called "end links" that claim to replace the factory ones with steel or aluminum ones and that is supposed to make the car stiffer in the corners. Any opinions? Will any sway bar help, or should I look for a certain brand and/or size?

Thanks!

Mike

If you're still running the RE92s, try putting em up to 42/38 or so...I've got 16K on mine, much improved handling, and still showing most wear at edges. After every dealer visit, the wallowy ride drives me nuts till I air em up again!

Are these cold psi figures? Then that would be 45-46 psi in the front at speed. I thought the typical "do not exceed" pressure was 42 psi. Anyway, I set mine at 35 psi cold.

'03 WRX Sedan

I am looking for a cheap and effective way to stiffen the body roll. I ran across something called "end links" that claim to replace the factory ones with steel or aluminum ones and that is supposed to make the car stiffer in the corners. Any opinions? Will any sway bar help, or should I look for a certain brand and/or size?

Thanks!

Mike

Haven't checked em hot. Figures were for cold, as are the sidewall numbers, IIRC.

all max (sidewall) pressures are cold.

ken

mike,

endlinks connect the swaybars to the lower control arm (front end) and rear lateral link (rear). as the oem links are compliant rubber/plastic, replacing them with harder links makes the swaybars that are on the car take effect faster. some say that the effective swaybar increase is about 1mm. many people upgrade their endlinks and are satisfied at that. at $100 per set, for an investment of 200 bucks you can have quite improved lateral stability while cornering. i went with noltec front links and kartboy rear links. both are aluminum, with compliant bushings.

after doing endlinks, you may move on to upgrading the sway bars themselves. each costs about $140. they can make a drastic difference in the handling of the car. a large percentage of folks who upgrade only upgrade the rear bar, and stop there. i ended up with a cusco rear sway bar (adjustable, 20-24mm) and a whiteline front sway bar (fixed, 22mm).

my car corners very well and predictably! :-)

tires are also a fantastic upgrade, but considerably more expensive, and i do not feel they do anything for the actual roll rate of the car. the increase in grip, both lateral and longitudinal, is certainly nice, but that can only make the rolling of the car worse since it provides the possibility of greater lateral acceleration.

so my vote:

1. rear endlinks
2. front endlinks
3. rear sway bar
4. front sway bar

i tend to agree with whiteline, an australian aftermarket manufacturer/suspension tuner, who feel that if your car rolls too much you address it through the anti sway bars.

jm2c ken

Being an '05 model, will the '04, '03, '02, etc end-links work, or was there a change in that area? Also, without a tech manual (I cannot frind one for this year of the '04 year) I am curious about how hard they are to do-it-yourself in the driveway with regualar tools and a healthy sense of mechanical knowledge.

I would think a WRX would come with adequate swaybars, you can replace the end links with adjustable ones to tune the ride a little better.

Fairly casual; you'll need a floor jack, and a set of jack stands,

12mm, 14mm, and 17mm wrenches and sockets, and an hour or so to do bars and links on both ends. You will want the suspension compressed (car sitting on wheels) when you titen things up; I just lower it onto a pair of cinder blocks so there's still room to slide under.

I'd amend the above list to:

1 performance alignment 2 tires 3 rear end links 4 rear bar 5 anti-lift kit 6 front bar/linx

The WRX needs negative camber if driven aggressively, and often the factory alignment isn't too good. If nothing else, set the stock adjusters on the front to max negative. Camber bolts for the rear aren't expensive, and well worth the effort. You will want at least 1

- 1.5 degrees negative camber, more if you intend to autocross the car. A good compromise alignment for tire wear vs handling is ~0 to

1mm total toe-out up front, and ~0 to 1mm toe-in in the rear. This will sacrifice some hi-speed stability (hardly noticeable) in favor of real crisp turn-in response, especially on decent tires.

The stock tires (RE92s, at least on the '02 - '03 WRX) are horrible. Not just bad, HORRIBLE. Almost anything is an improvement, but a decent set of performance tires (go with a 225/50 on the 16 inch rims) will really put a smile on your face. That's the _first_ thing I'd do. I like the Kumho MX, but there are many good offerings out there.

Rear end links make a just perceptible difference. A stiffer rear bar is probably the most noticeable change, followed by an anti-lift kit. I couldn't tell any difference at all with a fatter (22mm) front bar, and I can't imagine that replacing the front links makes too much difference, either; tho the OEM fronts _are_ plastic, they are straight, and probably do not suffer from flex in the same manner as the "C" shaped rears.

Be aware that if you want to autocross the car, any changes to the rear bars or links will bump you out of stock class, into STX if you stay with "street" tires, or ESP with "R" compound rubber. The ALK (I'm familiar with the Whiteline kit) is a real significant performance mod, a bit of a bear to install, and technically moves the car to SM class (not too sure about STX rules, it may be OK there).

Pretty sure the parts for the '04 model year are different from the '02/'03, but that might just be for the STI car. Whoever you buy the suspension parts from will be able to tell you for sure.

Hope this is helpful. Enjoy that new car!

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101

could you elaborate on the "anti lift kit"? BTW, just street driving, but it feels sloppy in turns. Mike

I'd be willing to bet that _most_ of the "sloppy" feeling is your tires; I didn't like the ones that came on mine at all, and had 'em off as soon as I could swing the price of a new set. One other thing that I would do is go over the car real thoroughly and check for loose fasteners; I found a couple motor mount bolts on mine that weren't comfortably tight, one of 'em wasn't even threaded in all of the way. A loose bolt at a suspension pivot, or strut mount will make the car feel "sloppy" for a while, until it falls out entirely, and brings your fun to an abrupt halt :-P

I'd recommend that you make an effort to take your car to a local autocross a few times. Not only because it is huge fun (it _is_!), but because there is no faster/better way to learn the limits of your car's handling, and also as a test-bed for any changes you make. Check out or the SCCA web site for more nfo.

The ALK is simply a replacement rear pivot for the front control arms. It increases caster a bit (0.5 degrees ?), and changes the geometry of the front suspension. The net effect is to make the car resist front end lift under acceleration. This keeps more weight on the front tires, and has significant impact on the WRX tendency to understeer when accelerating out of a corner. I can attest that (at least for the Whiteline kit) it works as advertised.

Another good resource for WRX related stuff is , check it out.

ByeBye! S.

Steve Jernigan KG0MB Laboratory Manager Microelectronics Research University of Colorado (719) 262-3101