DCAWD.com

I was digging through http://subaruforester.com and found these pix. Kind of funny to see this Forester leaning as bad as my FXT was.

Here are two of the pictures:


And mine:


I'm thinking wheels/tires and brakes for sure, those will help for daily driving. Suppose it really needs suspension, but there are better things to spend $1500 on...

elzorro wrote: I'm thinking wheels/tires and brakes for sure, those will help for daily driving. Suppose it really needs suspension, but there are better things to spend $1500 on...

Wheels and tires are going to help you out alot. Sometimes I think it's better to take upgrades one step at a time anyway. Get use to how the new stuff feals and then add something else to see if you like it. Add too much, and it's just too different to know if you like it or not

And yes, you do have a better place (click here) to spend your money

Are you suggesting he purchase that mountain?

Honestly though, yes, rims and tires! Helps accelerating, handling and braking. What more can you ask for?

GVR4-308 wrote:Are you suggesting he purchase that mountain?

Don't tempt me... I'd love to live there. Every time I go, it's harder to come back.

I bet you half the people working as wait staff in the restraunts/bars are out there just living to ski.

I have to admit, I almost think it would be worth it. My problem isn't leaving here to go there, the problem is that I would fall behind on saving for the rest of my life (401K, a house etc.), loose my techincal edge and would have to give up my STI!

Yea, you're getting too old to do it. You have to be young like me.

Why I aught to..... DDOS you! haha

You're never too old to jump off a cliff

Yep, gravity works on you no matter how old you get.

elzorro wrote:I'm thinking wheels/tires and brakes for sure, those will help for daily driving. Suppose it really needs suspension, but there are better things to spend $1500 on...

It depends on your goals

All season tires with mushy sidewall are not going to be much fun for autocross. But without changing the springs/struts, I don't know if I would feel comfortable adding stickier tires. Sticky tires + high COG + suspension with a lot of travel is a good recipe for a rollover. Probably unlikely on street tires, but still, something to think about.

john

Thanks John, make me paranoid.

I have to second John (he does his homework for sure). Stickier tires will grip better, holding the road; but what will hold the car sitting on top of 4 tiny springs ?

If you intend to use r-comps or something similar; you tire life will lessen without better weight transfer management (=coilovers). If it is just for fun, and don't care about competing, it would be better to do it on street tires IMHO.

I'm definetly not looking at comps, just a better street tire with a lower profile than the stock Geolanders... As I was showing people at Hardtimes the other night, you can grab the roof rack and shake the car like mad, and half of that is in the tires, not the suspension.

Actually, what I should be saying, I want more grip, less understeer, and more braking power. I believe most of the understeer is loss of traction (I describe it as the car is plowing the corner, anyone that saw me at the autox class knows what i'm saying).

If you can shake the car like that while it is standing still, it is 99% springs and shocks, not tires.

We all want more grip Grip is achieved with weight transfer management Loss of traction or grip is result of more than one thing; especially with the suspension geomety put onto the Subarus. Plan carefully which one(s) you attack from what angle.

This is a big part of the reason I want my mom to try autox in my car rather than her '99 Forester for the first time. She doesn't want to spend money on her car much beyond basic maintenance and I already have most of the wheel and suspension mods I want on my car. And her Kartboy would toss her into STS anyway, which would not be good at all. But I would love to see the XT autox sometime.