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8 minute(s) of a 643 minute read
4-28-2012
I did the front Koni's tonight with the help of Roger from NF Performance!
Donor struts for the front, all cleaned up (09 WRX).
Pipe cutter in progress.
Very clean cut!
Koni insert installed and then spring and top hat assembled.
Car back on the ground.
The fronts were a lot more work. Partially because I didn't have the right tools/setup when I started. I had a bench vice, but I never actually bothered to mount it to my workbench (more on this later). I started this install by finding the center of the strut and tapping it with a punch. I used a universal drill bit and drilled just far enough to punch a hole in the damper. It is under pressure so hydraulic fluid will spray out. Make sure to wear proper protective equipment.
So, once I had the hole made, I turned the damper upside down and pumped the piston in and out a dozen times or so. Until fluid mostly stopped coming out. I taped over the hole for the time being (to reduce the mess). Next I started in with the pipe cutter. I got most of the way through simply holding the vice with my feet, lol. Then the pipe cutter broke. One of the screws holding it together stripped out. When I went out to exchange the pipe cutter I also picked up some bolts to mount the vice to the bench. Drilled a few holes and bolted it down. Once I did that the pipe cutter was 100x easier to use. Haha. It didn't take too long and it was cut open. I pulled out the guts and finished draining it.
Then I flipped it over and got the universal drill bit back out and opened up the hole to 1/2" to allow the Koni bolt to fit through. The damper is a friction fit into the OEM strut (it has some nubs that hold it tight). You have to pound it into place, or use a bolt to pull it in. The stock bolt won't reach, so I bought a longer M12x1.5 bolt and a bunch of washers. I started with very few washers and tightened the bolt down to pull the damper into the strut. Once the bolt bottomed out in the damper I unscrewed it and removed washers. Repeat until damper is pulled all the way into place. Or at least close enough to use the Koni bolt (but I'd pull the damper all the way in with the larger bolt because the Koni bolt is an allen key and that's more likely to strip out). Torque down to spec (55 ft-lbs).
Then finish reassembling. We could not get it together without using spring compressors. I've heard other people can (maybe with different springs?). Once that is completely assembled, repeat for the the other side. It's not too difficult, but the pipe cutter takes some muscle, and the overall process is quite time consuming. We put the assembled dampers back in and set the camber bolts to max negative camber. Now that the suspension swap is complete I'll have to get re-aligned and see how it turned out. The 09 WRX struts should give me a little more negative camber than the 2011's would have.
Once we got the wheels back on and put the car back on the ground it was obvious it was lower than with the stock struts(same springs, RCE blacks). I measured the fronts at 13" from hub to fender (previously 13.5"). The rear is also 13" from hub to fender. I think it looks perfect. It is nearly identical ride height to how I had my coilovers set. Approx 1-1.5 finger width of fender gap. I set the dampers to 1 turn firmer than full soft. I think this is what Koni recommends for moderate aftermarket springs. I'm going to try it there for a while and see how I like it. I did go on a quick drive, and it feels really good. The car has so much better ride quality than the BC coilovers and still feels very planted in the turns. More thoughts will come after I've had the full setup in for a while.
Quick video of some drifting in the rain from last weekend 
Well, I guess the video was done sooner than expected!
Thanks to Erik Blume for shooting and editing this great video from last weekend at DCTC! The rain was a lot of fun! Getting sideways is awesome 
There are three 2011 WRX's in this video. Mine is the black one. The white one is Stage 2 + E85 and the silver sedan is Stage 2 on pump gas. I don't know how that Evo got in there 
FYI - We're not professional drifters (obviously). We were just out having some fun. This was my first time getting my car to rotate around like this. I had a great time!
Here are some shots of the ride height on Koni Adjustable dampers and RCE Black springs. 13" from fender to hub on all 4 corners.
Also, I picked up a used Tsudo Quad Tip exhaust today. It was in great shape overall. Here are some photos:
Overall, it seems OK for the money. The materials and welds all looked good. Getting the muffler section on to the y-pipe section wasn't too bad, but it didn't line up perfectly (the bolts do tighten down and the gaskets don't leak. The midpipe is a very close fit to the heat shield and the actual driveshaft. The flange looks like it could contact the heat shield but I haven't noticed any noise. The midpipe was hammered in by the previous owner to add additional clearance to the driveshaft. I haven't heard it hit.
Getting it onto the hangers was a tight fit, but it all went on fine. The sound is noticeably louder and much deeper than the stock exhaust I had on there. After driving around, it is actually pretty quiet for an aftermarket exhaust. I would say it's quite a bit quieter than the Q300 when cruising. The exhaust note is very low. Probably the lowest I've had on any of my setups.
This exhaust is pretty cheap and has reports of fitment issues, but it seems to fit OK for me, and the 3" pipes look great. Hopefully it increases flow compared to my stock exhaust. The sound is quite nice, but it is louder than stock (as expected). It is probably quieter than SPT (or similar) and definitely quieter than the Q300. Overall it seems very livable, but we'll see what the wife thinks. If she doesn't like it, it will be up for sale!
Video coming soon!