Lift it in the Winter and Drop it in the Summer

mlcdigital

mlcdigital

New member
For a couple years I've been driving my '05 sti in the summer and explorer in the winter. I think my rust bucket explorer went through it's last winter. I've been thinking about getting a suspension setup where I can lift my sti (3"+ from stock) in the winter and throw snow studs on it. Then in the summer drop it (1"+ from stock) and put the racing slicks on.

I've been looking at coilovers but none of them seem to have the ability to be lifted over .5" from stock.

Anyone on here know how to get this done while maintaining performance, reliability, and comfort?

 
two sets of struts would be the best. You would add so much preload to the springs to get them high that you would ride like an bouncy dump cart

There are a few lifted cars on this forum. GClark is one of them. You could copy his setup for the winter and then get a second set of struts and springs for the summer with whatever you want. It isn't that much work to swap them out completely.

 
05+ sti stuff is different than the rest of scoob stuff thanks to the different hubs. So you need specific stuffs.

You could run 1 inch spacers which would let you clear more tire.

I personally would look into strut spacers or two strut sets like Pedro said. Cheap coil overs suck, and the only ones I recommend people laugh at me because of the price. Other people will say get some ebay crapovers and call it a day. YMMV.

You don't need a monster truck for the winter, just a good set of snow tires. A good set of snows >>>> an SUV with mediocre truck tires.

 
All of the coilovers I've looked at have been in the $3,000-$5,000 price range but none of them can get the job done.

Struts and springs will probably be the cheapest solution.

Right now I my ride is about 1"-1.5" lower then stock and in the winter when there's 1"-3" of snow on the ground I'd rather have my front bumper clearing it instead of plowing through it. So lifting 3"-4" in the winter would make me happy.

I haven't search for a strut/spring setup yet but there's got to be something out there...

Thanks for all of your input.

 
If you'd be willing to spend $5000 on struts to get the adjustment you want, spend $3000 on a decent outback instead. That will save you some money, gas, and keep your sti from being salted.

The outback is lifted right from the factory, and pretty cheap and easy to lift some more.

 
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you could probably do a set of sti struts and drop some swift forester springs on there and be ~+1" over stock.

 
You don't have to spend $5,000 on coilovers. I picked up a great set of Tein HA coilovers, slightly used on Nasioc for $500. They have height adjustability, adjustable dampeners, and a smooth ride. If you can pick up a set of coilovers for summer and stock sti struts with a 1in spacer from Dirty Impreza.com, you'll be golden.

 
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