STi brakes, the brute force way!

[sicksubie]

Its rubbing the suspension you say, but correct me if I am wrong, you are running stock struts and springs. Koni/GC set ups are smaller in diameter could possibly be ok then perhaps? What about the clearance on the fender side? You were running 255's on your RPF1's correct?

[sperry]

Originally Posted by sicksubie

Its rubbing the suspension you say, but correct me if I am wrong, you are running stock struts and springs. Koni/GC set ups are smaller in diameter could possibly be ok then perhaps? What about the clearance on the fender side? You were running 255's on your RPF1's correct?

Yep, I'm on stock struts. The STi knuckles move the wheel face in towards the centerline of the car, so the 17x8 STi wheels that normally fit on the SVX end up riding too close to the spring perch. Of course, I *am* running some oversized tires... I don't know how close the clearance is normally for those wheels, but with 245/45/17 tires, it rubs.

My guess is that Koni/GC coilovers will have plenty of room without wheel spacers.

Fender clearance without the spacer is fine. In fact, with the 17x9+45 RPF1's, a 15 mm spacer (makes the wheels effectively +30), and 245/40/17 RE010R tires (Bridgestones run wide... 245 is about the same width as most 255's) I'm just barely rubbing the fender liner strip at the race track when the car leans way over.

Anyone running without wheel spacers should do great with a set of 17x8+45 wheels (the most popular size for aftermarket STi wheels) and 245/40/17 tires, probably even 255/40/17's (certainly big tires would fit with Koni/GC's on there, assuming you're not dumping the ride height).

Really, the only reason I need to run the spacers is because I'm running high-offset STi wheels with giant tires, or those RPF1's that need the spacer for the spokes to clear the brakes.

[sicksubie]

So this leads to the question... can you have another set made?

[sperry]

Originally Posted by sicksubie

So this leads to the question... can you have another set made?

I'm still not 100% sure what my bump/roll steer looks like. A friend of mine with a shop offered to let me use his alignment rack some Saturday, so I should have access to get the car checked out. If everything looks good, I'll get in touch with the water-jet place about getting a few sets of these made.

My big problem is that I've just been super busy the last few months... and the next few don't look better (I've got to be in Vegas and Beijing for a week each between now and Dec). But I haven't abandoned you guys, I promise!

[sicksubie]

I got all winter to wait..... I appreciate the efforts though that you have made already.

[Johnybeas]

**** If this will work with koni gc's then I'll be solid, I've got

Size: 17" x 7.5"
Product Description: AMERICAN RACING CASINO GLOSS BLK W/ MACH. LIP 5x114.3
Backside Spacing (in): 6.02
Offset: 45mm

wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza Grid tires that if I remember correctly are like a 225/45 17r will I have rub???

What are you running on the rears?? wrx stuff??

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Johnybeas

**** If this will work with koni gc's then I'll be solid, I've got

Size: 17" x 7.5"
Product Description: AMERICAN RACING CASINO GLOSS BLK W/ MACH. LIP 5x114.3
Backside Spacing (in): 6.02
Offset: 45mm

wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza Grid tires that if I remember correctly are like a 225/45 17r will I have rub???

What are you running on the rears?? wrx stuff??

I'm not specifically familiar with either those wheels or tires, but based on the dimensions you posted, you should be fine. That wheel is 0.5" narrower and 10mm further away from the struts, and you've got Koni's, so you should have tons of room. Plus, 225/45/17 tires are 20mm narrower and a bunch shorter than the 245/45/17's I'm running.

I think the ideal sizes after this conversion are 17x8+45 wheels with 225/45/17 tires.

As far as my rears, everything is stock except that I rolled the fenders a tiny bit years ago in order to fit some 17x8+38 EVO wheels back there for a little while. With the above wheel/tire sizes you should be fine without rolling any of the fenders.

[Johnybeas]

sweet! any pictures of the latest adapter??? what did you end up payin for the whole setup? how much do you think you'll charge for the adapters?

[Johnybeas]

bump.....

Have you touched the brakes??

[sperry]

Welp, it's been a long while since I bumped this, so here it goes...

An update on the wobble/shudder issue:

Basically, even with the tightening of the loose tie-rod ends, at the track, the car still has a power-on shake in the steering on corner exit. I can't come up with a good reason for it, other than the fact that I'm just running way too wide wheels with way too low offset. I think the huge scrub radius of the steering geometry coupled with stock struts that have 230,000+ miles on them just creates a vibration when the car is really pushed.

I'm not 100% sure, because I never ran my snow tires at the track, but it seems like the higher offset STi wheels didn't seem to exhibit the issue the way the low offset RPF1's did. Either way, the effect isn't easily noticeable on the street, but at the track, it's concerning enough that I've abandoned the idea of continuing to use the SVX for drivers instruction. I've just run out of patience/talent for re-designing the front-end suspension geometry.

In slightly related news, a few weeks back I picked up an '09 Outback XT (turbo 5MT) wagon. Since it's a ton more capable/practical than the SVX (even if it's boring as hell when compared to the SVX) it's my new daily driver. Plus, I'll be able to use it at the track for drivers instruction with just a nice set of wheels/tires and some big brakes. What this mean is that I'm reverting the SVX's front suspension and brakes back to stock.

It was a fun project and I think it got pretty far, but like I said, I ran out of patience/interest to continue revising the bits. Certainly, this isn't something that I'd be comfortable building and selling as a kit. However, if some brave individual is interested in the prototype bits, I'm happy to sell them off to you (with no warranty of course... I can't guarantee you'll be happy with the kit... it's a work-in-progress after all!).

The parts I'd be selling:

- STi front spindle/hubs, modified for SVX fitment (slotted uprights, drilled for SVX tie-rod ends), also modified to fit StopTech BBK
- WRX ABS sensors, brackets modified for SVX fitment
- STi front axles, modified for SVX gearbox fitment
- STi front axle seals (requires removal of the gearbox sundials for installation)
- STi ball joints
- Custom fabricated ball-joint adapter
- Ichiba 15mm wheel spacers, ARP extended lug bolts in the hubs
- Custom length Hotchkis endlinks

So, that's everything needed to convert the front knuckles to the STi, except the brakes themselves... I'm going to keep the StopTechs since they're bolt-on for the new wagon. But with the above kit, STi Brembo's which aren't that hard to come by, become bolt-on for the SVX as long as you've got wheels to clear them.

If you've been following the thread, you know the cost for this stuff was well over $2000 (including $750 for the StopTechs), not to mention the hours of labor to design and build it. I'm open to offers for the prototype bits above, thinking probably $600 for everything listed is pretty fair, as that's under half what I spent to put it together. Shipping may be expensive, because this stuff is bulky and heavy, so that's something to be negotiated in addition to the price. I'm trying to let this stuff go as cheap as I can afford, as I really just want to make sure someone else can pick up this little project... or at least get some use from it themselves.

And, like I mentioned a bunch of times in this thread already, this stuff would be sold w/o warranty and with a reminder that I'm not an automotive engineer... it's the purchasers responsibility to determine the risk involved with this conversion. I ran it pretty hard for about a year, including at the track and through a winter, but that's no guarantee of future performance of the conversion. I don't want anyone picking this stuff up without being aware of the potential risks of home-made modifications.

Finally, I may be selling the SVX itself... I don't think my wife is going to let me keep it in the backyard for too long. We've got 4 Subarus and a truck now... and so I need to sell either the SVX or the racecar. I'm hoping to get $6000 for the SVX, which is probably an insanely high asking price... but the car is in pretty great shape, and I'm selling it with the RPF1's. PM me if you're interested... I'll probably be putting up a for-sale ad later with a bunch of pictures.

[XT6Wagon]

grats on the outback. You will be suprised with the outback at the track. If its anything like my 05 LGT wagon was, you can axemurder most anything in corner exit speed. Definitely needs pads or a upgraded setup as the stock brakes fade like mad in a lap of PIR, which isn't exactly a brake heavy track.

Oh and the nice rear suspension lets you run much much stiffer rear springs than you can with the old style on pre-08 WRX/STi/SVX/ETC. I got upto 10K springs with decent ride using no rear swaybar. Upgraded swaybars really killed the ridequality before they tore the stock rear mount off. So stiffer springs + no sways ended up being quite nice.

On that note, did you ever upload a "final" adapator? Thinking for those that are doing this while swapping over a pile of parts from a wrecked STi.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by XT6Wagon

grats on the outback. You will be suprised with the outback at the track. If its anything like my 05 LGT wagon was, you can axemurder most anything in corner exit speed. Definitely needs pads or a upgraded setup as the stock brakes fade like mad in a lap of PIR, which isn't exactly a brake heavy track.

Oh and the nice rear suspension lets you run much much stiffer rear springs than you can with the old style on pre-08 WRX/STi/SVX/ETC. I got upto 10K springs with decent ride using no rear swaybar. Upgraded swaybars really killed the ridequality before they tore the stock rear mount off. So stiffer springs + no sways ended up being quite nice.

On that note, did you ever upload a "final" adapator? Thinking for those that are doing this while swapping over a pile of parts from a wrecked STi.

I already put some Whiteline sways on the Outback, front and rear... but I did get the AVO heavy duty rear bar mount. I could have bent the stock mount with my hands... I can't believe how flimsy it is! So far, I haven't noticed any real ride quality loss with the bars... which should be right; as long as they're not binding, they should only make a difference when cornering, and on that note they really seem to help even out the understeer... I think the car now only understeers as badly as a stock STi.

The only think I was planning on for a "final" adapter was to bevel the ends more to ensure they can't contact the brake rotor on a large BBK at full lock on the wheel. I've ground that relief into the adapters that just came off my SVX, and I wasn't planning on getting another set made at this point. I guess I can measure things up a bit and put together a new drawing for anyone looking to build their own... but it would be much easier for someone to just pick up all the parts that just came off my car!

[Nemesis Destiny]

This was a neat and promising project, sorry to see it end.

More worrisome is that yet another SVX innovator is selling. Don't get me wrong, I understand, but it's becoming disheartening.

If you haven't had any bites yet on your brake parts, I may be interested, depending on how things go for me in the next couple months.

Also, congrats on the OBXT - that's exactly what I would like to get my hands on to replace my totalled LGT wagon.

[Johnybeas]

hmmm... I guess another project fail... I have been thinking over the past little bit that instead of trying to reinvent the wheel per-say that we might as well just design a set of calipers that would fit the SVX platform, that wouldn't require all the crazy modification of something that was never designed for our car. I've got way too much in the fire right now, but I think this is definitely a worth while investment. I'll be looking into it in the future and we'll see if I cant get my ideas backed by someone with more experience in the brake production industry. Thanks for all your efforts sperry!

[sperry]

Originally Posted by Johnybeas

hmmm... I guess another project fail... I have been thinking over the past little bit that instead of trying to reinvent the wheel per-say that we might as well just design a set of calipers that would fit the SVX platform, that wouldn't require all the crazy modification of something that was never designed for our car. I've got way too much in the fire right now, but I think this is definitely a worth while investment. I'll be looking into it in the future and we'll see if I cant get my ideas backed by someone with more experience in the brake production industry. Thanks for all your efforts sperry!

Thanks for the support!

I don't know that I'd call this "a fail" though. The brakes worked great on the street... reduced stopping distances, great feel, an I never noticed the shudder issue. My problem at the track could very well have been with the 230,000 mile old struts and had nothing to do with the STi knuckles. Or it simply could have been he super low offset of the wheels I was running. Or some combo of the old struts and knuckles and wheels. A set of coilovers could very well have been the fix-all for the shudder... or perhaps just running some +55 wheels could have done it.

I just ran out of interest in fighting the battle. I'm sure it could be solved, and I may eventually get back to looking at it if no one buys the kit to continue where I left off... but for now at least, I'm just looking forward to being able to drive a relatively new '09 around w/o having that feeling in my gut that someone might rear-end me and total an irreplaceable SVX.