kylemorg
05-14-2008, 04:47 PM
Just thought I'd post this for the heck of it.
We bought a new '08 Impreza base model 5-door in March primarily for my wife to drive. It's an automatic non-outback, non-WRX, so I prefer to drive my car.
I've driven our new Impreza a few times, and the handling on any curves downright sucks. The old '96 Impreza we had would have run rings around this new one, even after 12 years of abuse. The new '08 Subaru Impreza handles like a full size 80's buick. It's got TONS of understeer and feels as if you could roll the car or at least spin out very easily in an emergency maneuvering situation.
Believe it or not, the base model '08 Impreza has NO REAR SWAY BAR. I simply cannot believe Subaru would do something that dumb.
I was able to order the stock '08 WRX rear sway bar from a dealer in Washington state for under $200 with all the parts necessary for install. All of the mounting holes are there -- they just chose not to equip the base model with the rear bar.
That should help tremendously.
Also...
I've also been in touch with a guy at NASIOC that upgraded the springs in his 5-door '08 Impreza after ~3K miles. He's selling his stock WRX springs for cheap, which are stiffer than the base model '08 springs. I'm going to see if he still has them -- if so, I'll put those on, too.
After I'm done, I'll basically have a 5-door base-model '08 Impreza that handles like the WRX model (if the struts aren't different). That will be much better.
We bought a new '08 Impreza base model 5-door in March primarily for my wife to drive. It's an automatic non-outback, non-WRX, so I prefer to drive my car.
I've driven our new Impreza a few times, and the handling on any curves downright sucks. The old '96 Impreza we had would have run rings around this new one, even after 12 years of abuse. The new '08 Subaru Impreza handles like a full size 80's buick. It's got TONS of understeer and feels as if you could roll the car or at least spin out very easily in an emergency maneuvering situation.
Believe it or not, the base model '08 Impreza has NO REAR SWAY BAR. I simply cannot believe Subaru would do something that dumb.
I was able to order the stock '08 WRX rear sway bar from a dealer in Washington state for under $200 with all the parts necessary for install. All of the mounting holes are there -- they just chose not to equip the base model with the rear bar.
That should help tremendously.
Also...
I've also been in touch with a guy at NASIOC that upgraded the springs in his 5-door '08 Impreza after ~3K miles. He's selling his stock WRX springs for cheap, which are stiffer than the base model '08 springs. I'm going to see if he still has them -- if so, I'll put those on, too.
After I'm done, I'll basically have a 5-door base-model '08 Impreza that handles like the WRX model (if the struts aren't different). That will be much better.