2004 Subaru WRX Wagon - Double Edge Machine

The 18x7.5-inch Work Emotion's were chosen for their combination of strength and their ability to clear a bigger brake kit, should we decide to use one in the future. AKH Trading, the official North American distributors of Work Wheels, had two kinds of Emotions that would fit, a +42 offset and a +48 offset wheel (stock is +55, 16x6.5-inch). The lower offset would give us larger brake caliper clearance, but the lower offset also meant the wheel's outer face could possibly contact the inner fender during suspension compression. We decided to stick with the higher offset wheel, which correctly fit the car and cleared the fenders, although the rear fenders still required a rolling job as we could hear the 225-width tires slightly rubbing under very hard cornering.

A quick stop at Wet Works Garage in Costa Mesa, Calif., and we were on our way with a beautiful fender job that didn't cut or crack any of the stock paint. The fenders were rolled the correct way: by first using a razor to cut into the undercoating just inside of the rear fender. Thus, when the inner fender edge was rolled back to clear the tire, the stock paint is not pulled along with the fender. A quick re-spray of undercoating to fill the gap along the fender edge, and we were on our way with more than enough rear clearance for our 225-width tires.

Step 2: Grip, Grip, GripAlthough the BF-G tires helped immensely with the behavior and grip of the car, the WRX still had loads of camber-eating body roll. On a strut-equipped car such as the WRX or the Evo, the suspension design requires a large amount of initial negative camber (i.e. the tire tilts inwards) to perform, since the car leans on the outside tires through a turn and the camber curves for the tires on that side pushes towards positive. As a tire increases its positive camber, the top of the outside tire tips outwards, the tire's contact patch with the ground slims and grip decreases. The only solutions are to run large amounts of negative camber or to decrease body roll. Our solution: contact Whiteline Automotive.

It's generally a good idea to stay with companies that have proven successes, and Whiteline has had loads of experience with numerous rally and performance vehicles. What we found interesting about Whiteline is their massive catalog of complete suspension packages. Covering springs, sway bars, dampers, tower bars, and many other parts for such cars as S14's and Evo's. Whiteline manufactures literally every component you'll need, and you'll know that they were all designed to work with one another. Contrary to many JDM-spec suspensions, which run ungodly stiff springs to control roll and tune the overall balance, Whiteline specified the use of their stiff anti-sway bars and Sport Anti-Lift Kit (ALK). They use antisway bars to help control roll and behavior, letting the suspension articulate to maintain as much contact with the road as possible. The end result is a promised, smooth street ride and flat track cornering. Our WRX still maintains its stock spring/strut setup. Whiteline does offer a set of springs for our application, but we opted out of it in favor of a possible damper upgrade down the road.

Tuning for behavior and balance first, we found the results to be far from misleading. From the first time we blasted down a nearby freeway onramp, we knew we had transformed the car. With big help from Arnie Medel, Southern California field R&D expert for Whiteline, we tried out the WRX with only the ALK installed. By offsetting the rear bushing on the front control arms, the ALK added caster, eliminated anti-lift and anti-dive behavior, and laid waste to on-throttle understeer. There is still some understeer at the limit of cornering, but compared to stock, it's night and day. Remember too, we only have wheels, tires, and an ALK installed. Incredible stuff.

The next step was Whiteline's 22mm two-position adjustable front anti-roll bar (stock is 20mm) and 22-24mm three-position adjustable rear anti-roll bar (stock is 17mm). With the rear bar set to the middle hole (235% stiffer over stock) and the front bar set to the first hole (46% stiffer over stock), we headed back to the on-ramp. Wheels, tires, two bars, an ALK, an eyeball alignment, and we're going nuts. The balance of the car is perfect, and the grip level now is incredible. The on-ramp entrance sign says 25mph, but we approach at more than double that, unsure if the car will stick. The Subaru doesn't even complain. The tiniest bit of understeer rears its ugly head, but careful control of the right pedal will determine how the ass sticks. Although there's now 0.90g of available grip, we're sure that with a proper alignment, the car can post bigger numbers. But even in its present state, we've reached the point where the limiting factor on the street is the driver's sanity, not the car. We need a racetrack.