This thread is for those who want to improve the Outback’s suspension while retaining stock ride height. There are many threads about lifts, and a few about lowering the Outback. This isn’t intended to be mainly about wheels and tires but it’s appropriate if it’s about how it affects the suspension/handling instead of cosmetics.
Modifications for more nimble/agile on-road handling while retaining stock ride height for broken pavement, potholes, going through shallow street flooding, and dealing with curbs. This would be to nudge the Outback towards more on-road manners, including some mods like stiffer sway bars that may decrease off-road articulation a bit. As an analogy, more BMW than Mercedes or Jeep.
There are scattered posts about various minor suspension mods but often they are buried in other threads so this is meant to gather these together. This isn’t meant to be a “my build” thread for my car, but since I’ve done a couple already I’ll start the thread by describing what I did and invite any and all comments, thoughts, or results from others and what they are doing.
In here we can discuss stuff like sway bars, sway bar bushings, shocks, springs, trans mount inserts, strut tower braces, steering dampener lockdowns, and other products as they become available etc, and most importantly whether any of these things are effective or not. Different people will have different results and that’s ok. Handling is something that is mostly subjective unless we’re doing slalom, skidpad, and lap time tests,
My first mod was the Nameless Strut Tower Brace. While it’s a little tricky to get the rear bolts in, it’s not “hard” to install. What attracted me to this bar was the way that it uses lug nuts and conical seats to positively locate the bar instead of just relying on friction. @2020XT @RocketMan20 @rfuree11 also have installed this one before I did. Edit: Nameless has slightly revised the bar so that it’s easier to install.
In my other vehicles I never did install a strut tower bar so I can’t compare from one vehicle to another, but I feel like this modification let the steering be more precise – not razor sharp, but less wobbly feeling, not unlike increasing tire pressure to stiffen sidewalls. In theory the amount of deflection in the strut tower tops is minimal unless your strut tower nuts were loose, on the other hand this is a McPherson strut suspension, and those kinds of suspensions uniquely load strut towers. Tall soft sidewalls will mask improvements from things like strut tower braces, so in my mind it’s not so much that this mod will “one and done” the suspension to make it better, but a supporting mod that will synergize with the ones to follow. No adverse effect on noise, vibration, or harshness.
I torqued the six strut tower nuts to 20 foot pounds.
The original post of this install is What did you do with your 6th Gen Outback today?
The next mod was @traildogck ‘s 85 durometer front sway bar bushings, which come with high quality grease and are manufactured with OEM quality – you would never guess that this wasn’t direct from Subaru. By hand, it feels stiffer than the stock bushings, but not so hard that it was difficult to get over the sway bar itself. The new bushing is the one on the right. There’s a dab of grease on it when I took the pic – sorry!
I was afraid of the hard sway bar bushing because I thought it might make road noise louder. It did not. In fact, the suspension feels smoother. I attribute this to the lubrication that comes with the bushings. Surprisingly the steering returns to center more fluidly and the front suspension feels more responsive and lively, the way you’d expect from a slightly thicker front sway bar. The harder bushing makes the existing bar more effective by limiting deflection. It works, but it’s not a dramatic difference. If you saw the steering wheel back and forth it doesn’t turn like a go-kart (physics again) and will sway from side to side, but overall the suspension feels more responsive. BMW’s and Miatas famously have both sway and yet a great suspension. What counts is that the motions are well controlled, not “hard”. Edit – after 6 months it began to squeak – reverted to stock sway bar bushings.
The original install post: What did you do with your 6th Gen Outback today?
The next thing I installed was @traildogck ‘s super soft transmission mount insert. What is it and what does it do? Originally developed with enough stiffness to effectively dampen/control driveline vibration from lifted Subarus, a new super-soft one was developed to use when the stiffness wasn’t necessary. The stock transmission mount apparently moves around quite a bit, and will sag with time, eventually the rubber disintegrates and you need a new one. I decided to put the insert in because I don’t want my original trans mount to sag or need replacement. It’s more of a reinforcement/preventative measure for me instead of trying to cure a problem that has developed. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right?
I had been thinking about putting this insert in for some months and when the super soft was announced, I pulled the trigger. Having prepared myself for a difficult install, and fully prepared to have to dismantle the area under the transmission, it turned out to be easier than changing windshield wiper blades. It literally slipped in. No increase in noise vibration or harshness, but subjectively the driveline feels more taut and direct. Technically this isn’t a suspension mod, but with a massive transmission wiggling in a soft mount, I think the reinforcement limiting mass shifting is a helpful thing. Harder trans mount inserts are known to increase transmission noise, but this super soft one does not. Edit: The firmer “Soft” 60 durometer insert also seems to slip in with no tools and is reported to provide even greater control of the transmission at the risk of slightly increased cabin noise.
The original post is: What did you do with your 6th Gen Outback today?
This weekend I plan to install the Perrin Steering Dampener Lockdown. Subaru’s steering dampener is a rubber piece that isolates the steering wheel from the steering box. The Perrin part is an aluminum clamp that locks the rubber. @2020XT has already installed this, so I’ll report my experience with it.
edit: link to the steering dampener lockdown install post: Gen 6 2020+ Stock Height Suspension Mods for better…
All of the mods above are limited in effectiveness because I am running the soft-sidewall stock tires. In a car that had 20″ wheels and low profile tires, these mods would make a more profound difference. I’m not going there. I want tall albeit stiffer sidewalls and will choose my replacement tires accordingly.
Edit: Put in OZ Hyper GT HLT 18×7.5 wheels with Michelin Pilot Sport4SUV Summer tires 225/60-18, First put in a Group N pitch stop, then tried a Whiteline pitch stop insert in the OE pitch stop. Gen 6 – Gen 6 2020+ Stock Height Suspension Mods for…
I’m hoping that future posts will contain sway bar installs, but none are available yet, and the same goes for stiffer Bilstein B6 grade shocks. If anyone knows of other suspension goodies in the pipeline, or available for the Outback please let us know in this thread!
edit: Whiteline is developing a rear sway bar for the Gen 6:
Thanks to @Duncan Heinz I have been in contact with Whiteline and they are making a rear sway bar for the Gen 6, and I will be lucky enough to be testing one of their early samples. To plan their initial production run it would be good to know how much interest there is in the rear sway bars…
www.subaruoutback.org
edit2: Whiteline sample bar installed and tested – it’s terrific.
Edit: Since the group buy has ended, the product is available at retail: Rear Sway bar – 20mm heavy duty blade adjustable (2020+ Outback) Installation guide by @Alex_W here: Gen6 Sway Bar Whiteline has responded to our request for a stiffer rear sway bar, and now it’s here, in…
www.subaruoutback.org
edit 3: Whiteline 20mm rear sway bar group buy is live: Whiteline 6th Gen Outback 20mm Rear Sway Bar Group Buy
Group buy has ended – installation guide by @Alex_W Gen6 Sway Bar
Installed a Group N pitch stop here – with instructions on removing the intercooler on the XT Gen 6 – Gen 6 2020+ Stock Height Suspension Mods for…
Later a Whiteline insert in the stock pitch stop in this post: Gen 6 – Gen 6 2020+ Stock Height Suspension Mods for…
@LiveFreeOrDie has Silver’s NEOMAX coilovers that can be set to stock height: Silver’s NEOMAX Coilovers Subaru Outback (BT) 2020+
@rpmk104 has these coilovers that seem to be more about lifting than stock height: Subaru Outback Coilovers [GR Lite]
@airwhen has BC lowering Coilovers on his Gen 6 https://bcracing.com.au/collections/subaru-coilovers?refinementList[named_tags.model][0]=OUTBACK
