I’ve had a couple days behind the wheel of my WRX with the Oswald beam installed and I think I am ready to give a review of it, before it becomes my new normal.
First off, fit and finish was great. Everything lined up from the beam to the frame and the only thing I had to do was bend those lower brackets a bit to get the fender liners to line up. Could be my car, but not a big deal to me. Took me longer to figure out where they bolted up.
One of the first things I noticed that it was easier to accelerate from a stop. Nothing major, but considering the EJ207 v8 has about 0.5 ft/lbs of torque down low so any improvement is pretty noticeable and a welcome addition. I thought maybe it was the colder weather but today it was much warmer out and honestly it seemed even better today.
During normal driving it feels slightly lighter in steering effort and has an ever so slightly sharper turn-in. However possibly due to the stock +150k-mile rack and pinion bushings (and perhaps due to muscle memory) I find myself in a overcorrection battle at times in mild turns. Initial turn-in is sharper, but then it fades a bit before settling down.
During spirited driving this is a new front end. The traditional WRX front-end push is all but gone. Which is pretty surprising considering I haven’t done any of my planned mods to fix that issue. While the STi would power through these same corners with epic levels of grip, this WRX slices through them at will. Neutral handling at it’s finest.
Coupled with my fog light deletion, I removed almost 25 lbs from the nose of the car. I was skeptical of what I was feeling at first but the more I drive and the harder I push it the more it becomes clear that this is a better handling car now. I just might be a 50/50 weight distribution true believer. I cannot wait to put all the parts I can think of in the trunk. 😀
My only complaint is the coverage of the beam not extending underneath the headlights and/or utilizing all of the previous mounting points for potential loss in structural rigidity. I am considering a Cusco Front Power Brace to compensate (or to compliment) this. It’s probably unnecessary though.
But luckily they work together!
Conclusion? Do recommend!
B.黒曜石 