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MayTheFozbWithU's FXT

('14-'18) 
21K views 80 replies 17 participants last post by  MayTheFOZbWithU 
#1 · (Edited)
I think its about time to start a journal. I'm still very early in the life of my Forester, but I feel like I've got an idea where I'd like to take it. This is my second Subie, my first Forester. Came from an N/A Impreza. Was in an accident (single vehicle, no injuries), total loss. Insurance covered the remaining cost of the loan as well as some overage money... took that and made a down payment on a CPO 2016 FXT Touring in ISM with 8.3k miles on the clock.



So here we go... start of with the basics:



2016 Subaru Forester XT Touring 2.0L FA20DIT Turbocharged engine.



Purchased 8/24/16



Turbo intake duct recall was serviced before purchased.



Equipped with:



- Eyesight & Nav (no SD card, Dealership ordered me a new one)



- Harmon Kardon HU (Replaced w/ aftermarket HU and amp)



- Rear seat back protecter



- Rear lift-gate bumper guard



- Subaru OEM Splash Guards (removed immediately and replace with RA mud flaps)



- Gigantic F'ing moonroof!!!



- Rear Cargo Mat



- Dual-Side Rear Cargo Nets



- Thats about it, I think



Current mods as of 12/01/17:



Exterior



- Full Rear Debadging (Except for Subaru Emblem)



- JDMFanaticVinyl "F" Overlays (2014FRSTR-EMBLEM"F" ):



Logo Color: Spark Silver Metallic



Background Color: Gloss Black



Custom cut front overlay for Subaru Sport Grille (14.5cm x 7cm)





- Subaru Side Window Deflectors (F0010SG600)



- Subaru Forester Sport Grille (J1010SG100):



Custom vinyl-wrapped in Satin Black (Tint Pros in Blaine, MN)




- Window Tints (Tint Pros in Blaine, MN):



20% front driver and passanger windows



5% Rears



- Rally Armor Mud Flaps (MF28-UR-BLK/GRY):



Ended up removing the rear bracket that was included in the installation kit. Had rubbing issues after lowering.



- OEM Subaru Lower Molding (Right and Left side (91112SG101 & 91112SG111 ($33.48 from Dealership)):

After removing the OEM splash guards I realized there was exposed frame where the splash guards were. After a brief search I saw Foresters without the splash guards and they had a trim piece in place of where the splash guards. Picked up the trim pieces and installed those.



- Horribly Plastidipped fog light bezels



- STI Lip (ordered from JapanParts)





- Front & Rear Fenders Rolled (Only mid-section in rear)





Exhaust



- Nameless Performance Catback with 5" single wall mufflers





Suspension



- Feal 441 Coilovers (441SU-08)





- Feal Extended Damping Adjusters (for the rear)





- Whiteline 20mm Adjustable Rear Sway Bar Kit (BSR49Z)



- Whiteline Rear Adjustable Later Link Arms (Toe Arms (KTA147))



- Whiteline Rear Lower Control Arms (KTA216)



- Kartboy Rear Endlink Kit (KB-017-08+Rear)



Wheels & Tires



- Work Seeker CX 18x8.5 +38 A disk (Ordered from RavSpec)[SOLD]



Powder Coated Matte Black at Adrenaline Powder Coating in White Bear Lake, MN







- Work Emotion D9R 19x9.5 +38







- Stock Forester XT wheels 18x7 +48



- Summer Tires: Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position 245/45r19



- Winter Tires: Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2 225/55r18



Interior



- WeatherTech front and rear Laser-Measured Floor Liners (Part #: 44531-1-2)



- Dynamat in front doors, spare tire well and rear cargo area





- Carbon Fiber Vinyl Wrapped Trim Pieces





Audio



- Pioneer AVIC-8200NEX (Purchased from Crutchfield)



- Polk Audio DB6501 Component Speakers ((Front) Purchased on Amazon)



- JL Audio XD1000/5v2 Power Amp (Purchased from local audio store)



- JL Audio 10w6v2-D4 Subwoofer (Purchased on Amazon)



- Front Speaker Adapter (x2) with 5" Cutout (Purchased from SubaruAudio.net)



- Tweeter Adapter (x2) with 1.951" Cutout (Purchased from SubaruAudio.net)



- JL Audio XD-PCS4-1B Amplifier Power Connection System (Purchased on Amazon)



- JL Audio HD-RLC Remote Level Control (Purchased on Amazon)



- JL Audio XD-CLRAIC2-18 (x2) RCA Cables (Purchased on Amazon)



- 28 Pin Aux Retention Harness with Aux, RCAs, Reverse Gear, VSS, Parking Brake and ASWC (Purchased from ae64.com)



- Axxess ASWC-1 Steering Wheel Interface Module (Purchased from ae64.com)



- Subaru USB Adapter 2 (Purchased from ae64.com)



- 5-pin Rear Camera Retention Harness for Subaru 7" Starlink HU (Purchased from ae64.com)



Lighting (Interior/Exterior)



- Full HID Retrofit: All Work Done By LightWerkz Global



Full Housing Blackout (Except Blinker and C-Light



Amber Side-Marker Blackout



TL-R Bi-Xenon Projectors



Hylux Ballasts



Front & Rear-Mounted Diode Dynamics Switchback Halos





- Morimoto XB LED Fog Lights (Type S) w/Yellow Lamin-X film (1 × LF10)







- Diode Dynamics Interior Lighting Kit:



License Plate (Pure White, 194_HP3P-lic1)



Map Light (Cool White, 31mm_SMF6W-map2)



Dome Light (Cool White, 31mm_SMF6W-dom1)



Door Light (Cool White, 194_HP3W-dor4)



- Diode Dynamics Front Turn Signal LEDs (Amber, 2x7440_HP11A-frnturn)



- Diode Dynamics SS30 Light Bar





Awaiting Mods:



- N/A



Desired Mods:



- Cobb Accesport



- Mishimoto CVT Cooler



- Mishimoto Charge Pipe



- Mishimoto J Pipe



- Pro Tune (I still have many of thousands of miles to drive first)



- Debating if at some point I'd like to have the roof rack delete done.



- ... hoodscoopandsti6mtswapwithnoproblemsandeverythingworksoutjustasIvedreamedandthatwouldbethebestthingeverbutprobablywillneverhappenmod



Service Records



On 09/09/16 (9033 miles):



Brought my Forester in for condensation in the rear right tail light.





Dealership replaced entire assembly under warranty.



10/11/16 (10,653 miles):



Got a call from the Dealership stating that they received a Starlink Notification for the airbag systems. I never had any alerts in the vehicle, no warning lights, no Starlink notifications on my end. Brought the vehicle in, had it checked out. Nobody really knows what happened there. No future notifications and no fee for the systems check.



10/26/16 (11,482 miles)



Brought in the Foz for its 12k service and first oil change as new owner.



01/11/17 (14,243 miles)



Oil change and tire rotation, performed at Dealership



02/24/17 (18,472 miles)



Oil changed, performed at Dealership



05/12/17 (21,813 miles)



Oil changed, performed at Dealership



07/28/17 (25,083 miles)



Oil changed, performed at Dealership



09/07/17 (26,502 miles)



Windshield replace by SafeLite Auto Glass due to rock chip

EyeSight recalibration done at Dealership



11/28/17 (29,744 miles)



Oil changed, performed at Dealership



12/01/17 (29,844 miles)



Front and rear differential oil replaced

Brake fluid flush



Performed at DG Auto Repair and Service in St. Paul, MN



More to follow...
 
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#3 ·
The aero lip showed up today from Canada. Only took one business week from time of sale to delivery from Ontario to Minneapolis.

It came with all supplied hardware, no instructions, but another member had a PDF of the factory install. Drilling will be required.

I do like how it looks, but the CBS is a little glossy against my ISM, so I'm going to have it wrapped this Friday before I install it.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Here is the Aero Lip:




I did a half-assed preliminary fit here. It will go all the way up to where the black on the fog light trim starts:





I think its going to look pretty F'ing shweet. I'm actually debating now if I should go through with wrapping it to match the grille or just leaving it in CBS. Anyone have any opinions?

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this about the Aero Lip or not, but if you do not order the lip in CBS (they are prepainted to match your vehicles color... obviously black benefits the most), the "wings" on the sides of the lip a colored like the black rocker panels while the remainder of the lip is colored to your ride. I personally think the two tone (non black) lip is ugly as all hell.

 
#9 ·
I kinda like that look for the silver foz... The sides of the lip look like canard/winglets. Left un-painted, it looks a little bit too much like a bolt on. If you take it and have it wrapped in a matte grey, to match the rocker panels, I think it could look pretty cool.

How do you like the Feal 441 coilovers? Do they make the "max travel" option for the forester? Is that possibly a standard feature since the forester, for most people, remains a SUV and will see some amount of off road activity for most people?
 
#10 ·
I like the idea of a matte wrap.

As for the Feal 441 coilovers... I love them. They definitely are a bit noisy at slow speeds. I still have to play around with the damping to feel what the two extremes are. Cornering and braking are improved (there are also other suspension modifications that were installed at the same time). Ride comfort was sacrificed a little in exchange for improved handling... I don't mind a stiffer ride and being able to feel the road. They appear well built and durable... time will tell.

As for the "Max Travel", I'd get in contact with Feal. Just glancing at there website, it doesn't appear that that model is available for the SJ. Someone at Feal might know if a WRX/STI version of the Max Travel could be compatible, but you would probably still loose some ride height due to tire size differences.

I don't know anything about off road setups. Not sure if people prefer going with a spring/strut combo to maintain factory ride height. Its all personal preferences, I guess.

The main question would be, what are you wanting out of your vehicle...
 
#11 ·
Got off the horn (internet chat) with Nameless Performance today. Catback will be shipping out this week. Wasn't as long of a wait as for my wheels, but everyday when I go out to my vehicle and image the look and sound that will one day be present on the Foz, the wait kills me more and more... kids gotta have their toys, dammit!!
 
#16 ·
Foz is looking good, sir! Good choice on the coilovers. I am running the same suspension mods as well.

I'd love to see the wheels on your FXT. I bet they'd look awesome.
 
#17 ·
I enjoyed the 441s on the Impreza, so I stuck with them for the Foz.

The toe arm bushing were a PITA to get on the car... had to kind of hammer them in a bit to get the holes to line up for the bolt.

Are you Feals pretty noisy at low speeds? I'm use to it now... had it with both sets.

I'm curious how the wheels would look on the Foz, as well. Come Spring, they may just get mounted.
 
#19 ·
Just got the Nameless Performacne catback with 5" mufflers installed today. Build quality is excellent, definitely A LOT beefier than the stock pipes. I had imagined it to be louder, but I am happy with the tone. I might need to go back and make some adustments... on side is sticking out just a little further than the other. Also, I'm trying to figure out if there is an exhaust leak or if its just the turbo spooling.

Anyone who has installed this on their SJ, is the Y-pipe suppose to be sitting so low on the vehicle?


Some other pics from the install today.





 
#22 ·
Had my first hiccup on startup after work today. Was about 50 degrees out, so it wasn't weather related.

Went to press on the break and then hit the push button, there was a hesitation and then it burbled to life while shaking the cabin.

Every other time I have ever started the vehicle for the last 3 months of ownership has been flawless and smooth. I'll be trying to document a future occurrence... hoping it was just a one off.
 
#23 ·
Its been about a month now since I've installed my CBE. Started noticing that my rear hatch is peppered with little black specs of exhaust residue.

I've read that this is normal (I sure hope so), but it sure is fun cleaning my rear end not long after wershing it. :crazy:
 
#29 · (Edited)
Gearing up for my first "long" distance journey in the Forester. Slapped on some Blizzak DM-V2s (225/55 18) and cargo box. Ready for about 3.5-4k miles in the next 3 weeks. Lots of pictures to follow.

Decided to run my Work Seeker CXs for another season. I would love to swap them for some Work Emotion D9Rs in 19x9.5 +38, but the finacials are telling me to wait. Going to have my Summer setup powder-coated matte black and use the OEM tires for the summer until they are worn. Hoping 2018 I can switch my Summer setup, but we'll see.

My Spring-time list has started:

Isolate and fix numerous rattles within the cabin.

Replace front Harmon Kardon speakers (still undecided, but will probably go with Polk).

Install sound dampening in the front passenger/driver doors.

Install 10" sub (most likely in tire well).

Slam it!! (Spring time)

Most likely do some fender modifications.

Maybe some front accents lights in the bumper.

Replace exhaust hangers and correct my skewed Nameless CBE.
 
#30 ·
1st leg of my road trip to Denver is complete. Traveled ~600 miles.

According to my MFD, I was averaging 20.4 MPG, traveling 90% of the time at ~80 MPH using the adaptive cruise control. Tires were inflated to 40 PSI, one other occupant, running 91 octane (no stations along they way had 93, which I normally run) and ~150 LBS of gear and a roof box. Weather conditions were good... 50°F and slighlty windy.

On the return trip I plan on logging actual data to figure out true MPG.
 
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