deimos

I was given a 1998 Forester L this weekend. The car sat under a tree for a year, after sliding into a boulder in the 2006 winter. The car has 186k miles on it, but otherwise is in great shape. See for yourself.

The trick is, it's slightly rusted, has a few body dents, hasn't been driven since winter 2006, and has a bent passenger front strut. It appears only the strut is bent. But, while I have a free car, I've decided I'm going to start "improving" it a bit.

What are good options for a 1998? I've searched the forums and found:

- Cold Air intake (although the car is normally aspirated)
- rear disc brakes instead of the drums
- rear anti-sway bar and end links
- the usual stereo, wheels, spoilers, and other cosmetic stuff
- full exhaust

Since I have to replace the strut anyway, what about front strut bars? What about better FSB links? What about better struts for the front? Better bushings (poly)?

Are any of these things still available for a 10 year old car?

I used to own and race a WRX, so I'm familiar with the subie world. Unfortunately, none of the old haunts have parts for a forester. I'm not looking to race the forester, just make it more fun to drive. I'm also a diesel fanatic, and have considered swapping the boxer engine for a diesel, but that appears to be just crazy talk. :)

I mean, hey, free car, so I have all that extra money to burn. Thanks for the opinions.

sea-scooby

Actually a lot of WRX stuff is a direct swap!

A lot of items that fit the WRX ,will fit the 98 Forester. The 02/03 WRX rear sway is a perfect fit, WRX takeoff suspension is a direct swap, and the 2.25" WRX catback exhaust only needs one flange rotated to work with the NA Forester. It will open things up from the stock 1.75" exhaust. The C shaped WRX endlinks are also used by the 98Forester.

WRX Front Seats and wheels are also a direct swap too.

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deimos

Thanks! Are there ECU tuning options for my car?

sea-scooby

Only open source tuning.

RS25.com is a good place to find info on people modding the NA 2.5 motor for power. Lots of 98-01 2.5RS owners trying to eek out every little bit they can, and since they share the same motor as the Forester the info applies to you.

__________________
05 Forester XTi Premium M/T (PRE tuned VF39)(his)
05 Forester X A/T (hers)
My Journal page

Rob

Older Subaru ECUs are not open source tuneable due to the fact that they are not flashable.
As far as ECU tuning, you can use a PP6 available from Rallitek. I hear wiring them in can be a real pain but a lot of users seem to like them.
Also, being that the car is a DOHC engine, make sure you check the headgaskets for leaks before you spend all of your free money on mods, they are very prone to failure and are not cheap to replace.

deimos

Is it just a matter of pulling the engine and changing the gaskets? If so, i've done that on a porsche and a wrx already. ;)

Rob

Som epeople do it without pulling the engine but it is probably a little easier for your first time if you do pull it out.

heat1431

hey man i was just wondering if you new anything about the stromung exhaust system for a forester and if i could use it on my 1999? Or would i be better off using the wrx catback

pleiad7

Sure you can, Stromung makes a specific catback for the N/A Foz. We're running one on our 98.

__________________
-Silke
04 FXT PP PSM ~ "Subed"
98 Forester S ~ "Slynki"
92 SVX LS-L ~ x2