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03-08 Fxt vtd sportshift?

('03-'05) 
10K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  Toys-N-Joys 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I am new to the forum and pretty new to Foresters. Not really new to Subaru as I have owned a 'Cobb stage 2' 2005 Wrx Limited sedan with a few extra boltons and suspension mods. My Wrx has 4eat with vtd which I really enjoy. Anyways, I am contemplating getting an 03-08 Forester Xt with 4eat which is why I joined this forum.

To start off, which turbo Forester Xt's came with the vtd 4eat and sport shift? Does it depend on years? Does it depend on trim (i.e. limited, premium, sports?

I really enjoy the vtd 4eat in my stg 2 Wrx. Only thing I feel my Wrx is missing is the 'sportshift' option the Jdm Wrx had along with some Legacys, Bajas and Foresters, but not sure which ones.

Anyone have a break down as to which 03-08 Forester Xt's come with the Vtd 4eat and sportshift?

Thanks everybody!
 
#4 ·
The '07 and '08 Forester Sports XT came with the VTD center diff and vehicle dynamic control, but no sport shift. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I am not aware of any other 4EAT Foresters that came with the VTD center differential, they all have the MPT Transfer case (no planetary gears, just a clutch pack to transfer power to rear wheels).

FWIW, I transplanted a 4EAT-VTD out of an '07 Forester Sports XT into my '07 Forester XT Limited - see the link to my journal below.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Actually, it's a little different. in 2007 only the FXT Sports; in 2008, ALL 4EAT FXTs came with VTD. (actually, I might be thinking VDC, I'll have to double-check. Of course it could be both too)

Hey guys, I am new to the forum and pretty new to Foresters. Not really new to Subaru as I have owned a 'Cobb stage 2' 2005 Wrx Limited sedan with a few extra boltons and suspension mods. My Wrx has 4eat with vtd which I really enjoy. Anyways, I am contemplating getting an 03-08 Forester Xt with 4eat which is why I joined this forum.

To start off, which turbo Forester Xt's came with the vtd 4eat and sport shift? Does it depend on years? Does it depend on trim (i.e. limited, premium, sports?

I really enjoy the vtd 4eat in my stg 2 Wrx. Only thing I feel my Wrx is missing is the 'sportshift' option the Jdm Wrx had along with some Legacys, Bajas and Foresters, but not sure which ones.

Anyone have a break down as to which 03-08 Forester Xt's come with the Vtd 4eat and sportshift?

Thanks everybody!
Since I believe I am currently the only USDM SG FXT with VTD and Sportshift I'll post a bit on how I converted (I've been meaning to do an in-depth write-up for a while, hopefully I can do that level of write up soon). I had an extra challenge in that I also have VDC and CANBUS in my 2008 FXT Sports.

So, here's what I sourced:
JDM Paddle Shifter for an SH
JDM Legacy Sportshift Column Cover
2008+ Impreza/09+ Forester steering wheel (paddles will interfere otherwise)
SH Forester turnsignal switch (I transferred the guts over to my SG switch so that it turns off properly with the turning of the newer steering wheel.)
05-09 LGT cruise control stalk (just to scavenge the connector on it)
and the hardest part, a SG VDC, VTD, CANBUS Sportshift TCU from Russia!
SG Sportshift cluster (still looking for this actually, tough to find one that is Sportshift and CANBUS, so right now my display always shows "D" instead of the gear it's in as I shift. This might also be able to be solved with an Arduino of sometime, but I still haven't had the time to dedicate to that yet.)

The USDM TCU does not have the functions hidden in it, so you have to source a sportshift TCU. I also at first tried the SH Sportshift TCu and that won't work either, all sorts of problems. If you don't have to have a VDC TCU then you can use the Baja sportshift TCU and @RE3Rotor has done that conversion on his SG5 (check out his member journal). I've acquired a 2005 Baja Turbo Sportshift TCU to see if I can get it to work on my VDC car, but life hasn't afforded me the time to play around with it yet, so I'm not sure if VDC will work correctly with it.

Good luck in your quest for Sportshift, it really does make the 4eat a bit more fun.

 
#6 ·
FXT VTD sportshift - it exists!

JDM SG Foresters in Cross Sports version were equipped with sport shift gearboxes and VTD. I have one and must admit it is a blast to drive. Mine is a bit moded 2.0 litre, with around 300hp at the crank and with high stall TC can launch below 5 sec 0-60mph and around 13.2 1/4 mile.
In Europe we have 2006-2007 2.5xt Foresters with sportshift and VTD aswell.
 
#9 ·
Damn I always thought the Forester Xt was one of the few Us cars to get the sportshift 4eat.
Is it possible to convert mpt 4eat to vtd?


Nepbug, did you have to swap out your non sportshift 4eat for a sportshift 4eat, or did it just require the correct Tcu, shifter/console and steering wheel?

Super interesting!
 
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