[markchambers]

I am looking to buy a forester but am unsure if to buy a imported s/tb or the UK spec with the winter pack.
Can anyone tell me the pro's and cons to them please?

 

[Elmy]

Pros: The s/tb got nicer interior and more power :biggrin:

Edit: there is a UK specced s/tb?

 

[AP]

UK has the nicer interior :catfight:

 

[Brian Lacey]

S/tb has the JDM style interior, love it or hate it , no middle road. Cloth seats only and amazing floor mats if the originals are still in the car. More power to the right foot, insurance 'may' be a little higher, both identical ease of servicing, JDM has total folding mirrors which helps avoid garage up/over door stays !! and car park swipes.
If you think you may be 'changing' a few bits at a later stage them get the s/tb, if not then go on price /condition etc. A good service history is a must as Subaru's do not take kindly to missed/poor servicing.
Good luck


Brian

 

[markchambers]

Thanks for the info.
I need to decide between power and refinements I guess.
Ideally I would be able to find a 240Bhp(standard) forester with digital climate control, heated seats, cruise control and heated wiper blades.
Whats the chances of finding one of them?

 

[kushbex]

Plenty good S/tb's out there.
As for interior, just do what I did and replace the standard JDM interior with a UK S-Turbo interior.
My S/tb also has the full winter pack, and all the other toys (No Moon Roof like UK cars).

Power & Refinement.

Standard JDM S/tb Interior:

UK S-Turbo Interior:

 

[mykp]

Yep impreza or legacy seats will also fit. I have impreza STI seats in mine.

 

[markchambers]

I'm quite new to the forester so havn't got much of a clue about them as yet but can anyone tell me the difference between the JDM engine and the UK spec engine, is it just the turbo and cams or are there other differences (ie ECU)?
I'm trying to figure out if its worth buying a UK spec and upgrading the engine to JDM spec or is it better to buy the JDM spec and upgrade the interior like kushbex has demonstrated, I am a Ford master technician by trade so the mechanicals don't worry me at all but the cost in converting it does!

I've been to have a look at 2 JDM Foresters so far one off Ebay which was a complete shed and up for far too much money and another one off the autotrader for £2300 on a 97 with 107,000 Kms, this one is in much better condition but does have a couple of minor body/paint problems.

I dont really want to be spending over £3000 if I can help it as my wife has decided she wants a new car too, so the cheaper I can buy the better car I will be able to get her.

Thank you for all the info, help and pics, all the info you can give me is a great help.

 

[kushbex]

The standard UK S-Turbo has 177hp.
The JDM has around 240-250hp as standard, this is due to bigger turbo different cams etc - but these must be run on 99 Octane to run properly.

For exact engine info it may be best to PM The Rookie as he is an absolute fountain of knowledge in all things Subaru - And I am sure he will correct me if I have anything wrong above.

I personally went for the JDM S/tb because you get a 12 year old car that has never seen salted roads in its life so no rusting. The bodywork is flawless - even the mudflap screws are still silver - bet that cannot be found on a normal UK model.

Nice S/tb:
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...ge/1/quicksearch/true/sort/priceasc&logcode=p

 

[Brian Lacey]

Mark, the turbo on the S/tb is different, a Td04 as compared to a VF something (that is a real help -sorry) but the search button will throw up the answer and the ecu is different. One thing to bear in mind is that the 97/98 model cannot be re-mapped, no one bothered to crack the system ! but boost can be fiddled with via an ebc. Petrol-97 super unleaded is what I have used for years, no 99 ron anywhere near !
If you want to tweak then I would really say start from the higher point, the JDM car.

Cheers

Brian

 

[forester200]

Plenty good S/tb's out there.
As for interior, just do what I did and replace the standard JDM interior with a UK S-Turbo interior.
My S/tb also has the full winter pack, and all the other toys (No Moon Roof like UK cars).

Power & Refinement.

Standard JDM S/tb Interior:

UK S-Turbo Interior:

Did you not have a problem with fitting the back seats ?

 

[forester200]

I'm quite new to the forester so havn't got much of a clue about them as yet but can anyone tell me the difference between the JDM engine and the UK spec engine, is it just the turbo and cams or are there other differences (ie ECU)?
I'm trying to figure out if its worth buying a UK spec and upgrading the engine to JDM spec or is it better to buy the JDM spec and upgrade the interior like kushbex has demonstrated, I am a Ford master technician by trade so the mechanicals don't worry me at all but the cost in converting it does!

I've been to have a look at 2 JDM Foresters so far one off Ebay which was a complete shed and up for far too much money and another one off the autotrader for £2300 on a 97 with 107,000 Kms, this one is in much better condition but does have a couple of minor body/paint problems.

I dont really want to be spending over £3000 if I can help it as my wife has decided she wants a new car too, so the cheaper I can buy the better car I will be able to get her.

Thank you for all the info, help and pics, all the info you can give me is a great help.

was it this one ?
1997 SUBARU Forester 2.0 AWD S-Turbo

 

[markchambers]

The one kushbex and forester200 have hyperlinked is the one I went to look at.
It seems in pretty good condition but there are a few problems
1. There is no service history - other than the last service which is very recent.
2. Not sure whats happened with the dashboard but if you look at the 6th picture (on the autotrader link above) or the 14th picture on the 2nd page of the link below, the top opening compartment has been covered up for some reason - the guy selling it didnt know anything about it as he is a trader.
3. It has got a cone air filter, blitz dump valve/bov and ridiculously large back box - these things always worry me when buying a car.
4. Not sure if its a problem or not - the clocks are in MPH but the odometer is still registering in KMH.
5. n/s/r tinted window film is chipped away and split in places - meaning it will need replacing, does this mean the entire privacy glass will need replacing to get the same tint?
6. Not sure if it was me but it didn't seem as fast as I would have thought it would be? but on the other hand I only revved it to about 5500rpm whilst it was 5 up (me, trader, wife and my 2 kids), I drive focus RS's and ST's at work and they seem quicker?
7. Only one key and its not a remote key? (should it have remote central locking)Does a new key have to be programmed in on a JDM forester?
8. Quite bad scratches on n/s sill/door (eg Pic 11 page 1 of the chasing cars link below)
Below is a link to a better site where there are more photos in much higher resolution (hold cursor over picture then on the box that shows up on the right select x3large)

w**.chasingcars.smugmug.com/Cars/CC110-Subaru-Forester-Stb/10946012_YnA2m#764733035_XMZ8h

If I had £4000 to play with then the link below looks very good
w**.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201003350724423/sort/priceasc/usedcars/make/subaru/model/forester/price-to/4000/postcode/dh77fe/radius/1501/page/2?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fdh77fe%2Fradius%2F1501%2Fmake%2Fsubaru%2Fmodel%2Fforester%2Fprice-to%2F4000%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc%2Fpage%2F2&logcode=p

But unfortunatly I don't

:-(

Basically I need to know if this is a cheap car or not - are there better examples out there for the same kind of money?

 

[Toshers]

I know I probably shouldn't post here, but I'll be putting mine up for sale in the next few weeks...

It's a UK S-Turbo with a few nice mod's, JDM STI bodykit & suspension, 18" alloys (new tyres) and is in beautiful condition (has the winter pack and the original alloys are fitted with nearly new Dunlop snow tyres :icon_cool.

I can pm you more info and pic's if you're interested.

 

[kushbex]

Did you not have a problem with fitting the back seats ?

With the rear seats the JDM car has outer arm rests & different squabs whereas the UK interior does not. All I had to do was to remove the JDM squab & armrest mounting plates then I cut off the angled armest mount, then refitted to the car so that the new squabs would fit.

 

[kushbex]

Hi Mark,
Found a nice black JDM one on Pistonheads and this one actually has the nice factory option interior. Totally standad and for only £1695.
Subaru : Subaru Forester Turbo STB (260bhp) - Automatic

 

[The Rookie]

Looks good...

Claimed power is 240 AIUI as that's a post facelift car, which equates to about 215bhp to euro test standards

Simon

 

[mykp]

1. There is no service history - other than the last service which is very recent.

Japanese market is really not concerned about history, as long as its got the stamps in the book then most japanese see that as enough. Not as much car crime in Japan as the courts over there have harsh sentences for car fraud.

2. Not sure whats happened with the dashboard but if you look at the 6th picture (on the autotrader link above) or the 14th picture on the 2nd page of the link below, the top opening compartment has been covered up for some reason - the guy selling it didnt know anything about it as he is a trader.
3. It has got a cone air filter, blitz dump valve/bov and ridiculously large back box - these things always worry me when buying a car.

Looks like the top box has been removed. You can pick one up from a scrappers cheap. However ask why it was removed, probably the old one was hacked to bits or it was replaced at one time ith gauges.

4. Not sure if its a problem or not - the clocks are in MPH but the odometer is still registering in KMH.

Should be in miles not kph. the japanese models are converted with a little electronic gizmo which converts the electronic pulse from 1 into 1.6 giving you a kph to mph conversion.

5. n/s/r tinted window film is chipped away and split in places - meaning it will need replacing, does this mean the entire privacy glass will need replacing to get the same tint?

Japanese models are tinted glass not tinted. probably been replaced at some stage. replacement tint is easy to come by.

6. Not sure if it was me but it didn't seem as fast as I would have thought it would be? but on the other hand I only revved it to about 5500rpm whilst it was 5 up (me, trader, wife and my 2 kids), I drive focus RS's and ST's at work and they seem quicker?

standard it should pull away from a gold gti 5 up

7. Only one key and its not a remote key? (should it have remote central locking)Does a new key have to be programmed in on a JDM forester?

no there is no programming. JDM cars dont even tend to have an alarm!

Has it got an alarm? If not then getting insurance will be nie on impossible as most require a cat 1 alarm/imboliser.

 

[markchambers]

Thank you for everyones help so far, it is much appreciated.
I think I have managed to talk the wife into buying herself a cheaper car !! this now leaves me with more money to play with, so I think I will have a look at the black fresh imported s/tb this weekend.

The one I'm hoping to go look at can be found at:

w*w.carplanetltd.co.uk/

Looks immaculate in the pictures and so it should be with that mileage?
Not sure with the price though, is it a little expensive? may be able to knock him down a bit for cash perhaps?

 

[The Rookie]

For an an at newest 10 year old car that will have to be genuinely mint for that money, I accept its low mileage but still.......there are plenty of JDM's around for about £2.5K.

1997 SUBARU Forester STB for example!

Simon