[javaperson]

It's finally time that I summarize my mods. Nothing special, but I thought I'd put together the mods on my Foz at one place.

People in this forum have been very helpful! Thanks everyone! :Banane35:

Here's the tinkering to date:

1) Custom puddle lights: I followed the wonderful write-up by deep6blue. My only addition was to incorporate inline switches to the lights so that they could be temporarily disabled if needed.

2) Installed the Subaru OEM front footwell lights

3) Used some LEDs for footwell lights for the back. Writeup

4) Added a $2 blue LED-twisty tie glove box light. Writeup

5) Added the LED eyebrows with the help from TSi+WRX and referencing other people's writeups. Again, I added inline switches to permit temporarily disabling the eyebrows. I also liked the look of blocking every 3rd LED in the LED chain.

6) Performed the H11 -> H9 headlight low beam bulb swap with the Narvas

7) Replaced the license plate, front parking light, front side-markers, and cabin bulb with LEDs

8) Disabled the following:
i. Seat belt chime
ii. Map lights come on with door-open, etc. [update below]
iii."Beep" from locking/unlocking doors
iv. DRL

9) Replaced OEM horn with Fiamm El grande pair: not the loudest out there, but a great sound for the price.

10) Painted the rear mufflers black based on this thread. The forester looks so much better from behind!

11) I re-enabled the map lights coming on with the door open, but I added a switch that allows me to quickly disable it on my MY09. The MY10 fixed this problem. Ideas from the post here.

12) Tapped the map-light circuit that turns on when the door is open and installed footwell lighting that turns on when the door is open. Writeup.

13) I made a flip-key since I was tired of the key and separate fob. Writeup

14) Replaced the OEM 16mm Rear sway bar with 19mm Perrin RSB. A marked difference in handling - well worth the time.

I'll continue to update the summary here and add photos below.

 

[AzNFoLife924]

Sounds great and congrats starting your mod journal... Now lets see those pics! I'm curious to see the LED Eyebrows and the H11-> H9 low beam bulb upgrade for the 09.

 

[markyh]

Sounds great! I can't wait to see pictures. Better yet, I can't wait to get to do some mods myself. I'm totally going crazy reading posts like this and I haven't done anything except taken the dealer license plate frames and their sticker off. THE WEATHER HERE SUCKS!

 

[javaperson]

Photos for some mods

LED eyebrow (2 different exposures)

Stock blue footwell light with glove box light

Blue footwell lights added to rear

Non-OEM Puddle lights

Switch for disabling map-lights when door is open

Switch for disabling footwell lights that come-on when door is open

Footwell lights that come-on when door is open

 

[javaperson]

Sounds great and congrats starting your mod journal... Now lets see those pics! I'm curious to see the LED Eyebrows and the H11-> H9 low beam bulb upgrade for the 09.

I finally saw your massive writeup and got inspired to do something similar for my mods. Unfortunately, I don't have comparison photos for the H11 -> H9 conversion, but it was a worthy upgrade. The only drawback is the dramatically reduced lifespan of a H9 bulb.

 

[mundane]

that led eyebrow is b!tchin'!!!

really nice mods! hopefully come summer time i'd be able to do some of these.

 

[javaperson]

Flip key

I forgot to document my flip key mod that I did last year. It took some time, but here are the photos. Writeup

Took apart valet key and removed metal key and transponder

Flip key when finished

 

[javaperson]

Finally saved up and got the Perrin 19mm rear sway bar. It was the first time installing a suspension part, but it took less than 30min to do it. The difference is clear and I regret not doing this earlier! This is a definite required mod for the SH. :icon_biggrin:

 

[AzNFoLife924]

Finally saved up and got the Perrin 19mm rear sway bar. It was the first time installing a suspension part, but it took less than 30min to do it. The difference is clear and I regret not doing this earlier! This is a definite required mod for the SH. :icon_biggrin:

I was thinking of getting that rear sway bar too... How do you like it? Did you get one for the front too? And how noticeable is the difference? Is the car snappier to respond?

And those LED Eyebrows are SHWEET! Do you happen to know where I can get a link to a writeup for the 09/10???

 

[javaperson]

I was thinking of getting that rear sway bar too... How do you like it? Did you get one for the front too? And how noticeable is the difference? Is the car snappier to respond?

And those LED Eyebrows are SHWEET! Do you happen to know where I can get a link to a writeup for the 09/10???

I didn't want to make the ride harsh, so I decided to keep the stock 22mm front and replace the stock 16mm with the Perrin 19mm. I put it on the middle setting and the difference is clear. I tried it out last night and I like the new ride much better. There will still be some lean on crazy turns, but for the typical day stuff, it'll be fine. I might put it on the stiffest setting today and try it out.

I wouldn't say the car is "snappier". It just feels less resistive to turns. With the OEMs, when I made a turn, the car was leaning and it felt like it didn't want to turn as quickly. It feels more planted now.

I haven't come across a formal eyebrow writeup for 09/10, but I've been got some help from TSi+WRX and referenced other people's writeups. The install is pretty easy. Once I disabled the DRLs, I wired the eyebrow in parallel with the small W5W lifebulb between the hi and lo beam bulbs. I simply used the 3M tape to mount the LED strip on top of the headlight assembly. Just make sure the strip you get is waterproof. Whenever the light switch is set to parking lights or lo beams, the LED comes on. What took longer was the aesthetic decision - I decided to blockout every 3rd bulb of the strip to give a more "banded" look. In addition, you want to swap out the yellowish W5W bulb with a white LED. A slight complaint is that the LED eyebrow has a slight blue tint compared to my lo beams, but it's ok after I installed the NARVA h9s.

In addition, there is an inline switch with the eyebrow, so that the LED strip can be disabled it if I don't want to attract attention to myself :icon_wink:

Unfortunately, I didn't document this well, but below is a picture that shows the switch, some of the wiring, and the LED strip.

 

[HeliToast]

Might be a dumb question, but I was looking at the Perrin sway bars as well would that interfere with the warranty at all? I also do a ton of snow driving and would the stiffer setup make the back end come around when its slick?

And I fully agree those eyebrow lights are awesome.

 

[javaperson]

Might be a dumb question, but I was looking at the Perrin sway bars as well would that interfere with the warranty at all? I also do a ton of snow driving and would the stiffer setup make the back end come around when its slick?

And I fully agree those eyebrow lights are awesome.

I don't think the sway bar would interfere with the warranty unless the problem that you observe can be directly attributed to the Perrin bars. The sway bar install is easy and I would consider low risk. I've only done a little driving on snow, so I'm not sure how it would behave for you. But from the extensive wet driving so far, the car still tends to understeer.

 

[mundane]

so u have 2 sets of front footwell lights? as per #2 and #12
can i see pictures of those? are they side-by-side? daylight pics would be nice. tia!

 

[javaperson]

so u have 2 sets of front footwell lights? as per #2 and #12
can i see pictures of those? are they side-by-side? daylight pics would be nice. tia!

Yes, I have 2sets of footwell lights: the OEM blue ones that come on with the headlights and white ones I added that come on when the door is open. Are you looking for pics of the install? When I get a chance, I'll take some photos. Otherwise, I have photos of what it footwell looks like when they are on.

 

[mundane]

yeah, im looking for the pics of the install. im curious how they look underneath. tia!