[TMX]

I wouldn't go with tyres or wheels until you know your braking and transmission setup, as the factory standard braking setup is mediocre at best in an XT with 294mm front discs. If yours has the smaller 274mm front discs, I expect heat could be an issue and so an upgrade may make sense.

How much budget are you working with?
@fpan Went through a number of suspension setups on his Forester STI until arriving at a custom but very good solution that might suit rallying too? (you can check his past posts by clicking on his name)

It might be worth looking up what the Impreza gravel stage setup was for the similar year as your Forester to get some ideas too? From memory they went with 16" speedline or possibly even 15" Type 2118 Speedline wheels with WRX brake front and rear calipers

I would avoid any kind of lift kits like the plague lol.

Edit: Found this link, including spring rates etc: Bilstein suspension by JamSport

For those interested in suspension / vehicle dynamics

I've started reading this and find it really really interesting: Damian Harty (Prodrive) Questions Forum - ScoobyNet From the good old days when SN wasn't full of chavs or people chasing 500bhp. Enjoy :)

www.subaruforester.org

 

[TMX]

You need adaptors for the rear.
The fronts bolt up.

Your Non-Turbo wheels will not clear those calipers.
There's a list of Subaru wheels that do clear those calipers here, complete with weights: < 2018 Subaru OEM wheels that fit the Forester - 5x100

You will also need bigger front discs, assuming your non turbo ones are not the 294/295mm discs

 

[TMX]

@Panda.sg5 That would depend massively on the type of dirt. Do you mean loose gravel or lose/hard packed sand or mud/clay or snow or something else?

If you want to rally/carve curves in a quickish fashion, lifting probably isn't the direction you would want to go...... If you want to go for an offroad/All Terrain tyre, going with a wheel design like the Speedline Corse mentioned above should clear your factory, but small braking setup in 15" size and would allow a decent range of AT options.

Depending on how crazy you want go, there are proper rally designed tyres too. Some are listed here and perhaps available locally to you? https://www.westwalesrallyspares.co.uk/tyres

Racing & Rally Tyres | Competition Gravel & Tarmac Tyres

Buy rally wheels & tyres online at Demon Tweeks - UK's leading motorsport retailer. Shop leading brands with worldwide delivery & finance options.

www.demon-tweeks.com

 

[TMX]

Need better headlights?

('03-'05) - How To: Install TRS Morimoto Mini...

Made this for my own local forum, but figured I should probably stick a copy here too. Hopefully the same BBcode works. Anything that looks "wonky", let me know. Hope it helps. ------------------------- In today's adventures of Fixing That What Ain't Broke, we shall be installing Morimoto Mini...

www.subaruforester.org

('03-'05) - XENON Projector Retrofit

Well, this is what I did... I retrofitted my stock 05 headlights to hold FX35 bi-xenon projectors. The parts I used include Phillips 85122+ bulbs, Hella gen 3 ballasts, and BMW E46 shrouds. Before I sawed up my headlights I made a prototype thanks to the smashed up headlight...

www.subaruforester.org

Prodrive done an upgrade kit of the foglights to driving lights that switched on with the high beams. In reality the only part that made it Forester Specific were the mounting brackets.
The rest of the kit were simple H3 halogen Hella lights - I'll grab the dimensions if you like as I have a set in the garage right now waiting to go back on my Foz. There are LED equivalents that are probably much brighter with a better beam pattern too.

Search is best for the dashboard bulb types
This will tell you how to change them