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MY06 XT Prem Pack 5sp man

('06-'08) 
1K views 6 replies 2 participants last post by  Aero25 
#1 ·
greetings and salutations!

ive been on the forum for a while but only recently getting a bit more active in the community. after the issues ive had with other car communities I opted to brave the world solo and find my own way. however the resources and knowledge held here are undeniable so I am back and with a few tales to boot.

after owning my foz for a couple of years im starting to regret not documenting my process of making the car my own. Well after some recent changes I figured I might as well start. Lets start with, I bought the forester in august of 2018. It had 262k on the clock and was pretty standard. Equipped with HID’s, a saggy rear suspension, and a factory head unit, I knew where I wanted to start but where I actually started were definitely different.

Heres what I think I wanted to do in august when I bought the forester.

First round of upgrades:
Suspension- completed May 2020 with a 1 inch lift with Subie Lift Oz
Headunit- double din, apple car play Bluetooth handsfree. Completed march 2019
Dashcams - completed march 2019
Snow chains- completed august 2018
Front facing camera and reverse cameras completed march 2019

heres some of the first photos I got of the car, ironically before its true nature came through..
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it was after I took these pics, I think 2 weeks after that the clutch went out on it on my way home from work and when it went it took the gearbox and rear diff with it. so after 5k to replace (it was at this time I should have just upgraded to the 6spd. im still kicking myself over this in 2021). I got it back and its been ok ever since.
 
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#2 ·
about a year later, I had an accident and some flaws started to show. The hid’s began to fail, I had to replace the bonnet, bumper, grill and headlights. I was starting to think about just what I was going to use the car for. I wanted to do some adventuring and given I love to go up to the snow, early morning driving is something I do a lot and lighting is very important. So I started to look at what my options were and after talking with auto elecs, some friends I started to make my plan. With my plans, it became apparent that I needed standard not the sports headlight housings so I don’t have to stress about those stupid ballast holes in the bottom of the housings. some guidance from the forums really helped me in understand with what I needed to look for and luckily the only damage from the accident was cosmetic.

Second round of upgrades/ repairs:
Led upgrade- completed august 2019
2 new head lights STANDARD! Completed august 2019
Led light bars one fitted to the support bar behind the bumper and one on a licence plate bracket. Completed august 2019.
New bumper- completed august 2019
Grill factory- august 2019

before the repairs:
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after the repairs:
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#3 · (Edited)
It was at this time I started to look into optional extras, like sti vs cross sports grill, interior pieces and upgrades I can do. I also started to grow a distain for that stupid rear wiper. I made some enquires with my local subie dealer and got some bits ordered. I also started to look at new rubber suitable for some off roading and will handle snow and ice ok. The other thing i started to look at quality of life upgrades. In my foresters past life, under the shell it looked like it had been a very hard life. Aside from the dog hair, dust and broken clips, the interior pieces really need some attention. So I scoured wreckers, fb marketplace and many other sources and found what I needed. I also took the opportunity to fit a couple of rear facing light bars as reversing sucks in the foz in the dark. The other issue I needed to address was the headlights. Since upgrading to the leds the standard reflectors really were crappy to work with when adjusting. I decided to retrofit some projectors into the low beam and fit some angel eyes for some drl’s. really happy with how these turned out.

from here im not to sure on where to go, id like to think about doing some performance upgrades like a new turbo, intercooler... but I don't know.

Next bits to do...
Rear wiper upgrade - ordered

Grill – cross sports- ordered

Tires- BFG Advantage TA upgraded September 2020

Rear led bar and roof rack mount- completed may 2020

Rear led bar reverse light completed may 2020

Hella horn upgrade

High output alternator

put a decent sub in the location where the factory lives...

After the headlight upgrades:
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