Today, I put a deposit on my dream car... a 2006 Forester XT Limited with a 5 speed! I've wanted one of these things for ages, and the time has finally come. My new baby is deep blue, fully optioned, and has 110k on the odo. It is a very clean car, as well. I am buying it from a fairly shady looking dealer, but the car checks out. Carfax is clean (only a tiny accident in the back that messed up the rear bumper, I googled the VIN and found pics), and the car seems mostly rust free and well maintained. Even shady dealers get decent cars sometimes, and considering how hard these cars are to find, beggars can't be choosers! So anyway, on to the questions!
1) Is the stock XT clutch fairly heavy? I've driven a lot of manual cars, and the first thought I had when I took off was "holy crap, is this a race clutch???" It feels fine, not broken, but stiff. Is that normal?
2) I found a craigslist ad for some really nice leather seats from a 2013 Subaru WRX. I know they won't bolt up, but I own a welder, and have made seats fit before. Has anyone done this? If so, do the heated seats and airbags still work? Or can they be made to work? Because those seats are really nice, and match my interior! I want!
3) I've seen the WRX suspension is a popular swap, and I'm interested. Is there a write up on what is needed? Or is it as simple as buying a WRX strut assembly, and bolting them in? (and re aligning the car, of course)
My goal is to keep this thing mostly stock-ish. I basically want a practical, reliable WRX with a big interior. So I want to mod it, but with as many stock parts as I can (from other models) to keep the thing from becoming an undriveable race car. I plan to swap the sports front bumper, an STI scoop, and the '08 Sports headlights and tail lights as well, to achieve the look I want. But for now, I have no plans of going crazy with it. I hope to own it a very long time.
1) Is the stock XT clutch fairly heavy? I've driven a lot of manual cars, and the first thought I had when I took off was "holy crap, is this a race clutch???" It feels fine, not broken, but stiff. Is that normal?
2) I found a craigslist ad for some really nice leather seats from a 2013 Subaru WRX. I know they won't bolt up, but I own a welder, and have made seats fit before. Has anyone done this? If so, do the heated seats and airbags still work? Or can they be made to work? Because those seats are really nice, and match my interior! I want!
3) I've seen the WRX suspension is a popular swap, and I'm interested. Is there a write up on what is needed? Or is it as simple as buying a WRX strut assembly, and bolting them in? (and re aligning the car, of course)
My goal is to keep this thing mostly stock-ish. I basically want a practical, reliable WRX with a big interior. So I want to mod it, but with as many stock parts as I can (from other models) to keep the thing from becoming an undriveable race car. I plan to swap the sports front bumper, an STI scoop, and the '08 Sports headlights and tail lights as well, to achieve the look I want. But for now, I have no plans of going crazy with it. I hope to own it a very long time.
