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This is the journal for my two current Forester's. Some people (outside the Forester community) think it is strange we own two of the same cars. Most people don't realize how versatile the Forester is. My wife's X is an automatic with mainly utility mods, where as my XT is more performance oriented.

2005 Forester X mods:

INTRODUCTION

Exterior Mods
17" OBXT Wheels with 225/55/17 RE92s
Rear Gate bar
Cargo Basket w/thule fairing
Hood Deflector
35/20 window tint
Plasti-dip blacked out grill
09 Aero Wipers
Garage XTi Hoodstruts
XT heated side mirrors
OEM Spoiler
Sold my 16" steelies with 215/60/16 Winterforce and replaced with 03 WRX wheels with 215/60/16 Hankook iPike.

Interior Mods
4 cargo nets
All Weather mats
tan cargo tray
04 XT black seats (replaced the tan ones)
Homelink in roof liner
Yelnats 5 speed engraved shift knob
RAAMmat on 5 doors and the rear fenders

Audio Mods
OEM 6 disc from XT
MB Quart DSE216 6.5" seperates (front)
MB Quart DKD210 4.5" coaxial (rear)

Other Pix

2005 Forester XT mods:

INTRODUCTION

Exterior Mods
02/03 STi Hoodscoop 12/07
Garage XTi hood struts 12/07
yellow parking bulbs
35/20 tint, 20% on moonroof 3/08
OEM Rear spoiler 2/08
Rockblocker headlight & Foglight film 9/07
blacked out grill 05/08
18 cu. ft. Cargo box 05/08
09 Aero Wipers 06/08
DIY mesh grill 04/09

Interior Mods
4 Cargo nets
Yelnats delrin shift knob 9/07
Homelink in dash 10/07
06 STi steering wheel with custom badge 05/08
Omori 45mm boost gauge in stock location 06/08
06 STi red stitch e-brake handle 08/08
08 STi front seats 05/09
added a 2009 Legacy integrated fob/key

Engine & Exhaust Mods
K&N filter (came on car)
06 STi catback 10/07
Cobb Accessport V1 (running stage 1) 03/08, protuned VF39 04/08
Walbro 255 fuel pump 04/08
Ported VF39 off 06 STi 04/08
06 STi TMIC 04/08
06 STi exhaust manifold 04/08
06 STi catless uppipe 04/08
Cobb hi-flow catted downpipe 04/08
Protune to 280whp/312wtq @17psi 04/08
Protune to 293whp/336wtq @19psi 05/08
SPT Turbo heatshield 05/08
SPT battery tie down 08/08
SPT oil cap 08/08
Subtle Solutions splitter 08/08
Replaced STi muffler with Maddad 2.5" Whisper 01/09
Subtle Solutions radiator shroud 05/09
Replaced SPT heatshield with Subtle Chimney 06/09
8/09 sold the Maddad Whisper and went back to the STi muffler.


Wheels/Brakes & Suspension Mods:
Swift springs 10/07
20mm STi rear sway bar 10/07
Kartboy endlinks- Front and rear 10/07
Whiteline subframe locking bolts 10/07
Whiteline QR rear strut bar 03/08
RE (eBay) Dual tube strut tower bar 03/08
Mo-Boost LLWS 04/08
18x8 Rota Tarmac 3 w/ 225/45/18 Contiental Contiextremecontact tires. 07/08
Noltec solid front endlinks 07/08
RacingBrake Front slotted Rotors/Rear Slotted BBK 08/08
Hawk HPS pads 08/08
replaced Rota Tarmac 3 with 18x8 ASA GT1s 07/09
replaced ASA GT1s with 18x8 OZ Racing Superleggeras 08/09
replaced 16" 03 WRX wheels and hankook iPike 215/60/16 with 17" Rota T3s and 225/55/17 Hankook iPike snow tires.

Audio Mods
JVC KDDV5100- installed 9/07
two JL Audio 8w6- installed 3/08
Soundstream Reference 414s- installed 04/08
A/D/S 335is 5.25" seperates- 04/08
Vifa RM700 7" mids- 04/08


Other XT pix:

Subie meets and get togethers:

 

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Forester #1
Year: 2005
model: Forester X
Transmission: 4EAT
Color: Cayanne Red
Purchase date: 9/12/05
Price $18,500
miles: 62 miles

Notes:
This car was purchased as a daily driver for my wife and it replaced a 2003 Nissan Sentra. We originally were going to buy a CMG 2006 Forester X, but the sale manager mentioned he would give an extra $3k off if we bought one of his 3 remaining 05. We checked them out and my wife loved the color and thought the two tone was more rugged. It already had tint, a bug guard, bumper guard, cloth and all-weather mats and a hatch full of cargo nets. For the price, we couldn't pass it up.

My wife was very happy!

 

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Wheel mods:

The first change made was to find some new wheels. I picked up a set of FXT wheels/tires for use in the summer...

And I painted the stock steelie and put snow tires on them for winter!

In the summer of 2006 I came across a killer deal on some 17 OBXT wheels/tires. The X got the 17", and the 16" FXT wheels went on my 98 Impreza.

When I got my XT in 2007, the stock wheels off it went on the X, and the 17" went on my XT. In early 2008 I traded the 16" FXT wheels straight up for another set of 17" OBXT wheels/tires.

This setup should be on the car for a while now. My wife was getting tired of me changing things on her all the time anyway.

 

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Exterior mods:

Rear gate bar. The bar is designed for the Outback, but it fits the Forester real nice. HERE is a thread with more info.

Bauer rooftop basket with a Thule fairing:

Plasti-dip blacked out grill:

 

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Interior mods


Homelink installed in the roof liner. More info HERE

In 2006 Subaru added a tan trunk mat, so I picked that up

Fancy Yelnats shift knob!

 

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Audio mods:

Here is the single disc that came in the car:

That was soon replaced with a JVC DV-5100 DVD unit.

A removeable dashtop LCD was added to take advantage of the DVD playback features of the JVC headunit. More info can be found HERE

An 8" JL Audio 8w6 was added in the hatch where the pocket use to be:
Install thread can be found HERE

For the door speakers I added MB Quart DSE216 6.5" seperates up front and DKE210 4.5" coaxial in the rear. Everything is powered by a Soundstream P205 5 channel amp installed under the seat.

After I got my XT, my wife wanted the OEM 6 disc from it so I swapped out the headunit, sold the amp and removed the sub. My wife likes it as it is, so I'll be leaving it like that for a while.

 

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Random pix:

 

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Forester #2
Year: 2005
model: Forester XT
Transmission: 5MT
Color: Crystal Gray Metalic
Purchase date: 9/12/07
Price $16,800
miles: 32,064 miles

Notes:

A turbo Forester has been my dream car (I'm wierd like that) since I got to drive one in Japan in 1999. I had a 1998 Impreza that I was about to do an STi v4 engine/tranny/seats swap, but I decided to use that money as down payment for the car I really wanted, a Turbo Forester. After searching around I decided my new ride had to be a 2005 5MT CGM XT Premium.

My favorite style has always been the 03-05, I really wanted a manual, and 05 was the only year you could get the XT in a combo of the big foglight frontend, CGM, and a 5MT with the premium package.

Since it is a fairly rare combination, I had to search nationwide to find it. A forum member happen to have exactly that combo, but he was in CT, a good 3200 miles from me. After several emails and phone calls we worked out a deal and I had the car shipped across the country to me. How to: Buy a car from across the country or out of state (US) - Subaru Forester Owners Forum

I've been loving it ever since!

Current shot-

 

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XT Wheel/suspension mods:

The XT showed up all dirty, with the stock 16" wheels and suspension...

Soon I gave her a bath and I swapped the 16" for the 17" OBXT wheels that were on the X.

About a month later I got a sweet deal on some Swift springs already on OEM struts (Thanks SinginCanary), so with the help of Tre36, I installed them along with an STi 20mm rear swaybar, kartboy endlinks and Whiteline subframe locking bolts. Wow what a difference!

A little later I added a set of Mo-Boost LLWS to go with the STi sway bar, Whiteline subframe bolts and Kartboy endlinks.

Winter setup:

03 WRX 16" with 215/60/16 Hanhook i-Pike snow tires

3/27/08- added whiteline rear strut bar

7/2/08- switched to 18x8 Rota Tarmac 3 with 225/45/18 Continental Contiextremecontacts

7/18/08- replaced the front endlinks with Noltec solid endlinks.

9/20/08- replaced all 4 rotors and pads with RacingBrake slotted rotors and Hawk HPS pads. Up front I stuck with the stock 294mm rotors, but in the back I went with the 290mm BBK, over the stock 266mm size.

Front:

Rear:

 

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XT Exterior mods:

12/20/07- added an 02/03 STi scoop

2/27/08- Added tint 35/20 and a rear spoiler

On 05/09/08 I decided to black plasti-dip an extra grill I had laying around:

04/19/09 I went mesh! Added an old school Subie badge from an 88 GL, and put the 2.5XT badge up front too. I'm VERY happy with the results.

 

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XT engine/exhaust mods:

10/07- added 06 STi axleback (Thanks MannyLegacy)
3/08- Added an Accessport and went stage 1

01/09- swapped STimuffler for 2.5" Maddad Whisper

Over the winter I slowly added parts to my collection:

Then on 4/18/08- PRE installed:
06 STi exhaust manifold and uppipe
06 STi VF39 (deadbolt ported)
06 STi TMIC
Cobb Catted downpipe

I went with a thicker rubber bushing to slightly tilt my TMIC and give good clearance between it and the AC lines. That way I didn't have to try to bend them.

Bobby at PRE then tuned my ride to a smooth 280whp/312wtq

On 05/09/08 I added a SPT turbo heatshield. It should help out this summer and ads a little Bling to the engine bay:

On 08/15/08 I installed an SPT battery tiedown, SPT oil cap, and best of all a Subtle solutions splitter designed for the STi scoop and STi TMIC. You can also see my RE dual tube strut tower bar.

 

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XT Interior mods:

Cargo nets and tray:

Homelink in ashtray area (moving to dash soon)

On 09/18/07 I installed a Yelnats Delrin shift knob.
On 05/09/08 I added a steering wheel from an 06 STi, but kept my XT airbag.
On 05/14/08 added my own custom badge to XT airbag for a better match.
On 6/07/08 I installed a 45mm Omori electronic gauge with green LED lighting in the stock location.
On 8/17/08 I installed an 06 STi red stitch e-brake handle to match the steering wheel.

Here is all of that in one shot:

 

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XT audio mods:

JVC KDDV5100 CD/DVD headunit:

JL audio 8w6 in sub kits on each side:

Driver side (covered the stock grill in black grill cloth)

Passenger side (custom grill with black gril cloth)
I also relocated the 12v outlet to the foam pocket below.

Soundstream Reference 414s in spare tire well

I swapped my full size spare for a donut spare and foam tray, then mounted the amp in the tray for a perfect stealthy fit.

When I upgraded my speakers I RAAMmatted all 4 doors and added my own custom spacers

 

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other XT pix:

Cargo box for road trips!

]

 

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Suby meets and get togethers:

PDX "Rainfest" meet and drive 11/14/07:

PNW Mt. St. Helens GTG 08:

 

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Slowly getting there...

 

[scans007]

Great stuff man.........We were toy'n with trading in the Nitro for a 2nd one =)

 

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Updated a few pix...still lots to go though.

 

[nwjhawk]

Lookin good! Where did you get the tinting done? What brand/type did you go with?

 

[sea-scooby]

Both Foresters had their tint done at Auto Trim Design in Tukwila. It is a 3M charcoal
tint. http://www.autotrimseattle.com/subcategory.php?key=73&subcat=51