Hello all. My wife and I purchased this car today. It's our first Subaru and will be a car that we both share. This thread will serve as my photo dump and maintenance log. I'm pretty amazed at the car. It drives really well, feels solid, and has no problem getting up and going.
The car has 153k on it. Plans are to change the oil and check/change other fluids as needed before doing other fun things to it. Maintenance and keeping it in tip top shape is top priority. On to the pictures!
Wiped down the interior and changed the oil today. Very happy with how well kept the interior is as it wasn't that dirty at all. I'll take some proper pictures sometime this week of everything.
Thanks! All I have identified is the STI top mount and the forge wastegate actuator. My wife has been taking the car to work because her main car (CRV) is having some small issues at the moment. Between taking care of that and getting another car ready to sell, I haven't had much time with it.
Edit: after closer inspection, the WGA brand is tomioka racing.
Looks like you definitely have a turbo-back exhaust, I'm assuming mid-pipe has been replaced along with muffler and downpipe sections that I can see are obviously aftermarket. Are you running any kind of tune or is it running the stock tune as far as you know?
What are your plans for the vehicle? Are you looking to keep it stock, minimum mods for maximum fun, or are you looking to throw everything and the kitchen sink into it?
If you don't get any other mod, the one thing I would recommend is a Cobb Accessport, a V2 will do you just fine if you can find an unmated one for your car that's in good condition, but if the V3 is in your budget ($650), get it, its worth it for the gauge monitoring ability alone.
It does have a turbo back exhaust and it's on the stock tune as far as I know. Mods for it will be pretty minimal to be honest. I'm not new to modding and know what kind of headaches it can create lol. Creating headaches on my personal car is OK but is not OK when the wife also drives this car and she has a long commute Will be keeping it as is for the most part with small aesthetic changes. An access port will be purchased sometime next year. An aggressive tune to squeeze out as much power as I can is not what I'm after. Would just like to get a tune so it runs more efficiently and not super rich which I'm assuming how it comes in stock form. And yes the gauges on the unit is a definitely plus.
edit: Ordered 2 uncut oem keys and an additional key fob.
Finally got time to get some proper photos! Took the time to clean the windows, check oil, and check brake pads. Pad material looks pretty low so I'll be ordering replacement pads and rotors tonight.
Rear quarter panel rust kind of bothering me. Might go get a quote on repairing those. The rust on the passenger side is worse than the driver side.
What is the name of this pipe that has exhaust wrap on it? I want to remove the wrap because it looks pretty terrible.
Nice ride, welcome! I love the Crosstrek wheels on it, but man those floormats...any plans for WeatherTech or Husky?
That mummy is the Header. I would clean all that wrap off it as it doesnt look like its helping ..if ever.
Thanks! Yeah eventually we'll grab some weathertech floor mats. Thanks for the info on the header. I'm going to take off the wrap for sure cause it looks terribad.
Been MIA for a while dealing with family things and stuff. Just now getting back on my to-do list for the Subaru. Only issue since my last update is the exhaust it came with separated so it was extra loud for a bit. Picked up an Invidia catback and installed it over the weekend. Just ordered a PCV valve kit (with the hoses), Extra S trans/diff fluid, and exhaust hangers to replace the current ones as they're really old and saggy.
Dropped the car off a couple weeks ago at my friend's shop and picked it up today. Suby's got new front and rear brake pads and rotors, new front passenger caliper, new pcv valve, front and rear diff fluid changed out, and a new wing. Brake components used are Wagner coated blanks with StopTech Street Performance Pads. PCV valve and diff fluid is from Subaru.
Nice looking Foz! Looks like you have the original plastic OEM radiator in there. Those are known to fail after ~100k, and cause overheating. Good item to replace because: the cluster does not exactly light up like a Christmas tree if/when you run low in coolant and overheat: so if your radiator fails and your engine overheats you may not notice it until your motor is totally hozed.
Nice looking Foz! Looks like you have the original plastic OEM radiator in there. Those are known to fail after ~100k, and cause overheating. Good item to replace because: the cluster does not exactly light up like a Christmas tree if/when you run low in coolant and overheat: so if your radiator fails and your engine overheats you may not notice it until your motor is totally hozed.
Yeah. Didn't even notice how hard it is to come across a manual XT until after our purchase. Thanks for the tip on the radiator. I'll have to put it on the to do list. Surprised ours is the original at ~161k lol. I'll most likely shop around for a full aluminum one.
Changed the oil today @ 161,450 miles. The stock header, which the previous owner used header wrap on, has a hole in it. No surprise there. Ordered and received an OEM header replacement from eBay and it's in pretty good shape. Got all the gaskets from grimmspeed. I've been hitting the hardware with pb blaster every other 2-3 days or so. Not sure when I'm going to tackle it but I'm really afraid the studs are going to snap lol. Been fortunate my other car's haven't given me so much trouble with rusty hardware. The subaru says my easy streak is over.
replaced the header over the weekend. everything went smoothly. the wife was really curious about how the exhaust putty and band-aid (installed on july 4th) held up on the old header and surprisingly it's still intact. just the pieces around the repair flaked off if you chipped at it.
A few weeks ago, we took the car on a 800 mile day trip to go pick up another forester xt (wife's idea, she's hooked lol). Car made it to destination and back home without a hiccup. So the car has turned into my daily since I got rid of my daily. I'm trying to figure out if I want to keep it or not right now. My thought is not right away since I'd like to enjoy it since having to put in so much time and effort to getting it to its current state.
Ten years ago, I bought my first Forester and absolutely loved this car. It was a 2.5x and I made so many upgrades to this car. I posted many of those on this forum moons ago. So, now it is time to start a new thread for the 2019 Sport. I can hoestly say that this is the first new Forester I...
After a rather long and very frustrating search I Finally found an XT that I was willing to pay for.
it’s not stock and it’s not an ‘05 like I would’ve preferred, but a lot of the mods are stuff that was on my list anyways, the previous owners just went the wrong direction with the...
Hi everyone,
Just setting up my first journal for the swap I’m about to do. Currently have an 05 Forester XT with a 2.5 that’s now a paper weight. I’ve settled on the EJ20X swap. Will be moving all the 2.5 accessories over to the new engine, changing out the timing belt, water pump, maybe the...
Well, here I am again.....
Flash back 5 years or so. Bought a 2004 xt 5speed. Modded it. Motor blew up two winters ago. Parted it out and scrapped the shell....... Big mistake.
How it looked when it got scrapped.......
Currently driving this:
08 base 5speed. It sucks.
Bought this...
So here goes my thread....
Current Mods:
Engine
*IAG stage 1 with STI nitrated crank and rods, Manley forged pistons, and ACL bearings
*Subaru OEM Engine Block Heater (p/nA0910AS100)
*IAG Competition AOS
*ARP head studs
*Killer bee oil pick up
*Blouch 18G-XTR ceramic ball bearing turbo
*PTP...
We’re the best Subaru Forester Owners Forum to talk about the best years of the Subaru Forester, modifications and reliability history of the Subaru Forester.
Will be keeping it as is for the most part with small aesthetic changes. An access port will be purchased sometime next year. An aggressive tune to squeeze out as much power as I can is not what I'm after. Would just like to get a tune so it runs more efficiently and not super rich which I'm assuming how it comes in stock form. And yes the gauges on the unit is a definitely plus.
