Here's my list of performance mods:

* snorkus removal for custom cold air intake
* metal front strut tower bar by SPT
* SPT 18mm rear sway bar
* 16"x7" aftermarket alloys (wider than Subaru's)
* 225/60HR16 87H tires (wider, higher load rating)
* SPT short shift lever
* trunk monkey, of course!

Non-performance items are too numerous to list. I'll leave that for another topic.

What about you?

-juice

Don't have a Forester, but my wife wants one and I've always dug them. If you desire a more rugged machine here's 2 pics and couple links for ya.
<IMG SRC="http://www.powerup.com.au/~colfam/anew1.jpg" border=0>
<IMG SRC="http://www.autocaresubaru.com/forester2.jpg" border=0>
Scorpion (http://www.powerup.com.au/~colfam/)
ISR (http://autocaresubaru.com/)
Though you've probley allready seem them.



[This message has been edited by jaybird (edited January 29, 2001).]

Any turbo'd ones out there? http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/biggrin.gif

Being a Forester aficionado (OK, fanatic), I recognize both!

The first one, with the flares, is as shown in the Yahoo Forester Club. He's got Lovell 2" lifting springs, lift kit, and a complete swap of the front and rear ends, as you can see. He's been all over the Australian Outback in that one - they really do very serious off-roading, mostly on beaches. The rear tire carrier is unique.

The 2nd is iSR's project car. It has different springs that also give a 2" lift, plus a 2" lift kit, and wheel spacers to fit those massive tires, way oversized. He's up a good 5 inches from stock.

Funny note: they sell lift kits for Imprezas! Can you imagine? Springs alone give a 1.5" lift, and the kit gives another 2". So you could buy a WRX wagon and lift it 3.5", and end up with more clearance than most SUVs have!

I won't comment on how it would handle, but still...

No turbos I've heard of, and believe me I've looked. I would like to be the first, but this is the main family car, so we've kept it civil for the most part.

The sweet thing is almost all Impreza parts fit. Most of my mods are SPT stuff for the Impreza.

-juice

Subawally. That's the name of the guy who owns the first one.

-juice

A Forester topic! This is too cool! http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/biggrin.gif

Performance mods? Pretty similar to juice's:

- De-snorkused
- Amsoil air filter
- SPT 18mm rear sway bar
- Philips Vision Plus H4s

Non performance mods:

- 20% Madico Neutral Smoke Metallic tint
- Sony Xplod 3-way speakers (front)
- Polk 501a coaxials (rear)
- Yakima Steelhead bike rack
- Yakima Buttondown 6 Ski rack

<IMG SRC="http://albums.photopoint.com/j/View?u=1495716&a=11281970&p=39579456" border=0>

Ken
98 Forester S 5MT

[This message has been edited by Ken S (edited January 30, 2001).]

The only mod I've done so far is to put a set of Fiam electric horns on. Sounds like a 57 Buick ( LOUD!!! )

Does anyone know if a 205/75/15 Bridgestone allterrain tire will fit a Forester.Looks pretty tight back there. I need something more aggressive for dirt road driving. I don't want to lift the suspension & loose that great handling. I had these on my Fourunner that I sold to get the Forester.Very good tires IMHO.

Thanks
Chuck

A Forester forum-yes! Have a 2001 Forester A/T -mods include JC air intake/strut brace/sway bar also added a fuel pressure guage and some engine dress up. Interior has sheepskin seat cover and new Sony front door speakers. Need to do a muffler and some better rubber when the weather warms. Other than that-I quit-it's my daily driver and I have a street rod to meet my other needs. Glad to be here!

I'm surprised Sugar hasn't posted here she drives a Forester http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

I haven't done much to the forester yet as it is the Wife's Subaru.

I recently put a turbo on the RS, and have verified the all of it will fit perfectly on the Forester. So if I ever get bored of the Turbo RS... http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/biggrin.gif

Has anyone put the Forester hood from Japan on their US Forester? If you get a turbo, you could go with the top-mounted IC with that hood.

BTW Everyone on Yahoo avertise that this forum is available now. I would but I can't hit Yahoo from work (proxy).

Aaron http://www.azscooby.com

The Prodrive tuned Foresters in the UK are very tempting. It shouldn't be too difficult to adapt a turbo kit from an Impreza to the Forester, but i've never really looked at what kind of space there is to work with under the hood.

The one with the gray fender extension looks pretty cool. Kind of like a cherokee.

20mm rear sway bar
STi taillights
JDM clear corners
JDM Forester letters on the trunk lid

I forgot a couple:

* Hella H4+30 "Xenon" bulbs
* Highway Blaster horn (honk instead of beep)

Some of the Yahoo guys have fit 205/75R15s and they didn't rub, but it's *very* close. I'd actually check the tires themselves, to see how much taller they really are.

Someone also said 215/70R15 fit.

I have 225/60R16s, but my rims have a offset that put them 15mm outward. No rubbing whatsoever.

Here is a directory of my site, which has links to photos of everything I've done:
http://thejuiceman.homepage.com/juice4/page4.html

-juice

My only mod is a K&N filter. I don't trust foam type filters.

I am curious. My Forester S has some Goodrich tires in the stock size (215-60/16) that are very slightly wider than the OEM Golandars. There is barely enough space to get a finger between the tire and the nearest point on the suspension. How did you get the wider ones to fit?

All I've done is swap in an 18mm SPT Impreza rear bar and add Yakima crosstops and a brand X set of kayak cradles. I haven't had the factory crossbars on in ages; when I'm not paddling I just leave them all off.

I'd like to add an Amsoil filter but concerned over the potential harm to the engine vis-a-vis the few hp increase I'd see over 3K rpm. I drooled over the 17" Prodrice wheels I saw in the UK but realize that's not compatible with some of the rural road driving I do. Also would like to add a mild 2.5" muffler - Stromung seems good but I've read plenty here at i-club that would steer me clear. Specifically, their early rust-out. I know there are decent stainless mufflers for Imprezas (I think STi even makes one) but not sure if they're bolt-ons to the Forester.

Topic for another thread, maybe?

Ed

[This message has been edited by lark6 (edited January 31, 2001).]

The Forester's exhaust is slightly different than the Impreza's, so don't assume an aftermarket exhaust that fits one would fit the other.

I've heard the 2.5" can cause a loss of low-end torque, since there's less backpressure. 2.25" seemed to be the consensus, AFAIK.

98: my 225's fit because I have different wheels, with different offsets. I got 16"x7", which are also half inch wider than stock. The offset is 15mm different, so it sits more than half inch further away from the spring base.

Clearance is tight but it fits. I actually have another 1/2" or so to the spring base in back. It's the front that's closer - barely 1/4" to the front splash guard mounting point.

-juice

I've had my Amsoil filter in now for about 8 months and no problems whatsoever. I also have the Phase I DOHC engine so I get the benefit of the sturdier hot-wire MAF, however. The filter is actually very beefy. It's a two-stage design, meaning that there is a coarse foam and fine foam. I'm pretty confident it does at least a good a job at filtering out dirt as paper.

As for exhausts, Stromung has a specific product for the Forester. I believe it's a single pipe design vs. the twin pipe for the Impreza.

Ken

Can someone tell me if the impreza sway bar will fit for the forester or do i have to buy a forester specific sway bar.

I feel for you guys as My SHO came stock with that moronic tire size. The problem is that the only decent tires I've found in that size are all seasons. The performance tires are all 225/55's or 225/60's.

Anyhoo the Forester STi II looks sweet. I think the Fog lamp covers are a great way to make a the car look more unique. The Hood SHOULD fit also.

RS*R,

Sway bars for the Imprezas are 100% compatible with the Forester.

Ken

Yes, the sway bars fit.

I've heard the stock bars are shaped slightly differently, but even they still fit.

-juice

The photo of the lifted Aussie Forester, if it has a manual tranny, also has a dual-range, and I also believe it has only a 2.0L engine.

Bob

My '99 L has the following:

K&N drop in Filter
Borla Gen 3 header
3A Racing dual-3"-tip resonated muffler
17x7" BSA Wheels (Enkei Suzuka knock-offs)
235/45 17 Low Profile performance tires
KYB AGX adjustable struts
FHI (2.5RS) Springs (lowers 3-3.5" from stock)
Cusco polished-oval front strut bar
Cusco polished-oval rear strut bar
Cusco lower bar
18mm Anti-Sway Bar
Arospeed hyper-white Xenon bulbs (headlights)
Sylania(?) hyper-white bulbs (foglights)

Hopefully I will be putting in a turbo in the upcomming month or two. I will definately keep you all posted on how that goes.

FYI:

SUVTWO, has most NA mods (intake, full 2.25" exhaust, SAFC, lower profile tires) and had practically a dead even 1/4 against an auto RS with intake.

Not bad, plus better head-room!http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

Rich dont forget his borla headers, syms grill,syms suspension, all kinds off goodies, I dont know if im supposed to tell but he now has cobb cams and heads..shhhh. hehe

Jay McDade