Considering moving from WRX Wagon to Forester STI

[bonesX]

Then I would say there was some issue with your car as mine, and the others I have been in are razor sharp and stay quite flat (You Tube the V B-H Anglesey test) in OE form.

[ginger steve]

That test shows nothing in terms of its handling capabilities (hardly road driving style!) and lets face it a Forester STI would be a poor choice of car to take to the track. As I say it was a good road car and i would certainly consider another. At the ned of the day handling preferences are a personal thing i just felt the car had lack of body control (expected in something like this) and therefore more of a point and squirt machine.

I did have my suspension checked over and it was fine.

[bonesX]

What do you mean 'something like this'? A Forester is an Impreza with a different body

I like the long (er than an Impreza) travel suspension. Its compliancey just eats crappy UK roads

[ginger steve]

Just giving an opinion based on my experience for the OP - not driven a Impreza so I wouldn't try to draw any comparisons. The OP has an Exige so I would say the FSTI would make a good companion.

Seriously though 'razor sharp' is a bit OTT to describe the handling! I was just being realistic.

[Fleetwood]

In terms of handling it's all relative.

I see GingerSteve has owned an elise and currently has a Caterham Superlight so the term 'Razor Sharp' is probably not a term associated to a 4x4.

I would say tho, that for this type of car i.e. a 4x4 with plenty of carrying space it probably offers the most fun handling combination. I've tried early turbo cayenne's and later x5's for instance and they can be blitzkreig fast but a bit boat like in comparison.

You do need to watch out with FSTI's when you go for an alignment that the operator doesn't apply the UK Forester XT settings which happened to mine and caused terrible tyre wear and poor handling as they didn't apply the right level of camber front and rear (I now go for custom settings or set it up myself).

You can track these things too and they are good fun!




Also... the video is a bit grainy but here is Dan from Ireland drifting his at Mondelo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH6qxMpjDLY

Sure I would like a Caterham in my garage but currently funds and garage won't fit one so the Forester has to currently do the job!

[bonesX]

OK, razor sharp was my counter to Steve's boat like, which the FSTi most certainly is not, and I've owned an Elise and a Seven (~500Kg BEC) kit car.

Here's mine at a pretty much legal corner speed. All things considered, remaining flat, composed (albeit with a inside rear lift) and predictably playful

[Ryvita]

Thread Resurrection!

I finally got one! Blue Litchfield car, 66K miles, with AP Racing 6 pots on the front as well. From Wynford, the dealership mentioned above. First thoughts: My god it's fast. Tracking, anti-lift kit and ARBs needed to curb a bit of the body roll, and maybe a slight lowering?

Will get a photo up soon. Anyone want my old WRX wagon?

[Ved]

Excellent, well done

[Ryvita]

[Ved]

Ooow facelift too! Very nice Quite an upgrade from a WRX, isn't it?

[Ryvita]

Isn't it just! About 100 bhp more and over 150 LbFt more, with a commensurate upgrade to brakes from the AP 6-pots. It's taking a while to adjust to the ride height is the only thing, and I may look at the Tein superwagon coilover kit to lower it a touch.

At the moment I feel like I'm towering over things slightly. My other car is a Lotus, which could probably drive straight under the FSTI at the moment.

[Ved]

Coilovers will ruin it

[Ryvita]

What would you recomend to dial out a bit of the roll? Uprated ARBs only?

[Ved]

Yep a nice whiteline ARB. I think it's a 22mm one as standard so you might want to try a 24 or an adjustable one. I have 22mm front and back in my XT and it's nice and flat

Have a look for some lowering springs afterward if that's not good enough for what you're looking for. Basically anything you can do on an Impreza can be done on a Fos.

[Ennoch]

If you're looking at doing anything with the suspension then I would seriously consider the offset caster increasing top mounts from Whiteline (Com-C's). I fitted them to my Impreza recently and the difference has been night and day, to the point that I am happy leaving the stock ARB's on there (I've also got rear camber bolts and an Anti Lift Kit fitted). It totally transforms turn in and steering weight which I always found to be a bit iffy on the standard cars, but without increasing rattling etc that's associated with solid style adjustable top mounts. I believe that the Forester already has the lower droop rear wishbone mountings (ie the anti-lift) but you can also fit the offset seperate bushes from the likes of Superpro or Whiteline to these to gain similar benefits. There are a lot of guys on the American forums who have been heavily into tweaking the Foresters for sometime. DirtyImpreza is a useful base for Forester info. I think a Forester STI is possibly on the cards for when I eventually replace the WRX...

[bonesX]

Congrats on a great purchase

But really, get used to the car before jumping into any modifying, especially when it comes to suspension

IMO, I think STi did a brilliant job on the FSTi's handling, not to mention the whole package with it's nice interior bits from the Spec C. I mean, the seats are some of the best Subaru seats I've tried

The FSTi is more about weight transfer than being an all-out tarmac terror machine - think of it more a gravel track rally machine

Its 'longer travel' suspension is just brilliantly suited for UK roads. The rougher things get, the more the Foz likes it. That's the character of the car

The OE fixed perch will be a million times better than almost any coilover, and remember, the FSTi has already been significantly lowered, it wont take much more without spoiling the handling

ARB's: I was prepared to go to town on mine when I bought her - as I usually do on my Impreza's... but no. I fitted a thicker rear bar which trimmed the handling overall, and increased the car's rotation to a more balanced, provokeable over-steer (my pic above), but that has been it - nothing else. I really don't think it needs it

You've got your Lotus for the all out racing, just as I have my Type R Impreza. The Forestrer is an immensely capable cross country tool, still remains nimble in the twisties and is an easy daily drive with its extra half litre capacity

One thing I did do is fit Performance Friction front pads - that made a huge difference and took away the slight loss of confidence pushing on

Keep us posted, and enjoy

[Ryvita]

Good advice all, and I'm certainly not going to rush into anything until I've got at least 1000 miles under the wheels. I'd definitely like to get it out on track somewhere where I can get a (safe) feel for the limits. At the moment I think it's a confidence thing that I'm just not quite sure what it will do when provoked, and the height of it (by comparison to the lotus particularly) leaves me feeling nervous.

I think I'm fine on braking capability with AP Racing 6 pots on the front.

I did 500 miles in the Lotus at the weekend combining a wedding up north with a detour via the Evo Triangle. Need to do the same roads in the FSTI.

[Fleetwood]

Agree with everything that BonesX says, rushing into suspension changes can ruin a car and the standard suspension is a pretty good compromise of civility and handling plus being able to cope with B road bumps is a must in this country.

ARB's are a good place to start, the early FSTI (SG9C and D) has the uprated rear ARB plus mounts (19mm) but the later ones go for the XT one (17mm) so I would change back to the 19mm if you have a later one as the change looks like a cost saving measure.

The facelift already has additional caster added of over the original Forester STI so I don't think that an ALK kit or anything that adds caster by changing the top mounts is necessarily a good use of resources.

Coilovers... not much choice for the FSTI, most of the FSTI specific sets are available in Japan only and the AST option offered by Litchfield is generally rated as under developed and poor with a number of owners swapping them back to original suspension. BC Coilovers or Tein are probably the only ones easy to come by over here and might seem unsophisticated compared to what you are used to on your lotus...
Fpan over at subaruforester.org has had custom bilsteins made but they aren't cheap.

[Ennoch]

Fleetwood said:

The facelift already has additional caster added of over the original Forester STI so I don't think that an ALK kit or anything that adds caster by changing the top mounts is necessarily a good use of resources.

They don't have that much do they? I know they have greater anti-lift characteristics than the Impreza front end but as far as I know they still benefit from the offset bush which helps increase camber. The standard Impreza settings are woeful for caster and thus dynamic camber disappears the harder you turn which is partly what contributes to that front end pushing that many owners complain about. I wasn't aware that the Forester was significantly better, while changing offset mountings around and spacing wishbones out can totally transform the figures and thus the handling.

[bonesX]

The castor amounts pre & post face-lift owners report seem the same (~3 to ~3.5°) What makes you think there is more?

Although I am happy with the way the Foz handles and think it a good balance, the Forester would benefit from more as 3 and bit degrees is pretty low