RE: Turbo Forester is back, officially
Discussion
Pique said:
I check the classifieds daily for a sensibly priced FSti - most seem to be horrendously overpriced or sheds though!
Got to buy privately...I got mine in July last year. 05 plate, good condition, all the option packs, remapped to 340bhp, 43,000 miles for £8.5k. Bargain methinks. Had to take the train to Stockport and have a day off work but well worth the effort! beergibbon said:
Got to buy privately...I got mine in July last year. 05 plate, good condition, all the option packs, remapped to 340bhp, 43,000 miles for £8.5k. Bargain methinks. Had to take the train to Stockport and have a day off work but well worth the effort!
Would love to - but I never see them in PH classifieds or eBay classifieds. The owners club doesn't seem to have much traffic in the way of sales. Where to look? Yours sounds perfect 
TORQ said:
No idea!
Fitting a transmission with rubber bands and expecting it to last is laughable.
It will go wrong. It will cost a fortune to fix.
Why do Subaru insist on slowly, painfully committing corporate suicide?
To be fair they're not rubber bands and the belt technology itself is actually quite interesting, but I've yet to encounter one that has achieved the efficiency and performance that was promised by the manufacturer and wasn't noisy and horrid to use when not pretending to be a proper auto.Fitting a transmission with rubber bands and expecting it to last is laughable.
It will go wrong. It will cost a fortune to fix.
Why do Subaru insist on slowly, painfully committing corporate suicide?
I had an 2004 Forrester STi, BEST car I have ever had.
Lotus Elite V8 ( yes ); Lotus Excel SE; BMW M5; Impreza Turbo ( Before they were trendy ); Legacy Bi-Turbo.
I ran the Legacy for 7 years, then the STi for 6 years. Couldnt think what would be better allround.
Bought an RS6 Avant (to race down-hill skiers ?? ), but it was very frustrating. 600 bhp and two tonnes of technology !!. Downsized to an S4 Avant, far more useable, but still not as FUN as the Forester STi.
Ran it for 6.5 years, bloody quick, 100% reliable, advert on PH, first person to see it paid cash !!.
Cost me £25k, 6.5 years later I got £8.5k. For the enjoyment and practicality - unbeatable.
Absolutely Brilliant. VBR Chris A.
Lotus Elite V8 ( yes ); Lotus Excel SE; BMW M5; Impreza Turbo ( Before they were trendy ); Legacy Bi-Turbo.
I ran the Legacy for 7 years, then the STi for 6 years. Couldnt think what would be better allround.
Bought an RS6 Avant (to race down-hill skiers ?? ), but it was very frustrating. 600 bhp and two tonnes of technology !!. Downsized to an S4 Avant, far more useable, but still not as FUN as the Forester STi.
Ran it for 6.5 years, bloody quick, 100% reliable, advert on PH, first person to see it paid cash !!.
Cost me £25k, 6.5 years later I got £8.5k. For the enjoyment and practicality - unbeatable.
Absolutely Brilliant. VBR Chris A.
LukeyLikey said:
I'm not sure what your problem is with the importer but you are wrong on many levels. Importers have very little say on the structure of model ranges. Usually, importers who want to profiteer offer very small model ranges. When you look at the Subaru range over the years, it has always been very big - expensive for the importer but better choice for the customer.
As for the Japanese market specials, most of those cars are actually illegal for an official importer to introduce due to emissions and type approval legislation. Due to a loophole in the law, a 'grey' importer, who has much less intention and ability to meet warranty obligations, can type approve these vehicles on a 'single unit' basis and sell them. The industry has long complained about it because the playing field is not level and grey imports often rely on the goodwill of the official importer and dealer network when things (inevitably) go wrong.
All these importers make repeated requests to be supplied the same products as grey importers, properly engineered for the destination market (think about it, why wouldn't they? - None of them are in the business of not selling cars) and are consistently refused. Manufacturers are never happy that unofficial product finds its way into overseas territories but they struggle to control their dealers in the local market, who usually supply if asked.
Nothing to do with inept importers. As further proof, the UK importer was responsible for the P1, which they developed with ProDrive at great expense. Without either company the best ever Impreza would never have happened.
Ah, that takes me back... to when we were told that Japanese-spec cars had poor brakes, and rubbish tyres, and no crash resistance, and no theft-proofing, and spares were not available and even if they were nobody west of Nagasaki could work on them, and anyone who drove a grey import would die a horrible death as their JDM car left the road at the first UK corner and disintegrated into a flaming ball of inferior parts, unless they were lucky enough to have it stolen first. As for the Japanese market specials, most of those cars are actually illegal for an official importer to introduce due to emissions and type approval legislation. Due to a loophole in the law, a 'grey' importer, who has much less intention and ability to meet warranty obligations, can type approve these vehicles on a 'single unit' basis and sell them. The industry has long complained about it because the playing field is not level and grey imports often rely on the goodwill of the official importer and dealer network when things (inevitably) go wrong.
All these importers make repeated requests to be supplied the same products as grey importers, properly engineered for the destination market (think about it, why wouldn't they? - None of them are in the business of not selling cars) and are consistently refused. Manufacturers are never happy that unofficial product finds its way into overseas territories but they struggle to control their dealers in the local market, who usually supply if asked.
Nothing to do with inept importers. As further proof, the UK importer was responsible for the P1, which they developed with ProDrive at great expense. Without either company the best ever Impreza would never have happened.
I thought the official importers gave up rubbishing the grey market about 10 years ago. Toyota have certainly been quite happy to take my money for JDM parts for the last 8 years or so.
Edited by gareth_r on Tuesday 27th November 16:40
Had two...
2003 2.5 NA (Aussie spec)- Mileage on this was heaps better than the Saab900 Turbo Classic... or Mazda MX-5- for 1 year
2004 2.0 XT (177 bhp).. loved it... Mileage was useless- about 330 miles to 1 tank on the highway- in town (umhhhh 240?)..for 7 years
Sold it at 7 years old (circa 60K miles) only (replaced with a Merc E200 which is just begging for a brabus chip)..
Things that go wrong.
Rear dampers will go..
Clutch will wear out (esp. if the wife like driving it around town because it - as she puts it... goes exactly where you point it regardless of the road surface).
Front shockers will go
Wheel bearings go (sounds like a the diff is whining)
Burns oil (they all do that sir)
But.
They handle tidily (bit rolly) for a estate that will green lane, take 5 people and their luggage to the beach or skiing (when everyone else get's off the road, this thing kept you secure and would keep on trucking).
Only ever got stuck it in once... and had to take a stronger run up the snowy/icy slope to make it.
The aerodynamics are sooooo. crap.. that putting an roof box on- makes no difference to the fuel consumption!
I utterly love them (still regretting selling this one- never quite trust the Merc not to have some weird electrical failure).. because they were utterly unstoppable- and great fun (even with te slightly weedy engine!).
The biggest complement I can give this is that it took us two years to sell it- only because we couldn't think of what to replace- there was and still is nothing like this for the price.... it with (had fast Audi's and they make me cold, look pretty but no soul).
2003 2.5 NA (Aussie spec)- Mileage on this was heaps better than the Saab900 Turbo Classic... or Mazda MX-5- for 1 year
2004 2.0 XT (177 bhp).. loved it... Mileage was useless- about 330 miles to 1 tank on the highway- in town (umhhhh 240?)..for 7 years
Sold it at 7 years old (circa 60K miles) only (replaced with a Merc E200 which is just begging for a brabus chip)..
Things that go wrong.
Rear dampers will go..
Clutch will wear out (esp. if the wife like driving it around town because it - as she puts it... goes exactly where you point it regardless of the road surface).
Front shockers will go
Wheel bearings go (sounds like a the diff is whining)
Burns oil (they all do that sir)
But.
They handle tidily (bit rolly) for a estate that will green lane, take 5 people and their luggage to the beach or skiing (when everyone else get's off the road, this thing kept you secure and would keep on trucking).
Only ever got stuck it in once... and had to take a stronger run up the snowy/icy slope to make it.
The aerodynamics are sooooo. crap.. that putting an roof box on- makes no difference to the fuel consumption!
I utterly love them (still regretting selling this one- never quite trust the Merc not to have some weird electrical failure).. because they were utterly unstoppable- and great fun (even with te slightly weedy engine!).
The biggest complement I can give this is that it took us two years to sell it- only because we couldn't think of what to replace- there was and still is nothing like this for the price.... it with (had fast Audi's and they make me cold, look pretty but no soul).
On my third forester. Had an S Turbo, S Turbo Prodrive and now a non Turbo for the winter. When I bought my first one I thought it was ugly and had a horrible interior. However it was the most practical, reliable and do anything car. We used to drive it from the UK to Hungary twice a year, took it up mountains in Slovakia and diving in Croatia. Can't fault them apart from the odd expensive part. Had one of them for over six years which was quite an amazing length of time for me.
Thinking of swapping my non Turbo for a Turbo although you lose the switchable low/hi 4wd.
Thinking of swapping my non Turbo for a Turbo although you lose the switchable low/hi 4wd.
I would guess that the Forester turbo for the UK market is one of the more obvious victims sacrificed to the new socialist religion of anthropogenic global warming. The emissions will probably make it too expensive on VED for buyers at its likely price point. Sanjobanjo summarised the major borks very well. The rear shocks on XTs are self-levelling; they cost ~£450 each & are outlived by the Higgs boson (3 sets in 60K miles). Convert them to standard using aftermarket kits. The wheel bearings take the whole hub with them when they go, & main stealers will relieve you of nearly £200 each for replacements. ARB links don't last long & are also expensive. Not sure if the manual Forester has the dreaded DMF like the Legacy. The fuel consumption is high & so it suffers from that perennial bugbear of petrol Subarus, poor range. Watch for terminal understeer if you go into a stiff corner RWD-style on a trailing throttle. And yet, and yet...what else can blow away a queue of hat-wearers Nissan Micras at one go & still climb a 1in 5 hill on sheet ice?
Edited by blartbox on Wednesday 28th November 09:11
Picture of the turbo model. Note that there is no scoop 
http://www.subaru.jp/forester/forester/index.html
http://www.subaru.jp/forester/forester/index.html
I've been trying to get my hands on a imprezza estate for weeks now, and keep having what few there are around being bought out from under me before I can get to them.
...seems like Subaru turbo estates are a popular buy. It's almost as if people were expecting a bad winter or something.
...seems like Subaru turbo estates are a popular buy. It's almost as if people were expecting a bad winter or something.
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