Subaru Forester STI: PH Fleet

The Forester finally finds its voice

From the day I first test drove the Forester I was thinking - and saying - "love it, just needs a bit more burble" and, finally, a year into ownership I've sorted it. We'll get to the fun stuff shortly. First the painful bit...

Remember I left you last time anticipating a cheaper service bill? Didn't quite work out that way and in the end it just tipped into four figures. Should have remembered this from my previous stint as a Subaru owner - lovely cars but spannering never seems to come cheap. I don't begrudge it though; new discs and pads all round for a Brembo set-up - plus braided lines to improve the pedal feel while they were at it - was never going to be cheap and I knew from the start the brakes needed an overhaul.

The guys at Richard Henry Motorsports struggled to source Brembo discs and pads for the rear so I've got Pagids on there instead; no great shakes and the pedal now feels nice and firm as it should. In addition they did a general fluids and filters service, replacing a front anti-roll bar drop link along the way and sorting the faulty speedo converter that was putting the car into limp mode above 3,750rpm.

With insurance renewal too it's been an expensive month, Adrian Flux malleable enough to trim the bottom line back to the same as last year having blamed an initial 15 per cent hike on the increase in insurance premium tax. It spared the odious task of ringing round and I think both parties can come away from that phone call satisfied with the outcome.

Enough about that though. I want to tell you about my new exhaust! Now I had to tread carefully here because Mrs Trent uses the Forester as the daily runaround and very much didn't want it making any more noise than it did as stock. Fair enough but even STI's OE system strangled the sound too much for my tastes and I wanted my Subaru to sound like a Subaru. I wasn't after full-on chavtastic chugga-chugga, just a bit more burble.

I got a tip-off Litchfield were selling off a load of Subaru stock but sadly missed the boat on any of the Milltek stuff they used to do. Then I remembered from back in the day that Hayward & Scott stuff was always well rated, looked pretty stock and was on the subtle side in terms of noise. They do a full three-inch system but I wanted to keep my standard look and opted for a 2.5-inch backbox for starters; not cheap at £276 but you get what you pay for and the guys at Richard Henry were impressed at how well it fitted compared with some of the bodged cheapo systems some people go for. It sticks out from the bumper a little more but isn't too bazooka-like in diameter and should dull down a bit with a few miles. Which will be good because, as yet, there have been no domestic rumblings. In fact, I'm not sure she's even noticed.

This is good and exactly as advertised by Hayward & Scott: "Subtle in terms of looks and sound, friendly on the motorways and growls at playtime." From the inside there's just a hint of additional bass to tickle your tummy but from the outside it sounds like a proper boxer four, that distinctive throb present and correct without being intrusive or anti-social. But what do I know; I just spent nine months with a Range Rover Sport SVR and fear my threshold for exhaust noise may have been permanently skewed. I put together a little before and after noise test video clip you can see below and judge for yourself.

I'm chuffed to bits though. But can't help noticing the claimed 18hp increase if I go for the 2.5-inch centre section too. Wonder if I can get away with that?

Watch the video here

FACT SHEET
Car: 2005 Subaru Forester STI (JDM import model)
Run by: Dan Trent/the long suffering Mrs Trent
Bought: December 2015
Mileage: 122,843km (at purchase)
Purchase price: £9,500
Last month at a glance: In for a service; discs, pads and broken speedo on to-do list

Previous reports:
Dan scores himself one of his all-time dream cars
Living the Subaru lifestyle dream
Dan versus JDM wind deflectors (with a little help from Sticky Stuff Remover)
JDM habit runs deep in the Trent family which could prove costly