Importing Forester STI

[vxr2010]

H and S are good , for a bit more noise and better flow do the mid section delete , the sports cats can be done , i personally would not , i am greedy and bought two of them , the one with the standard cat runs very well i prefer it to the sports cat one , a good remap will make a lot of difference , coilovers are a good move too , little needs doing to them as they were very good to start with

[david1972]

Thanks OP for the write up - I can imagine how excited / nervous you are; even just reading it

I'm a regular trawler of Goo-Net and the auction lots and spend hours salivating over FSTI's - it is definitely going to be my next car after my JDM Blobeye Impreza WRX auto.

Please do keep this updated; it will be a fascinating read and (as you say) resource for the future; especially as I live in Co Durham, so Newcastle would be 'my port'.

Your example does look good in the pictures; I'm sure it will be as good in the metal.

Which is the dealer you found that kept 'immaculate stock'?

PFA

[Cpt Flashhard]

david1972 said:

Thanks OP for the write up - I can imagine how excited / nervous you are; even just reading it

I'm a regular trawler of Goo-Net and the auction lots and spend hours salivating over FSTI's - it is definitely going to be my next car after my JDM Blobeye Impreza WRX auto.

Please do keep this updated; it will be a fascinating read and (as you say) resource for the future; especially as I live in Co Durham, so Newcastle would be 'my port'.

Your example does look good in the pictures; I'm sure it will be as good in the metal.

Which is the dealer you found that kept 'immaculate stock'?

PFA

Nice wheels mate, the one thing I can't believe from the auctions is how well they maintain their cars (externally at least). Even those with 160k kms on them look incredibly neat and tidy. Yeah I've had a load more pics sent through and an update that it's now on its way to the shipping yard where Goo-net will take further pics before it is loaded on the boat. Seeing it in the metal is a hugely exciting prospect, tempered only by Mrs M's comments: "Ugly", "noddy car" and "I'm not driving it". As she rarely has to drive mine at the moment it's an unlikely prospect, but the day will come which I think will be hilarious as she anti-lags off down the road in the shouty blue wannabe rally car.

The dealer is the one with that apple logo, will try to find their details and post them later

[Cpt Flashhard]

vxr2010 said:

H and S are good , for a bit more noise and better flow do the mid section delete , the sports cats can be done , i personally would not , i am greedy and bought two of them , the one with the standard cat runs very well i prefer it to the sports cat one , a good remap will make a lot of difference , coilovers are a good move too , little needs doing to them as they were very good to start with

Thanks for the info, have to do a bit of man maths to prioritise what needs doing and what can wait!

[david1972]

Cpt Flashhard said:

Nice wheels mate, the one thing I can't believe from the auctions is how well they maintain their cars (externally at least). Even those with 160k kms on them look incredibly neat and tidy. Yeah I've had a load more pics sent through and an update that it's now on its way to the shipping yard where Goo-net will take further pics before it is loaded on the boat. Seeing it in the metal is a hugely exciting prospect, tempered only by Mrs M's comments: "Ugly", "noddy car" and "I'm not driving it". As she rarely has to drive mine at the moment it's an unlikely prospect, but the day will come which I think will be hilarious as she anti-lags off down the road in the shouty blue wannabe rally car.

The dealer is the one with that apple logo, will try to find their details and post them later

Thank you - top man!

I've registered with JDMauctionwatch today

Edited by david1972 on Tuesday 13th March 16:42

[Shinobi]

Well done on your purchase! You won't regret it, I purchased mine 4 years ago from Torque GT and love it.

H&S Exhaust and some updates discs and pads is enough for me. Handles like a dream and as it's used as a dog wagon and regularly sees the Brecon beacons I didn't want to reduce the ride height.

Particularly impressed with it in the snow and drove down to Italy a couple of years ago, didn't miss a beat.



Enjoy!

[Cpt Flashhard]

Shinobi said:

Well done on your purchase! You won't regret it, I purchased mine 4 years ago from Torque GT and love it.

H&S Exhaust and some updates discs and pads is enough for me. Handles like a dream and as it's used as a dog wagon and regularly sees the Brecon beacons I didn't want to reduce the ride height.

Particularly impressed with it in the snow and drove down to Italy a couple of years ago, didn't miss a beat.



Enjoy!

Congratulations sir on an epic pic! Is this the dis-used French track somewhere near Amiens? We drove through France about 10 years ago and came across it, bizarre as it's just an A-road plainly along what was the main straight with the paddock buildings and grandstand still there.

Yes, mine will have to be a do-it-all wagon so I think I'll be holding off any heavy mods. One two-foot tyrant, one to add, 2 dogs, live in North Yorks but potentially commuting too. I've started taking the train a lot more but there may still be the odd trip along the A59 to Skipton / Preston / A66 to Carlisle.

How often are you servicing yours? I've seen some very helpful suggestions from MDMA/ Greygrey / manwithnoname that it's oil and filters every 5k?

[vxr2010]

oil change wise , depends on how you drive it , subaru say 10k miles i do it around 7.5 as per classic service schedule , 5 unless you are tracking it is probably an over kill , just use a good oil

[Cpt Flashhard]

vxr2010 said:

oil change wise , depends on how you drive it , subaru say 10k miles i do it around 7.5 as per classic service schedule , 5 unless you are tracking it is probably an over kill , just use a good oil

Cheers vxr, did you mention you run coilovers too? Have you changed the rear ARB?

[Cpt Flashhard]

[url]



Okay some excitement today, just been sent the photos from the shipping company, the car having arrived at the port. I also have the export certificate (almost entirely in Japanese) and the shipping instruction, on which the bill of lading will be based. Docs look fine, car looks good out of the showroom too!

And I know what you're all thinking (as I was) - what the hell happened to the gearknob

I've asked and we'll find out. Turns out the boat is arriving earlier so is now set to sail on the 26/3. I thought I recognised the name of the firm and you may recall that car transporter that nearly turned turtle in Southampton a few years back (Hoegh Osaka). All sorts of industry-wide issues with loading weights were identified following that etc so fingers crossed someone has done their sums this time...

Edited by Cpt Flashhard on Tuesday 20th March 13:11

[MDMA .]

Doesn't look like it has factory fog light or adjustable headlights. They sometime pinch the red stitched 6sp gear knobs as quite expensive. Might turn up in the glove box when it lands though.
Looks like they've only fitted a front parking sensor to the NS. Did you get the JEVIC certificate with it too? Always good for peace of mind.

Edited by MDMA . on Tuesday 20th March 15:36

[vxr2010]

The rear arb is worth doing on standard suspension , but the car rides a lot better on coilovers and it’s not worth doing arb and coilovers you will probably not notice it much , coilovers are like night and day , yes a bit of a harder ride but just set it to softer settings

[Cpt Flashhard]

MDMA . said:

Doesn't look like it has factory fog light or adjustable headlights. They sometime pinch the red stitched 6sp gear knobs as quite expensive. Might turn up in the glove box when it lands though.
Looks like they've only fitted a front parking sensor to the NS. Did you get the JEVIC certificate with it too? Always good for peace of mind.

Edited by MDMA . on Tuesday 20th March 15:36

Front or rear fogs? Haven't seen many facelifts through the auctions / autotrader with front fogs. Fingers crossed for the gearknob, otherwise it's a nice milled aluminium job I reckon.

Weirdly from looking at the other pics it has parking sensors everywhere except OSF...? Unhappily they also appeared to be linked to the JDM satnav / radio combi unit. This may present something of a challenge to my local Halfords.

JEVIC in hand! Boat on approach to Hiroshima, due to arrive tomorrow.

[Cpt Flashhard]

vxr2010 said:

The rear arb is worth doing on standard suspension , but the car rides a lot better on coilovers and it’s not worth doing arb and coilovers you will probably not notice it much , coilovers are like night and day , yes a bit of a harder ride but just set it to softer settings

Which coilovers are you on VXR?

[MDMA .]

Cpt Flashhard said:

Front or rear fogs? Haven't seen many facelifts through the auctions / autotrader with front fogs. Fingers crossed for the gearknob, otherwise it's a nice milled aluminium job I reckon.

Weirdly from looking at the other pics it has parking sensors everywhere except OSF...? Unhappily they also appeared to be linked to the JDM satnav / radio combi unit. This may present something of a challenge to my local Halfords.

JEVIC in hand! Boat on approach to Hiroshima, due to arrive tomorrow.

Rear fog. Switch is normally to the right of steering wheel. Just looks like rear demister only. Don't let them screw one underneath on the SVA test

[Cpt Flashhard]

MDMA . said:

Rear fog. Switch is normally to the right of steering wheel. Just looks like rear demister only. Don't let them screw one underneath on the SVA test

A true eye for detail!! Underneath on the dashboard? Do you have a pic of your foglight install MDMA?

Cheers

[MDMA .]

See below. From the left- rear demister, headlight adjuster, fog light. Mine is factory fit ( maybe winter pack? ).

[vxr2010]

BR coilovers , not sure which one , but go with the softer version , my fog light is factory fit too , ive not read all the posts is the control/switch you are talking about for front fogs which are non standard on a fsti on at least a around 2004 plus ?

[MDMA .]

vxr2010 said:

BR coilovers , not sure which one , but go with the softer version , my fog light is factory fit too , ive not read all the posts is the control/switch you are talking about for front fogs which are non standard on a fsti on at least a around 2004 plus ?

Rear fogs and headlight adjusters. Looks like OP car is missing the switches ( unless moved on the facelift ), but sure in same place.

[vxr2010]

A typo by me above should be BC coilovers , but i also found the tein basic ones work well on my wagon , the price of the Tein were 505 to the door , height adjustable but not rebound but the re bound setting was actually set very well by Tein , switches are the same and same location on a new or slightly older shape Fsti , i think either new or old look good