Got rid of my WRX for something with more room and ended up with a 15 XT in Ice Silver. A few small things completed with a few more planned. Hello all- 2015 Forester XT Premium- Ice Silver As it sits right now: NEW Stock PLANS Exterior JDM STI Front Under Spoiler or JDM Front Bumper Skirt (Can't decide yet) OEM Fog Light Kit- Installed- July 25, 2014 3m Clear Bra: Front of Hood, Front of Front Fenders, Mirrors, Headlights, Full Front Bumper, Full Front Installed- July 25, 2014 JDM Lip 3m 1080 Black Carbon Vinyl Wrapped: Front Grill Chrome, Window Chrome - Installed- August 2, 2014 3m 1080 Gloss Black Vinyl Wrapped Roof (Not sure on this one yet) Window tint: 50% Front + 5% Moon Roof - Installed- July 30, 2014 LED Interior Lighting Swap Interior Pioneer NEX Head Unit Focal Components/Speakers Sound Deadening: Doors, Fenders, Floor, Spare Wheel Well Exterior Lighting VLED Front Turn Signals - Installed- Julyl 31, 2014 VLED Rear Turn Signals - Installed- Julyl 27, 2014 VLED Brake Light LED City Lights - Installed- Julyl 31, 2014 HID Retrofit JDM LED DRL XB LED Fogs- Installed- August 2, 2014 Suspension RSR Down Lowering Springs - Waiting to be in stalled Whiteline 22mm Adjustable Rear Sway Bar - From WRX Whiteline HD Rear End Links - From WRX Whiteline Lower Support Braces - From WRX
VLED Triton v3 Rear Turn Signals: Hands down the best LED system to plug'n play for LED's. Build quality is second to none and they are versatile and can be converted to fit many different sized sockets! Got around to installing these this afternoon. I didn't get the fronts done as I assumed they had the same bulb as my WRX. New adapters are on their way to get the fronts done next. Install was super easy. Only nervous part was wondering how I was going to mount the ballast as my WRX had a huge opening down behind the bumper cover, not so much with the Forester. VLED Setup LED Bulb Ballast and bulb wired up Bulb in the socket Ballast Mounted with heavy duty velcro VIDEO: Sorry I don't know how to insert Vids here and have them play here. LEFT Stock bulb + RIGHT vLED Both LED Close up
congrats on the purchase. they gave me a '15 forester for a rental, and honestly its persuading me to get rid of my wrx eventually. XT of course
Thanks! I really didn't want to get rid of the WRX but since getting this I haven't even missed it. Best way I can describe it is it's quick, but not as "violent" or "raw" as the WRX felt.
3M 1080 BLACK CARBON VINYL FOG SURROUNDS *I have never worked with anything vinyl before, I can't even stand putting screen protectors on my phone...not the same thing but still! This 3m stuff is pretty amazing and fairly easy to work with. Tools Hair Dryer 12" x 12" piece of vinyl (I used half for each fog surround so each on took a 6"x12") Plastic Trim Prybars Sharp exacto knife Removing trim pieces from bumper a. I used a thin plastic pry bar and pried on the top (prying down) of the fog surround until it popped (very light pressure) then the bottom (prying up) and it popped out very easy. b. Take your time and work the plastic clips on the back side to separate the chrome trim piece. 1. Clean all surfaces thoroughly 2. Cut your vinyl with ample extra to fold over 3. Make sure you have heat handy 4. I flipped the fog surround upside down onto the face down vinyl to get it lightly to stick 5. Flipped it over (right side up) and started working it around 6. Take your time and heat is your friend!
MORIMOTO XB LED FOG LIGHTS WITH LAMIN X FILM These things fit perfect! Output wise, they are pretty close to OEM, just a different look. They definitely don't look as bright as the subispeed HID's however these fit the housing much better than those it seems as no gasket is needed to seal the housing. Overall very happy with them! Tools 10MM Socket Phillips Very short or 90 Phillips Flat head/Trim clip removers A Blank Wall for aiming Once the fog surrounds are out (see above) it is time to pop out the oem fogs 1. I undid 5 Clips on the bottom (3) holding the front splash guard (2) larger ones connecting it to the bumper (1) 10mm or Phillps Screw *Sorry no pics it was really dark in my garage. It's pretty self explanatory once you get under there 2. There are only to things holding the fog light into the housing. A bottom 10mm and a top plastic phillips clip 3. They are really easy to aim, you can tell where the light output is on the horizon, I had to aim mine down a bit from how they came. Fog light housing Top Right is the back side of the plastic phillips clip and lower right is the 10mm screw Left side is only held in by slits in the housing, no screws needed. Fit Fog Surround back in Stock Front End Finished front end Output: EXACT same camera settings in both shots Stock XB LED
Triton V3 VLED Front Turn Signals A ton of room to work from above compared to my WRX! These are wicked bright, same as the rear turn signals.
3m 1080 BLACK CARBON FIBER- GRILL WING VINYL WARP Grill wing is really easy to remove. 1. 10x 8mm nuts 2. Gently pull straight out from the front Subaru badge and it will pop out! 3. Gently pry the plastic clips from the back of the wing one by one- Take your time. I decided to do just the wing as I actually think that leaving some of the chrome around the grill ties in the head lights. Here is a photoshop of it all blacked out vs what I did. All blacked out Photoshop My Wrap Grimmspeed License Plate Delete Process
WHITELINE 22 MM ADJUSTABLE REAR SWAY BAR AND ENDLINKS I have it set on Medium and first impressions are decent. It didn't make as big of a difference on the forester as it did on my wrx, but that is to be expected with a bigger vehicle. It was noticeable however with the back end really following you through the turn and a slight feel of under-steer wanting to happen. I may set it down to soft and see if it feels more neutral but happy so far with the choice.
Nice Fozzie! I have the avh-4000nex receiver. If you have any questions on it, let me know. I'm still waiting for the firmware update for car play.
Nice write ups! Car looks nice. How is the CVT? I would be scared because it is not serviceable but I have read it is pretty fun to drive.
Awesome write ups and love the ride! I like seeing random ambitious projects. Welcome to the forum!! -Josh
Whoa! This thread came out of nowhere, and all I can say about it is the fact I really like what I'm seeing. Welcome to the club and I look forward to seeing more updates.
Thanks guys! It has been pretty fun so far! The CVT isn't terrible, it is better than most I have driven before bit still a bit rubber bandy. Looking forward to some more smallish projects coming up. I am anxious to keep it a pretty simple "clean" project DD. I can't wait for the springs to get on then a nice meaty tire/wheel setup. Hopefully Cobb will release an AP for the new engine/cvt combo in the near future! I look forward to seeing all of your projects as well!
Do you know when this is coming out? That is the main reason I am wanting one. How is it for response, is it laggy? I had avh 5500 bhs in my wrx and liked it but was a little clumsy and not very smooth.
Very nice, and thanks for the great write-ups. I'm actually a little jealous...I've been wanting a new FXT as a DD. I occasionally toy with the idea of selling/trading in the Legacy for one. Looks like you bought the car from Herberger Motors? I see their ads on IWSTI all the time - did they give you a decent deal?
It would be a worth upgrade for a DD! I contemplated the trade for about 6-7 mo before pulling the trigger. Hueberber Motors was great to work with and they deal so much with out of state sales it was seemless. They picked me up from Denver International Airport, drove me down and had the car waiting out front. Since they are such a big volume dealer there was little negotiating on pricing but I got the vehicle at $1200 below invoice. They have to have some of, if not the best vehicle pricing in the states for Subaru's. They are the #1 volume dealer in the country I believe. I know that a guy named Clint used to work there and work the forums but he "moved on" according to Hueberger haha. Now there are two women who run the forums but I worked with Karen Lavvorn who was great. They also give you 25% off all Subaru accessories.
They have posted on their website "Early Summer 2014" but that has long since passed. There are little to no details on when the update will actually come out. Its my first double din touch screen head unit so I don't have much to compare it against. It is laggy but not unreasonably. I would be more concerned about lag when it comes to app control, specifically maps. I would have preferred the avh-8000nex but I didn't really want to spend $1400. I was happy to get the AVH-4000NEX for $440 new and it has every feature I couldn't live without.
Very cool, thanks for sharing the info. Although it doesn't surprise me that the Subaru dealer in Denver is the highest volume dealer lol. I want to go test drive one, but I have a feeling it would be leaving the dealer with me.
New to shooting vehicles, I have shot a ton of weddings and people but cars are new and I am addicted to learning now! Wanted to get some shots with the 50% tint up front and the full stock setup before new shoes and drop tomorrow. Also in big news, I am headed back to the cities to live! Can't wait to meet you guys and see more of you around!
RSR DOWN LOWERING SPRINGS + XXR 527 WHEELS XXR 527 Specs 18x8.75 +35 Tires: Stock 224/55/18 *Future: 255/50/18 I was pretty anxious to see ow the oem tires fit on the 8.75" wide wheels and how the offset paired with the forester. I am not a huge fan of the stretched look and didn't want a huge poke. The setup is pretty aggressive for me but I like it and doesn't look as bad as I imagined it with the stock tires. The rear tires sit about flush and the front poke out about 1/8" with this setup. Install I didn't do much of the install on the springs as I had some buddies do it at their shop. Everything seemed to go really easily. The only fussy part was getting the rear shock assembly out, as we had to unbolt the sway and lower control arm to get it out but that wasn't difficult either. Ride The ride feel same as OEM with slightly less of a "top heavy" feeling from the OEM springs. It is not a harsh ride by any means. Here are some iphone pics until I get go out and take real ones!
Now take some of those front shots, photoshop out the black bumper insert in the middle and replace it with a honking big FMIC, and then just make it happen ; )
Any updates? Are you back in the cities? I'd love to check out the ride sometime! Very interested in a few similar mods.
When are you going to CF/wrap out the rest of the chrime on the grill? I like the look of the photochop that you did! Doooo it! Lol
Hey All, thanks for the replies! I haven't had time to be on here at all since moving back. I am back though and would love to meet up, do some photo etc.
I really liked driving a rental 15 forester when I did have it for a couple weeks. The sun roof is friggin' amazing. I do like what you are doing here. keep up the great work.
Try driving the STi. You will never think the WRX was bad. Coming from my 06 STi to my 13 WRX it was sooooooo much smoother. Switching from 13 WRX to 15 STi I remember the ride and why I liked it. Sick Forester BTW. I like what you have done with it
I am trying not to hop into a new STI haha even to see how it feels! I'd love to get some new photos up here soon!
