I would love to know what they did to the rear suspension. That would have had to swap out the upper and lower control arms or they would have some MAJOR rubbing issues on the body. After you install sti suspension in the fxt, you have less than 1/2 inch between the upper control arm and the body. Russ
Seems a bit weird to me. I guess they got the drivetrain swap too (didn't watch the video, just read the text), but a full engine swap just for an STI engine is a lot of work for fairly little real power gains. The current FXT engine is quite close in spec to an STI engine. Nice looking car and well done, regardless.
I saw this on nasioc. pretty cool, but a weird way to spend 40-50k. thats the price the guy said it would cost for someone to do it.
I likey....But i guess they want to create more options for STi brands as in SUV....since STi is always more appealing to most Subaru enthusiasts.
I don't see how spending that much money for a swap is worth it. Couldn't that money go to upgrading the current engine and wouldn't you gain more power by going that way?
Well, engine stuff is not needed. I put down 320ftlb at the wheels on my fxt with a td04 and a wastegate that blows open as soon as you get any boost behind it (and that is on RS's dyno), so their 300ftlb isn't any real accomplishment. And I was just under 200whp with little to no boost and on a td04. Front suspension is a swap, no issues. Transmission and rear end are just a swap and the normal issues you would have with a auto to manual swap. And most of the parts COULD be found off of the 2.5X model since they have manuals. Thr rear suspension is what will get interesting. Either they swapped out shocks and the upper control arm hits the body, or they swapped out EVERYTHING for the rear. Upper, lower, mount points, everything. The upper control arm off of the STI/wrx, has a bend in it to clear the body. Thing is, you also need to swap out the lower or do some custom mount work to get any kind of normal wheel alignment. Russ
even still, we are talking about 10K - 20K on top of the Forester price. Don't you think that money could be spent on better things than an STI engine that isn't too large of an upgrade?
I think you guys are missing the point, they're showing that they could do it and how the end product can look and perform in an OEM fashion.
So you think $40 grand for the Forester and the wrecked 08 STI complete drive train? Where is this deal at? My guess is that it is The Forester plus $40 grand for the bits and the 40 man hours.
It's cool to see it done but I personally would've used that 40K on a different project, sti with a built motor maybe.
huh, that is an expensive point to make. props to them for doing it. but i still don't think i could build a case to sell myself on this idea. too much money for too little gain.
if its a shop vehicle and being used to showcase what your shop can/does do... i get it. for the people looking for an oem-ish set up without going balls out (as stated they did with the 04), this would be an upgraded option while retaining all the goodies that the stock car offers.
I can't watch the vid again right now, but I believe he said "we had an opportunity to purchase a salvaged 08 STi" not a freebie.
