I've had no issues with it yet on the '14 FXT, however it did happen once on my 04 WRX. The only big issue I had with the FXT was the seat upholstery cracking (photos in my thread). SoA replaced it on a "goodwill" contingency, and haven't had issue with it since.
Gearing up for my first "long" distance journey in the Forester. Slapped on some Blizzak DM-V2s (225/55 18) and cargo box. Ready for about 3.5-4k miles in the next 3 weeks. Lots of pictures to follow. Decided to run my Work Seeker CXs for another season. I would love to swap them for some Work Emotion D9Rs in 19x9.5 +38, but the finacials are telling me to wait. Going to have my Summer setup powder-coated matte black and use the OEM tires for the summer until they are worn. Hoping 2018 I can switch my Summer setup, but we'll see. My Spring-time list has started: Isolate and fix numerous rattles within the cabin. Replace front Harmon Kardon speakers (still undecided, but will probably go with Polk). Install sound dampening in the front passenger/driver doors. Install 10" sub (most likely in tire well). Slam it!! (Spring time) Most likely do some fender modifications. Maybe some front accents lights in the bumper. Replace exhaust hangers and correct my skewed Nameless CBE.
09 XT owner here so hopefully you don't kick me out of your club lol, but I was wondering if anyone had a jdm "F" emblem lying around.
Which box did you put on your XT? Is it still the stock height? I ask because I'm interested in getting a box for mine, but my garage door is about 7' tall, and I know it'll be tight.
I bought the box from a friend. I think its a Yakima Sport something... its pretty bulky compared to the more streamlined boxes out there. I'm lowered to about a 2 finger gap all around and when I put the box on in the garage, I realized it was too tall to make it out of the garage, so I had to take it off and back out of the garage before reinstalling it. I also have the Thule Crossroad Railing installed. Maybe with a lower profile setup and box you could have clearance. I haven't yet measured my clearance, but I need to do so before I leave. https://imgur.com/a/nwO8i
Fine - I'll start a better SH club! They would look better on my car then your speakers...lol Subtle solutions have them but for a whopping $170! There was one on eBay a couple weeks ago for $70 - should've pounced on it
I pulled a trailer for the first time in the FXT, and I installed the Rally Innovations rally light bar (replaced the SSD bar that I had before). The Rally Innovations bar is way more stable, and it didn't require removing the bumper for install (only the grille). There was a little be of trimming on the stock skid plate and side plastic trays, but nothing bad. I'm liking it overall, but still need to get my Hella's re-installed. As far as towing, the FXT did great! The empty trailer is 850lbs and I only had a couch in it, so probably under 950 lbs total. I'm not sure what you're planning on hauling in the cargo box, but you might want to consider one of these: http://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-deluxe-cargo-carrier-66983.html They have them on sale occasionally for $40, and you can use a 20% off coupon, so it comes down to $32. I just picked one up this weekend at that price (the sale ended on Sunday unfortunately). When I need to carry stuff in it, I plan on using a large rubbermaid tote (for protection and easy cleaning) and strapping it down. I'm also hoping that I have enough clearance from the bumper to haul a set of tires on it (to save my interior a bit).
Oh yea, and I went to the Audi Club's Ice Driving event on Saturday...I'll upload a video eventually. It was absolutely awesome, and they are having several more.
I'm just going to be hauling snowboards and snowboard gear.... keep all that wet ish out of the back.
1st leg of my road trip to Denver is complete. Traveled ~600 miles. According to my MFD, I was averaging 20.4 MPG, traveling 90% of the time at ~80 MPH using the adaptive cruise control. Tires were inflated to 40 PSI, one other occupant, running 91 octane (no stations along they way had 93, which I normally run) and ~150 LBS of gear and a roof box. Weather conditions were good... 50°F and slighlty windy. On the return trip I plan on logging actual data to figure out true MPG.
Nice! And your MPG actually makes me feel a bit better (although I wasn't worried). With snow tires, ski rack, and going about 75 MPH on the highway, I can't get more than 22-23 MPG's. I think the ski rack takes away 2-4 MPG's, esp at higher speeds. Also, I've found that the MFD MPG display always reads 1-2 MPG's too high compared to calculating the mileage using distance driven and gallons added. My past Subaru's have been off by the same...damn you Subaru for false MPG optimist-ism! In other news, I got my Hella's mounted on the new Rally Innovations bar. Next, I'm planning on adding an LED light bar on the underside of the bar. I may eventually move the Hella's underneath (although that will screw up the beam pattern) and/or remove them and/or get smaller LED pods for the top side of the bar....because right now the Hella's are blocking a fair amount of the intake for the intercooler ducting
SWP 2014 Foresters are soooo dumb...SAID NO ONE EVER! Congrats on the purchase! I have to say too, I am extremely envious of the Touring.
Definitely a different place to spend time in, compared to the R53 with sport cloth seats and suspension. I'm liking it so far, hopefully I can keep it somewhat stock.
wrong thread. better here: https://mnsubaru.com/threads/sh1tty-parking-job-call-out-and-picture-thread.38524/
That would be the dealership parking it after they cleaned it up and filled the tank as I was doing paperwork. I made a comment about the parking job.
I have some photos on my DSLR I need to touch up when I get home, but she made it Taos, NM. Four passangers and snowboards... she sure did get dirty, though. Never in my life have I seen red ice and dirt built up so thick. I was rubbing hardcore ice-to-tire on the rears on the return leg. Brought 'er to a Pay-n-Spray and spent about 10 minutes hosing off all the ice, dirt and dust that I collected over the ~600 mile round trip from Denver to NM on back-ass, snowpacked mountain roads. I think some solid corner-balancing will be in the works come Spring time.
That snow looks amazing! PS, a plastic paint scrapper or wooden paint stick, or event better, a plastic paint scrapper duct tapped to a wooden paint stick work great for clearing snow/ice out of wheels and wheel wells!
So Adobe Lightroom isn't being very friendly, so I'll just post these in their original format. This one is before editing: After editing (This is my first attempt at editing photos.... probably a little overkill): The rest are non-edited photos:
Where can I go to have my fenders rolled? I've been to one place locally before and wasn't a fan of the pounding method. I'm also not comfortable renting a roller and attempting it myself.
This warm weather has me itching to start putting my exhaust plans to life but wanted to reach out to the local crew for input. I personally like the sound of the SPT catback best but I have yet to find an exhaust clip of one on an XT mated with a full turboback exhaust. I don't want the exhaust to be very loud when all is said and done. I was planning to do just the catback this spring to maintain warranty like most others and than finish the rest of the exhaust when i get closer to the powertrain warranty ending but now I'm considering just keeping the stock catback and replacing just the jpipe and midpipe (w/ highflow cats and tune) down the road as this will make things a bit louder but under control I'm guessing and to gain the performance and as I ultimately want most in the end.
It sounds daunting, but rolling the fenders yourself isn't tough. Rent the tool from Jeff the Alignment guy, and he will also likely include a heat gun. Use heat, take your time, and go slow, and it will turn out fine. I've done it on 2 cars with no issues. I'm guessing if you do a catted aftermarket j-pipe/midpipe/whatitisontheSJ with the SPT catback, it won't be much louder than the OEM j-pipe. Using the OEM midpipe with Nameless axle-backs (muffled or non) might be your best bet. Based on the videos, the Nameless axle backs aren't too loud with the stock midpipe. The WRX catback will definitely give you more sound, but mainly at low RPM's. It's quite audible, but I'm pretty used to it now, and it's not droney. The WRX catbcak tips does require that you trim the bumper, but the aforementioned Nameless axle-backs are an option as well, and don't require trimming. The WRX midpipe (no resonator) with FXT mufflers makes almost no sound difference.
Thanks for your feedback. So you're saying that u believe the midpipe replacement w/out a resonator won't change the sound much? If so, that is very surprising to me. On my old WRX setup I went with a high flow catted downpipe becuase Cobb claimed that the flow of their catted vs non-catted downpipe would not hinder performance for anything under 400whp and everyone knew non-catted dpipes were considerably louder vs catted and made whichever catback system u chose considerably louder...and smellier... and illegal. This is more than likely why I'll go with a high flow catted jpipe - to increase the flow and keep things quieter. But these are the further clarifications I seek.
I'm trying to get a buddy to sell off his WRX exhaust since he went full aftermarket, so that's good info. Anyone making extended hangers to reduce trimming the bumper?
I believe that it doesn't change the sound much because I compared them myself Here's a video...I only did a startup in the video with wrx midpipe + fxt mufflers, but there really is not an appreciable difference. Even the stock FXT midpipe with no mufflers wasn't that loud. But as soon as I went to the full wrx catback, it was much louder. I am curious what it would sound like with the FXT midpipe and WRX mufflers...maybe I'll experiment this spring. You'd have to hang it down pretty low...the quad tips do not fit in the existing openings at all. That said, once you trim the bumper, it doesn't look too bad - you can see what it looks like in my video.
Picked up: Grimmspeed Bro-Tie bracket/Hella Supertones/Wiring components right before Christmas, SmartTap from Diode Dynamics last week (~$50), a '16 WRX cat back last night ($125!!), a heat gun to get ready to cut the bumper today (8.99) . I think it's needless to say I am ready for some spring projects! I am just over 55k miles, which means warranty is up in a few thousand miles... not planning on much more, but if that changes, it can potentially start changing soon!
The itch for installation is here! I need to pick up some gaskets first, and am hoping to set a good few hours/ full day aside so I can get some test videos with the various set ups while it's all happening (stock, WRX midpipe w/Stock mufflers, WRX Midpipe with WRX mufflers... etc.) . Before I put mine under the knife, I'd love to see yours one more time. I have the heat gun and different cutting tools, but did you trim from both sides, or just one? My fear with this is that they will 1) Be uneven 2) Look like junk.
You should check out last humans garage on YouTube. This guy does a lot of videos on his wrx and his wife's forester. In one of his videos he figures out that the tips come off the mufflers of coarse he figures that out after he installed the wrx mufflers and trimmed his wife's bumper .
Just got the wheels back! Turned out amazing. Had them done at Adrenaline Powder Coating in White Bear Lake.
