My 03 forester automatic, 154k miles, bone stock, 17" legacy gt wheels,is due for head gaskets, timing pulleys etc. My question is, is there anything I can do to give my car a little more power without being an impractical daily driver? I know being an 03 it was designed to be efficient but its just flat out a turd. I had an 03 forester 5spd that seemed to have twice the power as my auto does. Is there some emissions junk i can safely get rid of? Ive aslo been considering a cheap set of headers. I have had countless subarus byt this thing is slower than my old 85 GL, its sad. It still runs good, doesnt have bad piston slap, doesnt burn oil, and gead gaskets are barely seeping. Any help is appreciated!!
I would think that with the lack of problems, which is rare, that you should leave it alone! Or swap a 5spd in it? Lol
Its been a great car, no oil leaks, or major issues to speak of. Was adult lady driven its whole life, my wife drived it most of the time and she cant drive a 5spd.
You can wire something to make it permanent 4x4 instead of a heavy FWD bias. Then you can have mad driftbaru
So its equal length headers that gain the most power and not unequal correct? Is there much gain with unequal?
Ya ive heard that quite a bit also but there has to be some emissions items that could be deleted or some sort of restriction that could be enhanced. I know this year in particular had a huge efficiency push that drastically affected the power and reliability, if i didnt like the car so much id go back to an old legacy wagon with a 2.2L.
you have a 4cyl NA automatic AWD SUV. You've literally got everything going against you. There's a reason you've 'heard that quite a bit', there really just isn't **** you can do within what I would consider a reasonable budget. The return on investment is so low it's just not worth it.
Ive had a few 95 legacys with 2.5, several 93 and older legacys with the 2.2, an 85 GL with the 1.8, an 02 legacy gt, an 03 forster 5spd, 98 outback 2.5 dohc, and others im sure im forgetting and they all seemed to have twice the power! I guess ill just tow the subaru around with my 2013 fiesta, that little pop can is suprisingly quick.
is something broken then? If it's truly as bad as you say, it sounds like it's not operating properly.
I dont know? Everything seems to be functioning correctly, only engine code is for gas vapor recirc leak, not burning oil or coolant?
Its just a vapor recirculation leak and from what ive heard its a pain to fix and doesnt affect the car anyway. And im guessing that even the tribecca with the 3.0 is faster than my slowaru. It has to downshift to 2nd when going up average hills while driving down the freeway at 70mph.
So when was the last time you changed your spark plugs fuel filter air filter all these items? What are you getting for MPG?
I think i swapped out the plugs a year and s half ago with iridium plugs, fuel filter no idea (will do this weekend) air filter is in good shape, mileage has alwas been around22-24. My other forester with the 5spd would get around26-27. It seams soooo restricted when you try to accelerate almost like youve got your foot half on the brakes (the brakes are fine, not sticking). It seams like its trying to suck its air through a straw and push the exhaust out through another straw if that makes sense lol.
Ive condidered putting more frer fliwing intake on it but have issues in the past with other vehicles leaning out, anyone ever had thus issue with a NA 2.5?
have you checked to see if your intake inlet is maybe collapsing? Doubtful on an NA but maybe worth checking to see how hard it is to squeeze it off.
I would not recommend an Intake without a tune. Could try a better flowing drop in filter like an K&N filter however.
I was thinking a mandral bend with a k&n but thought it might be too much, the inlet on stock is ridiculously tiny.
E-brake stuck? Wheel bearings on the way out (are they howling)? Plugged up cat possibly? Maybe it's just a turd...I've never driven one. I would think intake and exhaust would help wake it up a little bit...
IIRC, the stock n/a motors for that model used copper spark plugs. You may want to try going back to the stock plugs and see if that helps, but like everyone else said, you're driving one of the slower models in the lineup to begin with and there isn't much you can do with them. Headers, intakes, etc are going to give very, very minimal gains. The reason your other cars probably felt faster was that they were lighter than the Forester. It's not a racecar, it's a point A to point B car in all weather. I'm guessing there isn't anything wrong with it, it's just not a fast car to begin with.
Also, there isn't much for emissions stuff that you can delete. The 2003s didn't have the secondary air pumps and some of the other emissions items that came out in the later years. It's possible you've got a plugged cat, you could buy a high flow cat and have a muffler shop install it in place of the factory cat. However, a plugged cat would likely set engine codes.
Ebrake is fine, brakes are fine, bearings are good its probably just a turd. Im basically just looking for suggestions regarding factory restrictive parts that can be removed or modified.
Im doubtful about a plugged cat since it doesnt burn any oil or have any sootcaround the tailpipe but is something ill look into.
So basically you want to be told to add an intake and exhaust, because you want to add an intake and exhaust.
No intake and exhaust would be a lsst step if its beneficial, mostly trying to figure out if any stock restrictive parts ciuld be eliminated or modifed which im hearing isnt really anything.
I think it's been answered a few times. Its a na auto forester, there's just not much you can do to that car to get any noticeable gains. Just buy a cheap wrx. Problem solved. Except tht its another Subaru
You might be on to something. Original post mentions it has 17" wheels on it from a Legacy, but there is no mention of tire size. I wonder what the overall tire circumference is compared to what is supposed to be on the car?
They are 215-60r17s originals were 215-60 16s so yes they are a little bigger, LS swap would solve my problems exvept id end up working it once a week instead of once a year.
Tire diameter and circumference is 3.9% larger than OE (provided the 215-60/16 was original equipment - you can't assume the last set on a used car was factory correct). So...does anyone know what the effect is on acceleration with this taller "gearing"? Is it linear? Does the car accelerate 3.9% slower?
