Our Forester

Yep. After much deliberation, we went with the 2004 Forester 2.5 XT. The reasons for snagging Subaru’s wagon/CUV thing over the likes of a Legacy GT wagon or even an Outback XT are numerous, starting with the fact that some lucky soul was signing the papers on the five-speed Outback I laid eyes on way back when while I was on the phone with the dealer. Figures. Knowing turbo family haulers with a row-your own transmission are about as common as pimp-walking leprechauns, we jumped in on the Forester. We’ve racked up around 2,000 miles so far, and I’m more than happy. After trekking up to Sevierville to have a look around Jeff Horne’s collection, I shot through the Smokies for a little soul-cleansing time on the tarmac up there. Since the Forester’s based on the Impreza platform, you get pretty smart handling from this box, and torque from the turbo’d flat-four is golden. I’ll probably have to do something about the brakes in a hurry. Since this is to be the wife’s full-time driver, I don’t see myself tracking down STI parts to swap on board – at least not suspension wise.

Yep. After much deliberation, we went with the 2004 Forester 2.5 XT. The reasons for snagging Subaru’s wagon/CUV thing over the likes of a Legacy GT wagon or even an Outback XT are numerous, starting with the fact that some lucky soul was signing the papers on the five-speed Outback I laid eyes on way back when while I was on the phone with the dealer. Figures. Knowing turbo family haulers with a row-your own transmission are about as common as pimp-walking leprechauns, we jumped in on the Forester. We’ve racked up around 2,000 miles so far, and I’m more than happy. After trekking up to Sevierville to have a look around Jeff Horne’s collection, I shot through the Smokies for a little soul-cleansing time on the tarmac up there. Since the Forester’s based on the Impreza platform, you get pretty smart handling from this box, and torque from the turbo’d flat-four is golden. I’ll probably have to do something about the brakes in a hurry. Since this is to be the wife’s full-time driver, I don’t see myself tracking down STI parts to swap on board – at least not suspension wise.

Posted By: Zach Bowman | 4 Comments »
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4 Responses to “And The Winner Is…”

  1. Pixel says:
    September 11, 2009 at 11:07 am

    Winnder?

    Reply
  2. Mad_Science says:
    September 11, 2009 at 11:41 am

    Cool!

    Welcome to the cult–I mean family!

    Just got my WRXagon back from the dealer (60k miles in 2 years, no issues yet!) and we’re committed to driving this thing until the sun collapses.

    I concur on the need for brake upgrades. Even my 06′, with vented rotors and 4/2 pot calipers f/r leaves something to be desired. In my case, it’s just pads, though.

    As I understand it, it’s pretty easy to swap in higher-spec rotors and calipers from other Subies. Hooray for using 80% of the same chassis parts across several models.

    Reply
  3. Paul Y. says:
    September 11, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    Good choice!

    If you find it a bit tippy, try WRX struts and springs — they’ll lower the car a bit to standard Impreza height (as for spring rates, I don’t recall offhand, so consult NASIOC or similar).

    Reply
  4. Zach Bowman says:
    September 14, 2009 at 5:03 am

    Thanks, guys. I wasn’t dead certain I’d made the right choice until this weekend. The wifey and I took it up to Virginia for a friend’s wedding, and playing around in the twisties around my old house sealed the deal.

    I’m eying WRX or STI springs and struts and stainless brake lines to take care of my major woes, but other than that, it’s great!

    Reply

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