i thought my car would look like a ricemobile with the 17's on. really it looks better then a legacy i saw with aftermarket 16's. the ride is harsher than with what i had before, but i had 185/70/R14. i thought i wouldn't be happy with such a low profile tire but the ride is actually nice. i will admit it is rough over potholes and the such, but i think that is partly because of my springs. on wet or dry my car handles much better. i thought for sure the guy would want at least a $1000 maybe more, but he just wanted to get rid of the rims. he is putting the stock rims back on and selling his RS to buy a WRX wagon.
I took my Forester to Custom Tinting near Lawrence on El Camino. I was happy with their work. Tint shops are a dime a dozen. The best thing to do is call around your location and ask for prices as well as how they do the tint. Make sure they go below the window line as well as leave just a bit off the top of the windows. Also, a good place will take their time so it should be at least a three hour job for all the windows behind the driver. For reference, my tint job was about $225 using Madico metallic film.
As for the radio reception, the tint goes on the inside of the window so it shouldn't affect reception.
Tint films take a while for all the moisture to dry away. In the summer it can take a few weeks. In the winter, the time will stretch to a couple months. During the drying time, you can't open your windows. It kind of works out, however, since you probably wouldn't open your windows as much in the winter time.
Lucien, a 17x7 with 48mm offset will rub you need 40mm offset because of the wider rim same for a 16x7 you need 40mm offset any higher off set will rub. Cheers Pat.
I think I will wait a little while since the weather recently is not that good.
BTW, anybody suggestion in changing the Forester rear speakers? I heard Forester use 5" for the rear which is quite hard to find on the market. (right now, I am considering the Polk EX501a
The rears are 5inch & the fronts are 6 1/2 inch. There's not much avalible in the 5 inch size. You might want to check www.crutchfield.com to see what they have. They're a good source of info.
Jack, I was looking for a simple drop in replacement for which the Polk's are, you should be able to fit 5 1/4's in there with a little work, as long as the depth is ok. Definitely checkout crutchfield.com for the Forester, they accurately list the maximum depth available.
Although I am not an audio expert, the Polk's seem to be a pretty good sounding speaker. If you are looking for the best sound quality and or price point, try to find some audio forums and post your questions there as well.
One thing to note, is that the Forester is a cinch when it comes to audio upgrades, as the pop-out panels make it really easy to get at the speakers. It took me about a half hour to upgrade all 4 speakers in mine, including a bit of soldering.
I recently installed the Polk 501a speakers in the back. You'll be suprised at how cheap the OEM speakers are -- and I even had the premium sound system. The Polks, being a true coaxial speaker, have much clearer highs. I can notice the difference when driving. I bought from Crutchfield and the installation is a no-brainer.
You may be able to fit bigger speakers in the rear, but I don't know how much more added benefit they would have. The problem is with the low position of the rear speakers -- they're aimed at the rear passengers feet so you loose quite a bit. I think a set of tweeters in the back mounted by the door would help immensly.
I also have upgraded my front speakers to Sony Xplods. These are 3-way speakers and the difference in this case was pretty big. Again, the "premium" OEM speakers were not bad, but not amazing.
Jack, I replaced the OEM's on my Forester with the Polk 501's in the rear and Cerwin Vega's up front. Anything will be an improvement from the stock speakers.
The Polk's provide pretty good mid's and high's .. plus the swap was a piece of cake. The front speakers required a little surgery. There is a plastic housing (tuff stuff)that the front speakers sit in. I had to hacksaw the entire back of it away. New speakers will make a big difference in the sound quality. - hutch
which is the cheapest I can get(plus free shipping)
Actually, I did go to Good guys to try many of them and found Polk is quite good. EX501a is not found on all the shops including Circuit City. (Only Ex502a which is 5 1/4")
Well folks, the rear air-shocks are gone! Spent about 6 hrs today taking out the old ones and putting on the brand new monroe sensatrac shocks and springs in! Handles like a sports cars should handle now. Wed we will be doing the 2.5RS front struts and springs on it, and I fully expect it to handle very very well after that. Raced around with my buddy who has a 1.8T A4 and kept up with him all the way throught the twisties...
Side note, XT6 hand brake operates the front wheels not the rear wheels.
We had just jacked up the whole side of the car and tried to undo the lugs on the rear wheels, and it would spin... meanwhile I knew the parking brake worked. Sure enough we checked the fronts and there was a mechanism that was the parking brake locking the front wheels.
That all bulbs sold in the US (even if they are E-code H4s) are still not European spec. Every version I've seen have a stamp on them "not for use in Europe"
Drew posted a link in the main topic to a study that showed those were the best bulbs of the kind. Check it out.
The window tint should not affect your rear defrost - mine works fine, and actually fogs up less. I don't have the same antennae.
Loosh: $300 a set? Wow, that's a sweet price!
Unfortunately, I have to agree with Pat. Mine are also 7" wide and have a 40mm offset. And the clearance is very, very tight.
Call them up and ask if it they guarantee it fits, plus get more info if you can, like the weight of the wheels. With tires mine are about 44 lbs, or the same as the 15" steelies.
Increasing unsprung weight, which you will definitely do by going from 15x6.5" alloys to 17x7" alloys, can actually slow you down in acceleration and maybe even overall lap times.
On the other hand, my ride is still more than comfy, so there is more room for lower profile tires.
Both. Shipping would have put it over 700, and I was looking for a reason to back out anyway, since the dog needed surgery on her other knee that month.
Gee, now that I'm part-time, I really am broke. 4 months ago is when I shoulda got wheels...when I had the disposable income!
Well it looks like I may be putting Mr. Juice's rims up for sale...
If my dad doesn't buy them from me I may sell em on here. After consulting with my Mechanic/car salesman/race team captain he said the 6" rim on the forester isn't going to help me much over the 5.5" rim on the XT6 and the extra weight will wind up making it worse.
Anyone have 6" alloys they are interested in trading me? (of course I'd have to fork over some $ in addition to Juice's rims)
I live in Spain. I have a 98 Forester. Handling is OK but body roll is excessive and uncomfortable. I believe it comes with a 13 mm rear sway bar. I am considering installing a ticker rear bar, like a 18 mm. at least. Any insights or experiences on how this may affect handling?
If possible and advisable, will an Impreza rear sway bar fit?
I (with the assistance of "Juice") installed an 18mm bar on my 99' Forester about a month ago. It's an easy job. You will notice an instant change in handling. Less roll and less understeer. I can't think of any negatives. There is no need to change the front bar at the same time. In fact, I would think that doing so would re-introduce understeer. (MHO) Juice added a front strut support .. I'm sure he will add his $.02 in a later post.
Both Juice & KenS have photos of the swap on their websites (don't have the URL's handy)you may want to take a look for reference.
I meant to say 7" alloy rim is what I'm looking for, not 6". Basically an RS or Legacy GT rim would do it. Juice's Forester rims are 15" x 6" Steel (painted)
Also, you could fit Forester S alloys, which are 16"x6.5", or go aftermarket, of course.
Hutch expressed interest in the steel rims for snow tires, so keep him in mind. He's north of Baltimore, so it's on the way to your buddy's house in Columbia, MD.
I'm sure you won't have any trouble selling 'em, but if you end up with a bad case of buyer's remorse I'll buy 'em back from ya.
-juice
PS Tomas - yes, the sway bar is what you are looking for. It's about $80 from Darlene (800-287-1281) for an 18mm bar. You can even get a thicker bar for about the same price, but you may end up with a tail-happy Forester (fun, but not practical). I also have the SPT front strut tower brace, which was about $115. It doesn't reduce roll like the rear sway does, but it firms up the front a little.
Nah, I want 16"X16.5, Actually, I had a thought today. Since I am an idiot if I think I can compete in Autocross in the Outback, I should really try rallycross. If I want to make a big difference in rallycross, I am better off on 15" rims with dirt tires at some point. So actually, I may be better off waiting on this whole thing until I get my feet wet, er, muddy, before making any decisions. $300 would go a long way toward dirt tires on a spare set of (also cheap) 15" rims!
So maybe a front tower brace and diff protector are next?
I've seen '85 Lincoln Town cars do Auto-x so don't count out the OB. I wouldn't even do Rally-x in my old XT6. Everyone I know who's done Rally-x says that you loose chunks of your bumper and the underbody get's torchered to no end. So If I were gonna do Rally-x I'd first start with skid plates front and rear...
I'll sell you 15" steel rims for $150! Of of a forester...
Interesting thought. I found the rally cross rather intriguing, too. Our clearance could actually be an advantage for once.
Tables are turned. Now you could buy the rims from paisan! :-)
What about performance snow tires on the steelies? Then get a summer tire on your alloys. The cool thing is they would be better in ALL scenarios (summer & autocross/winter & rally cross).
The rear skid plate is sturdy and very cheap. I think it was $50 or so. Cheap investment. It covers the rear diffy and the rear portion of the driveshaft, so it's not complete but vastly better than without it, and the rest of the underside is pretty clean (at least the back half is).
The front is tougher, and lower too. Swapping the plastic cover with a sturdy metal one would be a good idea, but it all depends on how the course looks.
I say you and I hit the next one on the 24th as spectators, check it out, decide on setup, etc. Then go from there. Game?
Paisan, I don't want to step in in the middle of a deal that may be going on but I'm interested in the wheels if you want to sell them. I want to put winter tires on the Forester for next season. Of course it may be Lynn's car by then .. but the Geo's are not the best snow tire around.
In the Feb. 2001 of SCC on about page 20 or so (I'm at work, don't have the mag here with me) there is a badass, lowered, tricked 2000 Outback wagon. Hood scoop, rims, it's cool.
...I'm car #23! Let's go, buddy! Yee haw! We can start calling your ride "Grassy," or mebbe jus' "Dirty!" No wait, that sounds bad.... I'm going down Friday the 23rd (my 31st birthday) with Q. She'll be co-driving. Wanna come?
www.dcrally.com
This is a grass course, so I am not too worried about the diffs, but I will get the rear plate before then.
I'm excited. I have no idea how badly I'll do, but I don't care...Happy B day to me (in March, that is!)
Go ahead Hutch, I am staying out of the rim trade until after the 24th of March :^)))
i was over paying out all my money to the guy i bought rims from and he asked me if i was interested in a custom made intake. i have heard you all talk about MAF sensor failure, what is that? and what happens as a result? he is willing to give me a really good deal.
If my dad doesn't take the rims, you are next on the list Hutch. If he does take them, would you be interested in a set of 14" rims from his legacy? They would probably make just fine winter rims.
Hmm, might be Lynn's because you might get a REX, eh? I think the 14"s would cause a loss of ground clearance. The 15"s are already 70 series. Guess you could go 205/75R14 and give up only 1/10th of an inch.
I'll have to check that out, Dave.
Wow, Loosh, you already signed up? I wanted to observe one before participating, but now I'm tempted...
seamus: you have a '96 Legacy? That was the Phast II DOHC, snorkus and all. Make sure that intake will even fit. The '99 and later were different.
Yea, buddy, I'm there. I'm going to see Jake on Saturday to put on my powerstop pads and put in the Motul 600 fluid. I'm now trying to decide what to do next. Tower brace, rear diff protector, or front protector? Primitive sells a front underbelly protector made from 3/16" TIG Aluminum that is Legacy specific. Pricey though.
The front plate is to protect against large gravel/small rocks. It is a skid plate, not meant to handle anything bigger. It is a big piece of metal, and anything other than aluminum would weigh a ton...Paul's stuff comes highly recommended from Jamie (aka Subie Gal). http://get-primitive.com
As for the rally, it is in Orange VA. There is more info here:
It is a long hike to take in the a.m., that's why I'm going down before. It would be cool if you came, just to see it all. Some guy in an Exploder did pretty well at the last one I hear.
Subie Gal runs rally cross all the time, so I'm sure her recommendation has merit.
Still, those prices are STEEP. The OE Subaru plate is the same thickness and costs $55 instead of a whopping $135 for theirs.
Theirs is aluminum, but the welds look sloppy, and it's not painted. The Subaru one I have has far better fit and finish.
Subaru doesn't even market a front one, and at least $199 for a much bigger skid plate seems like a better value.
Wow, that's further than I thought. My dad used to own a lake house around there. It's a good hour and a half, at least. $50 for 3 runs is cheap, though.
I've heard good things about the Primative ones. I'd go for the packaged deal which includes front and rear. Apparently they jack the cars up with em during rallies. Luckily my Trooper has factory skid plate Wow Ralley Cross is almost 2x the price of Auto-x! But i guess the runs are longer.
I would absolutely pay the extra money for the Primitive Enterprises aluminum skidplates. I'm glad you've heard of SubieGal, Juice, but Paul has been rallying with those "only" aluminum skidplates for some time and I have yet to see something bad said about them. Will it bend if you royally smash the undercarriage on something? You bet, and so would cast iron.
It provides better protection and is much lighter though.
Juice,everybody seems to think that aluminum is such a wimpy metal, It definitely is not, check out all the professional rally cars they all use aluminum plates they are into lightness but not at the expense of their expensive machinary so if is good enough for them nough said. Cheers Pat.
While swapping my Blau stereo to the 01 I also swapped the plood for L gray dash pieces... looks great especially with the black Blau. I know the appeal of plastic wood is definitely a personal thing so anyone out there with a 00-01 L that wants wood let me know.
Also tried installing my Cobb short throw shifter. But as I have read on the i-club board this shifter is not always a good fit. First the barrel where the linkage attaches is too narrow (older Soobs?) and second the shifter raises the linkage so much it interferes with the metal around the floor board. Can be modified but given the other issues I think I am going to look for a different shifter. Anyone see the B&M shifter that I have heard about?
Comments
the ride is harsher than with what i had before, but i had 185/70/R14. i thought i wouldn't be happy with such a low profile tire but the ride is actually nice. i will admit it is rough over potholes and the such, but i think that is partly because of my springs. on wet or dry my car handles much better.
i thought for sure the guy would want at least a $1000 maybe more, but he just wanted to get rid of the rims. he is putting the stock rims back on and selling his RS to buy a WRX wagon.
I took my Forester to Custom Tinting near Lawrence on El Camino. I was happy with their work. Tint shops are a dime a dozen. The best thing to do is call around your location and ask for prices as well as how they do the tint. Make sure they go below the window line as well as leave just a bit off the top of the windows. Also, a good place will take their time so it should be at least a three hour job for all the windows behind the driver. For reference, my tint job was about $225 using Madico metallic film.
As for the radio reception, the tint goes on the inside of the window so it shouldn't affect reception.
Tint films take a while for all the moisture to dry away. In the summer it can take a few weeks. In the winter, the time will stretch to a couple months. During the drying time, you can't open your windows. It kind of works out, however, since you probably wouldn't open your windows as much in the winter time.
Ken
Cheers Pat.
I think I will wait a little while since the weather recently is not that good.
BTW, anybody suggestion in changing the Forester rear speakers? I heard Forester use 5" for the rear which is quite hard to find on the market.
(right now, I am considering the Polk EX501a
Rgds,
Jack
Chuck
Although I am not an audio expert, the Polk's seem to be a pretty good sounding speaker. If you are looking for the best sound quality and or price point, try to find some audio forums and post your questions there as well.
One thing to note, is that the Forester is a cinch when it comes to audio upgrades, as the pop-out panels make it really easy to get at the speakers. It took me about a half hour to upgrade all 4 speakers in mine, including a bit of soldering.
-Tony
I recently installed the Polk 501a speakers in the back. You'll be suprised at how cheap the OEM speakers are -- and I even had the premium sound system. The Polks, being a true coaxial speaker, have much clearer highs. I can notice the difference when driving. I bought from Crutchfield and the installation is a no-brainer.
You may be able to fit bigger speakers in the rear, but I don't know how much more added benefit they would have. The problem is with the low position of the rear speakers -- they're aimed at the rear passengers feet so you loose quite a bit. I think a set of tweeters in the back mounted by the door would help immensly.
I also have upgraded my front speakers to Sony Xplods. These are 3-way speakers and the difference in this case was pretty big. Again, the "premium" OEM speakers were not bad, but not amazing.
Ken
The Polk's provide pretty good mid's and high's .. plus the swap was a piece of cake. The front speakers required a little surgery. There is a plastic housing (tuff stuff)that the front speakers sit in. I had to hacksaw the entire back of it away. New speakers will make a big difference in the sound quality.
- hutch
I just order the Polk DX6 for the front and EX501a for the rear in
http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/caraudio/
which is the cheapest I can get(plus free shipping)
Actually, I did go to Good guys to try many of them and found Polk is quite good. EX501a is not found on all the shops including Circuit City. (Only Ex502a which is 5 1/4")
Rgds,
Jack
Side note, XT6 hand brake operates the front wheels not the rear wheels.
-mike
-Colin
-mike
-mike
The Vision plus are the best bulbs I seen todate. They come from England, and are worth every penny.
Russ
-mike
The window tint should not affect your rear defrost - mine works fine, and actually fogs up less. I don't have the same antennae.
Loosh: $300 a set? Wow, that's a sweet price!
Unfortunately, I have to agree with Pat. Mine are also 7" wide and have a 40mm offset. And the clearance is very, very tight.
Call them up and ask if it they guarantee it fits, plus get more info if you can, like the weight of the wheels. With tires mine are about 44 lbs, or the same as the 15" steelies.
Increasing unsprung weight, which you will definitely do by going from 15x6.5" alloys to 17x7" alloys, can actually slow you down in acceleration and maybe even overall lap times.
On the other hand, my ride is still more than comfy, so there is more room for lower profile tires.
-juice
-juice
Gee, now that I'm part-time, I really am broke. 4 months ago is when I shoulda got wheels...when I had the disposable income!
If my dad doesn't buy them from me I may sell em on here. After consulting with my Mechanic/car salesman/race team captain he said the 6" rim on the forester isn't going to help me much over the 5.5" rim on the XT6 and the extra weight will wind up making it worse.
Anyone have 6" alloys they are interested in trading me? (of course I'd have to fork over some $ in addition to Juice's rims)
-mike
Wait, is the 6" rim steel or something? Sorry if I'm daft...
-Colin
If possible and advisable, will an Impreza rear sway bar fit?
Will I need to change the front sway bar as well?
Thanks for your help.
Tomas
I (with the assistance of "Juice") installed an 18mm bar on my 99' Forester about a month ago. It's an easy job. You will notice an instant change in handling. Less roll and less understeer. I can't think of any negatives. There is no need to change the front bar at the same time. In fact, I would think that doing so would re-introduce understeer. (MHO) Juice added a front strut support .. I'm sure he will add his $.02 in a later post.
Both Juice & KenS have photos of the swap on their websites (don't have the URL's handy)you may want to take a look for reference.
- hutch
-mike
Hutch expressed interest in the steel rims for snow tires, so keep him in mind. He's north of Baltimore, so it's on the way to your buddy's house in Columbia, MD.
I'm sure you won't have any trouble selling 'em, but if you end up with a bad case of buyer's remorse I'll buy 'em back from ya.
-juice
PS Tomas - yes, the sway bar is what you are looking for. It's about $80 from Darlene (800-287-1281) for an 18mm bar. You can even get a thicker bar for about the same price, but you may end up with a tail-happy Forester (fun, but not practical). I also have the SPT front strut tower brace, which was about $115. It doesn't reduce roll like the rear sway does, but it firms up the front a little.
-mike
-juice
I'm planning on putting some nice summer tires on em, and save my stock 14" rims for winter tires.
-mike
So maybe a front tower brace and diff protector are next?
Or just buy a lotto ticket....
I'll sell you 15" steel rims for $150! Of of a forester...
-mike
Tables are turned. Now you could buy the rims from paisan! :-)
What about performance snow tires on the steelies? Then get a summer tire on your alloys. The cool thing is they would be better in ALL scenarios (summer & autocross/winter & rally cross).
The rear skid plate is sturdy and very cheap. I think it was $50 or so. Cheap investment. It covers the rear diffy and the rear portion of the driveshaft, so it's not complete but vastly better than without it, and the rest of the underside is pretty clean (at least the back half is).
The front is tougher, and lower too. Swapping the plastic cover with a sturdy metal one would be a good idea, but it all depends on how the course looks.
I say you and I hit the next one on the 24th as spectators, check it out, decide on setup, etc. Then go from there. Game?
-juice
I don't want to step in in the middle of a deal that may be going on but I'm interested in the wheels if you want to sell them. I want to put winter tires on the Forester for next season. Of course it may be Lynn's car by then .. but the Geo's are not the best snow tire around.
Juice .. excellent memory !
- hutch
www.dcrally.com
This is a grass course, so I am not too worried about the diffs, but I will get the rear plate before then.
I'm excited. I have no idea how badly I'll do, but I don't care...Happy B day to me (in March, that is!)
Go ahead Hutch, I am staying out of the rim trade until after the 24th of March :^)))
i was over paying out all my money to the guy i bought rims from and he asked me if i was interested in a custom made intake. i have heard you all talk about MAF sensor failure, what is that? and what happens as a result? he is willing to give me a really good deal.
-mike
I'll have to check that out, Dave.
Wow, Loosh, you already signed up? I wanted to observe one before participating, but now I'm tempted...
seamus: you have a '96 Legacy? That was the Phast II DOHC, snorkus and all. Make sure that intake will even fit. The '99 and later were different.
-juice
Check out the Scooby one when you get it. We're talking a thick plate of steel, probably enough to support the weight of the car.
I doubt aluminum would protect as much. You could damage your oil pan, exhaust, etc.
If Q's going maybe I can talk Lana into coming along. Where is the place? Any malls nearby where I can drop her off?
-juice
As for the rally, it is in Orange VA. There is more info here:
http://www.dcrally.com/rallycross/oaklandacres2.htm
It is a long hike to take in the a.m., that's why I'm going down before. It would be cool if you came, just to see it all. Some guy in an Exploder did pretty well at the last one I hear.
Still, those prices are STEEP. The OE Subaru plate is the same thickness and costs $55 instead of a whopping $135 for theirs.
Theirs is aluminum, but the welds look sloppy, and it's not painted. The Subaru one I have has far better fit and finish.
Subaru doesn't even market a front one, and at least $199 for a much bigger skid plate seems like a better value.
Wow, that's further than I thought. My dad used to own a lake house around there. It's a good hour and a half, at least. $50 for 3 runs is cheap, though.
-juice
-mike
It provides better protection and is much lighter though.
-Colin
I would think the opposite.
-juice
Cheers Pat.
Also tried installing my Cobb short throw shifter. But as I have read on the i-club board this shifter is not always a good fit. First the barrel where the linkage attaches is too narrow (older Soobs?) and second the shifter raises the linkage so much it interferes with the metal around the floor board. Can be modified but given the other issues I think I am going to look for a different shifter. Anyone see the B&M shifter that I have heard about?
bit