Forester 2.5 XTE...talk to me...
Discussion
Guys, I run an Impreza Wagon with 60,000miles from new. Bought last year for a winter run around; it's a great little car. But, want something bigger...
Have seen a Forester 2.5XTE with 80,000 miles/FSSH and am really getting the Scooby urge again! Can you guys, and girls, tell me about the 2.5's with this mileage...have heard they're pseudo-unbeatable...and like the idea of having something a little different with oodles of space and a bit of get up and go. What should I be looking for - what goes wrong with them?
Thank you...
Have seen a Forester 2.5XTE with 80,000 miles/FSSH and am really getting the Scooby urge again! Can you guys, and girls, tell me about the 2.5's with this mileage...have heard they're pseudo-unbeatable...and like the idea of having something a little different with oodles of space and a bit of get up and go. What should I be looking for - what goes wrong with them?
Thank you...
Lots of good info in this thread
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
As stated in the thread, great cars, sucky fuel consumption and watch out for silly car tax post March 2006. I still love mine although my pregnant Wife has now stolen it for comfort reasons, I'm having to suffer with her Legacy B4 RSK instead
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
As stated in the thread, great cars, sucky fuel consumption and watch out for silly car tax post March 2006. I still love mine although my pregnant Wife has now stolen it for comfort reasons, I'm having to suffer with her Legacy B4 RSK instead
I've just got the XTen (e + leather, n + nav), searched for the en but was a waste of time seeing how difficult it is to update the nav and it's not got all the functions of the Legacy 3.0R spec B. XTe would be as good a choice.
Room wise, it's decent amount of space, not as big as you'd think though. Back leg room wouldn't be great with a long legged driver. Boot is no more than adequate.
What I really wanted was the Legacy but finding a good spec B was proving impossible, no regrets on the Fozzie so far though and suspect winter will nail that home!
Performance wise, it's no Impreza, is does roll and understeer but both things are meant to be fairly easy to sort. Tends to go into understeer, lift-off into slight lift-off oversteer into plant the foot down and grip (may be caused by geolanders on the front and very different looking tyres on the back - Falkens if memory serves). Quite a strange feeling to it but fairly quick to get used to. As most Impreza parts will fit it and it's the same engine there are plenty of options to improve it!
Got a call from a dealer who'd been looking for a spec B for me the other night and there's absolutely no thoughts of changing now, as I understand they're very difficult to improve where the Foz is almost a blank canvas.
Mine has a hole in the exhaust just now, sounds absolutely fantastic
And on that point - Subaru exhaust centre piece from National = £700ish, full custom stainless steel exhuast £400-£450....
Room wise, it's decent amount of space, not as big as you'd think though. Back leg room wouldn't be great with a long legged driver. Boot is no more than adequate.
What I really wanted was the Legacy but finding a good spec B was proving impossible, no regrets on the Fozzie so far though and suspect winter will nail that home!
Performance wise, it's no Impreza, is does roll and understeer but both things are meant to be fairly easy to sort. Tends to go into understeer, lift-off into slight lift-off oversteer into plant the foot down and grip (may be caused by geolanders on the front and very different looking tyres on the back - Falkens if memory serves). Quite a strange feeling to it but fairly quick to get used to. As most Impreza parts will fit it and it's the same engine there are plenty of options to improve it!
Got a call from a dealer who'd been looking for a spec B for me the other night and there's absolutely no thoughts of changing now, as I understand they're very difficult to improve where the Foz is almost a blank canvas.
Mine has a hole in the exhaust just now, sounds absolutely fantastic
And on that point - Subaru exhaust centre piece from National = £700ish, full custom stainless steel exhuast £400-£450.... I love my forrester.
Plenty of go, but plenty of space for baby, dog, and associated stuff.
On the satnav front: I updated my satnav a bit when bought a CD from ebay - it was for 2010 maps, (bought in 2012) so not totally up to date but better than the 05 it was shipped with. (CD reader in the glove box has an eject button on it, I just swapped the CD's over and it worked - as the satnav instructions are also missing on mine!)
Currently have a problem with radiator / overheating which is prob linked to a hole in the radiator that was fixed b4, posting about this separately. Dad's forrester has many many more miles than mine and never developed this problem.
Plenty of go, but plenty of space for baby, dog, and associated stuff.
On the satnav front: I updated my satnav a bit when bought a CD from ebay - it was for 2010 maps, (bought in 2012) so not totally up to date but better than the 05 it was shipped with. (CD reader in the glove box has an eject button on it, I just swapped the CD's over and it worked - as the satnav instructions are also missing on mine!)
Currently have a problem with radiator / overheating which is prob linked to a hole in the radiator that was fixed b4, posting about this separately. Dad's forrester has many many more miles than mine and never developed this problem.
I'm not sure how much more space a Forester will have in the boot over an Impreza Wagon. The Forester has the same footprint as the Impreza so don't expect a boot with the capacity of a Legacy, make sure you are happy that its big enough. What it does have over your wagon is 7" of ground clearance giving it great offroad capability for a "soft roader".
The 2.5XT does have a lot of power though so it can meet your needs there. With a remap, a decatted down pipe and filter you could see 250bhp. I went a step further and fitted a larger SC36 turbo, larger injectors, fuel pump, hyperflow intercooler etc and a new exchaust system from H&S. More than 300bhp feels like enough and I'm getting 24mpg.
The 2.5XT does have a lot of power though so it can meet your needs there. With a remap, a decatted down pipe and filter you could see 250bhp. I went a step further and fitted a larger SC36 turbo, larger injectors, fuel pump, hyperflow intercooler etc and a new exchaust system from H&S. More than 300bhp feels like enough and I'm getting 24mpg.
Edited by yellowstreak on Monday 7th October 17:36
My Xten is our second Forester and re the above I can easily get four full sized cases in the boot for airport trips.
Leg room in the back is also good compared to most cars.
Handling is very under steer orientated as standard, can be reduced with an impreza rear roll bar. Bolt on mod.
I went further and fitted Forester Sti suspension and 17in rims/tyres, which also got ride of the geolanders.
Exhausts car shared with the new age impress, so spares are dirt cheap as those owners normally ditch them for stainless systems. I have just a a Scoobysports back box on mine, which burbles just right, but quiet inside the car.
How much was the 80k car, if you don't mind my asking? Mine has 48k and I will be replacing it soon.
Leg room in the back is also good compared to most cars.
Handling is very under steer orientated as standard, can be reduced with an impreza rear roll bar. Bolt on mod.
I went further and fitted Forester Sti suspension and 17in rims/tyres, which also got ride of the geolanders.
Exhausts car shared with the new age impress, so spares are dirt cheap as those owners normally ditch them for stainless systems. I have just a a Scoobysports back box on mine, which burbles just right, but quiet inside the car.
How much was the 80k car, if you don't mind my asking? Mine has 48k and I will be replacing it soon.
Edited by Hol on Monday 7th October 19:26
I got my 05 2.5XT at 40k miles 4yrs ago. It's now at 85k and hasn't skipped a beat, although i think it needs new bushes following quite a hard life with me!
The 2.5XT has great toque compared to a 2.0WRX and peak toque comes lower down the rev range with a big shove in the back when flooring the throttle. It copes great under load towing and with 100's of KG in the boot the self leveling suspension is great.
I'd also recommend changing the standard tires from the Yokohama Geolanders as they squeal. I've moved to Kumho Solus and have been very pleased with grip and durability. (circa 30k miles for fronts and rears prob about the same by the way they're wearing).
Average is 27-28MPG on a mixture of town and A road driving, with 300 miles to a tank. Worst efficiency has been 220miles from a tank...i didn't bother calculating the MPG, that was a trip to Silverstone and back!
I was looking at a 330i or Forester 2.5XT when i bought mine. I drove the Forester and didn't even go and see the BMW it made me smile that much.
The 2.5XT has great toque compared to a 2.0WRX and peak toque comes lower down the rev range with a big shove in the back when flooring the throttle. It copes great under load towing and with 100's of KG in the boot the self leveling suspension is great.
I'd also recommend changing the standard tires from the Yokohama Geolanders as they squeal. I've moved to Kumho Solus and have been very pleased with grip and durability. (circa 30k miles for fronts and rears prob about the same by the way they're wearing).
Average is 27-28MPG on a mixture of town and A road driving, with 300 miles to a tank. Worst efficiency has been 220miles from a tank...i didn't bother calculating the MPG, that was a trip to Silverstone and back!
I was looking at a 330i or Forester 2.5XT when i bought mine. I drove the Forester and didn't even go and see the BMW it made me smile that much.
I'm also in the market for a 2.5XT, so far I've only seen ropey or massively overpriced examples.
I take it the 2.5 doesn't suffer from the same maladies as the 2.5 WRX?
There was a nice one on AT but it sold yesterday, there is another one with an obviously sagging rear, might be worth a cheeky bid.....
I take it the 2.5 doesn't suffer from the same maladies as the 2.5 WRX?
There was a nice one on AT but it sold yesterday, there is another one with an obviously sagging rear, might be worth a cheeky bid.....
DJFish said:
I'm also in the market for a 2.5XT, so far I've only seen ropey or massively overpriced examples.
I take it the 2.5 doesn't suffer from the same maladies as the 2.5 WRX?
There was a nice one on AT but it sold yesterday, there is another one with an obviously sagging rear, might be worth a cheeky bid.....
What do you mean by the "same maladies"? If you mean the potential for pistons to go when pushed to higher power then the 2.5XT will have just the same weaknesses as the WRX. I understand that the 2.5 Forester engine is exactly the same as the WRX, only the pre-2006 cars have a softer cam. I have a 2005 which I have run at approximately 250 and now 300+ bhp for around 55k miles and the pistons have yet to disintegrate. I take it the 2.5 doesn't suffer from the same maladies as the 2.5 WRX?
There was a nice one on AT but it sold yesterday, there is another one with an obviously sagging rear, might be worth a cheeky bid.....
DJFish said:
I'm also in the market for a 2.5XT, so far I've only seen ropey or massively overpriced examples.
I take it the 2.5 doesn't suffer from the same maladies as the 2.5 WRX?
There was a nice one on AT but it sold yesterday, there is another one with an obviously sagging rear, might be worth a cheeky bid.....
What is your budget?I take it the 2.5 doesn't suffer from the same maladies as the 2.5 WRX?
There was a nice one on AT but it sold yesterday, there is another one with an obviously sagging rear, might be worth a cheeky bid.....
DJFish said:
Currently looking at a 62k 2006 car which is up for £5400 on Autotrader, only problem is that it's at the other end of the country!
We are still looking for a replacement car, but the wife has a 56 plate car identical to the gold xten one in Maidstone:. Heated Leather, Satnav, cruise etc.
But her's has only two owners, 46k, Forester STI suspension, H&S back box iPod stereo, and 17 in rims. Mechanically standard standard though.
I
Here's the new toy!
45k miles with leather, nav & heated screen.
The exhaust is making a right racket & the brakes are a bit rusty but other than that it seems pretty solid.
First job is to have a good poke around underneath to see if any of the exhaust is salvageable.
Then go shopping for shiny bits!
Thanks chaps.
Hol, apparently your profile doesn't accept emails, but to answer your question, £5,500.
So any WRX exhaust fits? Does that include the centre section? If so that makes sourcing a replacement a lot easier.
Any ideas where I can get my hands on an updated satnav disk?
Also how does replacing the head unit affect the satnav?
I'm at work today and so far I've done the square root of sod all as I've been looking at shiny bits online!
Hol, apparently your profile doesn't accept emails, but to answer your question, £5,500.
So any WRX exhaust fits? Does that include the centre section? If so that makes sourcing a replacement a lot easier.
Any ideas where I can get my hands on an updated satnav disk?
Also how does replacing the head unit affect the satnav?
I'm at work today and so far I've done the square root of sod all as I've been looking at shiny bits online!
DJFish said:
Thanks chaps.
Hol, apparently your profile doesn't accept emails, but to answer your question, £5,500.
So any WRX exhaust fits? Does that include the centre section? If so that makes sourcing a replacement a lot easier.
Any ideas where I can get my hands on an updated satnav disk?
Also how does replacing the head unit affect the satnav?
I'm at work today and so far I've done the square root of sod all as I've been looking at shiny bits online!
Thanks for the Price indication. Are they hard to find at this price/mileage?Hol, apparently your profile doesn't accept emails, but to answer your question, £5,500.
So any WRX exhaust fits? Does that include the centre section? If so that makes sourcing a replacement a lot easier.
Any ideas where I can get my hands on an updated satnav disk?
Also how does replacing the head unit affect the satnav?
I'm at work today and so far I've done the square root of sod all as I've been looking at shiny bits online!
You can fit any newage impreza centre, but the back box must be form a forester as the fittings are longer and the tailpipe is longer as we'll.
A Impreza back box can be MADE to fit though.
Hayward and Scott make a forester specific back box! that I can recommend.
Kenwood make the satnav system, and I think they produced some update disks.
The head unit powers the satnav speakers, as they use it's internal amp and nobody has found a solution with an aftermarket amp.
I managed to get hold of a purpose built speaker made by Kenwood when I was in Florida that plugs in the back of the unit and sits down in the passenger footwell. It's about the size of a small mobile phone.
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