Help re Forester 2.5 XTEN

[lavaJava]

Morning all,

Anyone know if there are any major differences to the 2.5 Turbo engine pre-2006 and post? I’d love one of these cars and have seen a 2005 (55 plate) at Farmers of Matlock, 80k on the clock for £5995. From the pics it looks great and I have an itch that I think this and a subtle remap might just scratch.

Trader also has an 09-plate with c.50k miles for £10k – just within budget, but is it that much ‘better’ than the 55-plate (a £4k bork fund would be nice)?

Any feedback on Fozzies in general would be welcomed. SWMBO has ‘okayed’ one, so green light here. I know some will say get an Impreza wagon/ Legacy spec-B, etc, but it has taken *this* long to get the green light on anything with a hint of poke that I don’t want to start down that path again.

What do I need to look out for – assuming I can find many for sale, that is!

Cheers!
Andrew

[BurgerKing]

I have a 2007 Forester XTen and from an engine perspective they have a little more power than the pre facelift model, 227bhp from memory. Mine came with the PPP pack which boosts this to 256bhp with essentially nothing more than a ECU change and a back box (I doubt the silicone intercooler hose makes much difference), what I'm trying to say is that they are easily tunable. Have a look on the Europe section of subaruforester.org, loads of information there.

One point to note is that the facelift also comes with the secondary air pump which is there to lower cold start emissions but can be prone to failure and expensive to replace, touch wood mine is still OK.

Steve

[PJLarge]

Have sent you a PM as I'm considering selling mine.

Points to note are:

2005 cars are lower VED rating but pre facelift so don't look as good
Cambelt is due at about 90k, clutch may well be on its way as well so that's a fair chunk of change to sort
Secondary air pump can give trouble but Subaru did give goodwill replacements so try and work out if this has been replaced
A little sensitive to tyres so make sure it has decent rubber on it
An amazing Q car in terms of performance
Handling OK for quite a tall car
Small fuel tank so range is in the order of 250 miles

Pretty bomb proof otherwise

Hope this helps

[BurgerKing]

I'd forgotten about the VED on facelift models, it makes quite a difference at £490 a year vs £220 for my Wife's Legacy B4 RSK import.

Great cars btw, facelift or otherwise. I'd recommend a thicker rear ARB to sharpen the handling, then get driving and have fun surprising people (you'll find out what I mean).