Forester S

Rally

Rally

Forum Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
3,928
Location
Sydney
Car Year
1999
Car Model
WRX
Transmission
6 Speed
I was at my friendly Subaru dealer today, and thought I'd give the new Forester S a good lookover. It looks alright- I like the colour and somehow the STI rims still look half decent here. The centre console was a dissappointment, and so was the hard dash and lack of cloth inserts in all new Subaru door trims. But the seat trim was kinda nice. I did ask if they came in manual- and he confirmed what I already knew. He suggested I consider the XT- as they come witha dual range gearbox! Sadly, when I asked him to show me the XT had already morphed into an XS by the time I walked the 30 metres and that was that. Pretty quick eh!

I had a look around the rest of the showroom. The Liberty is still showing the scars of its confrontation with the ugly stick, and the weird Liberty Exiga thing still has me wondering what the point of it is. That had an MY11 WRX there and I must admit that was the most appealing car there. It was the only car there with a manual gearbox. It is the first WRX since the MY00 that has any aggro in its appearance. But if I ever bought one I'd want a 6 speed- so I guess that means STI.

But as for the new Forester S- it certainly has appeal but the lack of a manual is a show stopper if I was in the market for one. Would anyone be interested in Subaru releasing a Forester with a a sump guard, plated front and rear diffs and a locking centre diff which can only be engaged in low range?
 
Rally, does the S have locking centre diff and plated front and rear diffs? really!?

If so, that gives me a time frame - just wait a couple of years untill there are some of these in wrecking yards, then transfer the lot, together with the scorpion low range, to my Manual Outback!
 
Nah- I was just wondering if Subaru made such a car who'd want one, irrespective of whether it was turbo or not
 
Rally said:
Would anyone be interested in Subaru releasing a Forester with a a sump guard, plated front and rear diffs and a locking centre diff which can only be engaged in low range?
Click to expand...
Now that would be sweet, so yes please. :ebiggrin:

I had a look at the Forester-S late last week (which was blue) & it looked very nice indeed, apart from the crappy silver door handles & roof rails. They just didn't look right to me. As for it only coming in auto, well thats just wrong.

The funniest thing though, was when the sales rep looked at me in dis-belief when I told him I intended to take it offroad on the dirt. :lol:
He just stood there like a stunned mullet & said you want to do what in it.
I think he poop himself. :rotfl:

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
In the late '80s, when the beetle was my daily driver, I car pooled with a mate who had a Subi wagon. I always thought of it as a water cooled wx4, low range VW wagon. It was about my 'perfect' car! :discomonkey: But both were fun off-road. :cool:
Since then, both VW and Subaru have gone 'woosie'. :raspberry:
Thankfully there are some who still see a car as tool to be used with skill, not an automated transportation capsule. :rotfl:
 
And it's only a 5 speed. 4 cylinder cars should be 6 speeds.
 
Yeah, I was the same with my Falcon. It ended up getting a 5 speed Tremec, just as my Impreza ended up with a 6 speed. But like you , let's keep the low range
 
Eden,
One theory I have heard cited for the change to the current (not particularly) low gears in recent manual boxes is that Subi had been thinking of using the dual range manual in the turbo, and wanted to avoid the problem of all that extra torque tearing the box apart.
Given that they didn't go that route, its a real pity that they didn't just stick with the original LOW ratios.
 
Unfortunately not Eden. The salesman simply had poor product knowledge
 
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