The Salty XT

Here's some pics of my MY07 Subaru Forester XT Luxury, I bought it stock standard in April last year and have been modifying since. I have done almost all the custom work, modifications and fitted all accessories myself. There's been a lot of attention to detail to get everything looking and performing just right as this car is a keeper.

I have purpose built it for beach work and towing a camper trailer with the following mods:

Protection:
Subaxtreme Front Bar (customised)
Subaxtreme Rear Bar (customised)
Subaxtreme Sump Guard (customised)
Custom Lower Radiator Guard

Suspension:
KYB Excel G Struts
Scorpion Subaru 50mm Strut lift (front)
Subaxtreme 40mm Strut lift (rear)
Dobbinsons Standard Springs (rear)
Whiteline Camber bolts (rear)
Subaxtreme rear sway bar linkage extensions
Custom 50mm Trailing Arm Spacers

Tires:
16” Forester GT rims
215/70r16 BF Goodrich AT Tires

Engine:
Ultrex 3” WRX stainless dump-pipe and mid-section
Magnaflow muffler
Process West Intercooler and splitter
ECU Tune by PITS
Digital Boost Gauge
EGR System Delete

Transmission:
B&M Transmission Cooler
4EAT MPT Clutch Lockup Mod

Electronics:
3400 lumen LED Driving lights
2250 lumen LED work light
LED Combination Stop/Tail/ Reverse/Indicator lights
Oricom UHF Radio
OBDII Bluetooth Dongle

Body:
Thule Roof Racks
02 STI Hoop Scoop
Subaxtreme picnic table boot floor
Liberal application of rustproofing products

And being an XT Luxury it had these Factory Options:
Satnav
Vehicle Dynamic Control
Sunroof
Black Leather interior
Privacy glass
Premium Sound System
Headlight washers (deleted)
Foglights (deleted)
Urban Grey Metallic Paint


Hope you like it, I think it has turned out quite nice :iconwink:

 

[Ratbag]

You have certainly done a magnificent job on your car, LV. :biggrin:

Well done mate.

Looks a bit fancier than mine :lol:!

 

[my04tone]

Thats looking very trick indeed, well done

 

[jf1sf5]

Your Forester sure is a salty…just like the crocodile !

 

[Doug86]

That looks the goods mate! So similar to mine...yet so different!

thing would be a weapon on the beach...and anywhere else you chose to point its nose

 

[Liberty Valance]

That looks the goods mate! So similar to mine...yet so different!

Hi Doug, we are quite similar aren't we! You have great taste in vehicles :ebiggrin:

Hope I inspire you to improve your approach and departure angles with a bit of serious alloy hardware :iconwink:

 

[clearwater99]

very nice car . mine might get those mods aswell .. just guna take me a year or 2

 

[guzzla]

I wonder about the noise and grip of those tyres on sealed surfaces. Do you change to the stock rims and road tyres for general running around? Or is it used almost exclusively for off road? Also why did you choose the Dobinson springs over the Kings. You appear to have done very thoughtful and comprehensive mods - it must be a really capable machine for beach and off road. Best colour in that model too.

 

[Liberty Valance]

Hi Guzzla, the BFG's are a little noisier on the road but I knew they would be. I don't change wheels because the car now looks out of proportion with standard size tire/rim combo. In comparison to my other unmodified XT I believe these larger tires contribute at least an extra 1L per 100kms of town driving. We tend to use the standard car for road trips but I do drive my "Salty" car 20kms round trip to work every day on sealed roads.

Regarding springs, the first thing to do is throw the self leveling rears in the bin and fit standard struts. This created the need for me to research rear spring rates. The dobbinsons springs are 190lbs/in which is 30% stiffer than stock. This only creates 10mm of lift over a standard forester rear spring. I really disagree with the loss of articulation that raised springs provide, it is contrary to everything a true offroad vehicle is trying to achieve. With the dobbinson spring I could get a slightly stiffer rate so I don't drag the bum when loaded or towing and minimal loss of ride comfort and articulation. To keep the car level I went with a 50mm strut block on the front and a 40mm on the rear to account for the 10mm extra spring height.