2015 Forester XT Touring. Purchased 4/18/16 with approximately 39k miles on it. This is my first Subaru and my first turbo car. Pictures taken the day after I got it. Since then I've cleaned up the paint a little and dropped in a K&N filter. -Tim-
It's been one week since the car was purchased. Some random thoughts... Put in a cabin air filter yesterday. My 99 CRV took half a day to replace the cabin air filter while the same job in this car took 15 minutes. Josh at Autozone in Kennesaw is awesome. I've been checking the oil constantly. It's a bit premature but I don't see the excessive oil consumption problem so many are complaining about. The oil was changed at Subaru just before the previous owner traded it in and it is overfull, consistent with what I've been hearing about dealerships overfilling. There will be a proper oil change this upcoming weekend and then I will monitor it scrupulously and we shall see for sure. I've been able to get about 450 miles behind the wheel. Some of the miles are normal "grocery getting" and some purely for pleasure on the back roads of Paulding and Bartow County. It's no sports car. Every turn of the steering wheel reminds me that it is a truck. Spirited driving requires close attention to line with a deliberate late apex. The soft rear seems to like to be planted on the exit - generous throttle helps transfer weight to the back but the other side of the coin is eventual understeer as weight comes off the front. I've had neither the opportunity nor the will to explore those limits. Revs. The car reminds me of when I drove a beat up old Acura many years ago. I used to joke that the car should be one gear lower than whatever gear you thought you should be in. 2000 RPM with the CVT goes pretty well but it really comes alive in manual mode when the engine is allowed to rev. I hit the rev limiter for the first time this morning in simulated second gear. Maybe it was 3rd. I can't remember. Brakes. Operating the brake pedal above 60 MPH is like stepping into a bowl of oatmeal - completely disconnected from what's going on under the vehicle. There is some "feel" below 60 but not much. On the plus side, the car stops silky smooth. My guess is that there are ceramic pads on the thing from the factory. Your grandmother would love the brakes. Nevertheless, brakes are the first thing to be done to this car. My thoughts are: Hawk HPS Front Pads (Hawk PN HB533F.668) Hawk HPS Rear Pads (Hawk PN HB671F.628) DBA 4000 Series T3 Slotted Front Rotors - Pair (DBA PN 42650SLR) DBA 4000 Series Slotted Rear Rotors - Pair (Mann-Engineering PN SUB2603T) Goodridge G-Stop Brake Line Kit, Clear Coated (Mann Engineering PN 28003) Perrin Master cylinder Brace Hardware as needed I'm not sure if the Mann Engineering part number for the DBA slotted rear rotors is for real. DBA told me via email that they don't make 4000 series slotted for 2014+ Forester XT and I suspect that Mann Engineering incorrectly lists them as rear rotors instead of front. Mann has not returned my emails and I might call them today. If matching DBA rear rotors can't be found then I will go with Centric/StopTech slotted in the back. The true test will be Georgia Tech move out day in two weeks. I told my daughter that she took too much stuff to college. Does a 2015 Subaru Forester XT Touring hold a futon, small refrigerator, microwave and accoutrements typical of a college freshman? I'd hate to scuff the leather and so might take the 99 CRV instead. -Tim-
KNS Brakes is an awesome place for all things braking on a Subaru (and a few other models) http://knsbrakes.com/c/car-items/2813_2015+Subaru+Forester+2.0L+XT+Touring//5_Brake+Rotors Having said that, slotted rear rotors are pointless, other than to simply match the fronts.
Thanks Matt. The list above are thoughts. Musings really. The slotted DBA rear rotors are most likely vaporware anyway and the price at Mann Engineering is unrealistic. Rock Auto has the Stop Tech slotted rear rotors for $62 each. $54 for the plain Stop Tech rear rotors at KNS is attractive though and $16 savings = half a tank of Shell 93 V-Power. Thanks again for pointing out KNS. -Tim-
Funny seeing a turbo car with no scoop. Where's the turbo at and where's the IC? I'm assuming there's a scoop 'under' the hood judging by the vents at the top of the nose.
Vents at the top of the nose. You've a good eye. Turbo is down low in the front. I had to search for it when I first looked at the car. I took the plastic engine cover off in the dealer lot and scratched my head because I couldn't see the turbo. Had to follow the pipes to figure out where Subaru put the thing. This is a pic I pulled off the internet. The pipe on the left, the one coming up next to the air box and heading toward the back of the car - I think that is pressurized, from the turbo to the intercooler. You can see the portion of the "scoop" under the hood that mates to the shroud around the intercooler at the top of the picture. I'll try to take a picture of the underside of the hood later and it should make more sense then. I may not pull the car out of the garage today though. -Tim-
My suspicion was correct. No such thing as DBA slotted rear rotors. Gary Liu @ Mann Engineering returned my email and stated that the website incorrectly listed them as rears but are actually front. -Tim-
you're welcome! Alternatively, we also have some awesome local vendors who can get you pricing on those parts as well.
Subaru of America sent me a vacuum Subaru of America sent me a vacuum cleaner. It's a Dyson V6 cordless. $350 retail. I have a Dyson DC01 "Animal" and am not a fan of their products but I'm not going to refuse some high-end swag. It even has a Subaru logo on the box. I heard about Subaru doing this when people called customer service with a complaint. I tried to register the FXT on mysubaru.com but could not because the VIN was still registered to the previous owner. Subaru customer service had me fixed up in about five minutes and I had no complaint whatsoever. Nevertheless, a vacuum arrived by UPS about a week later. Anyone want to buy a vacuum? -Tim-
I stumbled into some light reading this afternoon while on a mind numbing conference call. SubaruForester.org FA20DIT Engine Oil Analysis Thread I'm not a chemical engineer but I know enough about oil, engines and carbon deposits to understand that the DIT engine (it's an engine, not a motor) might have specific requirements beyond Subaru's ambiguous owner's manual. The thread pointed me to what turned out to be some very interesting reading at NASIOC. The NASIOC Oil Selection Guide Gone are the days of dumping $3 quarts of Fox Head 10w-40 into a small block Chevy. My head is spinning a little from all the information but two choices became clear. Mobil 1 ESP Formula 5W-30 Amsoil 5w/30 I-ESP Euro Synthetic AEL Both have HTHS > 3.5, decent TBN, blah, blah blah. Both are great oils for the FA20DIT. The practical advantage goes to Mobile 1; Pep Boys has the ESP (Emission System Protection) formula in stock. At $13/liter it ain't cheap even with the current 15% off promotion. -Tim-
The moon roof air deflector "bubble" has been removed. So much dirt and pollen had collected under it that the paint was actually yellowed and had to be gently polished. The rest of the car got the clay bar, Wolfgang's paint sealer and a coat of carnuba wax. -Tim-
For those interested or just surfing the web, this is the Fumoto Oil Drain Valve Kit for 2014 to 2016 Subaru Forester https://www.fumotooildrainvalve.com/16310.html Fits both 2.5i and 2.0 XT -Tim-