Big day today, my new Subie was delivered! It came with a dead battery and no gas, but once I boosted it there's no surprises, it looks as advertised with only some minor scuffs and some rust on the exhaust, under the hood looks immaculate! It could use a good waxing, fairly dull looking paint but none of the clear coat peeling that seems somewhat common in the land of the rising sun. My biggest concern was the washer fluid, it was just water in there and was frozen this morning, which could have broke the pump and/or cracked the tubing. Warmed up this afternoon and I drained it out, everything works!
Now all I need is to get this sucker through a safety inspection and I'm drivin' happy!
Bring it down to Squamish - I can do your inspection and then Rocket Rally is right around the corner from us
Big day today, my new Subie was delivered! It came with a dead battery and no gas, but once I boosted it there's no surprises, it looks as advertised with only some minor scuffs and some rust on the exhaust, under the hood looks immaculate! It could use a good waxing, fairly dull looking paint but none of the clear coat peeling that seems somewhat common in the land of the rising sun. My biggest concern was the washer fluid, it was just water in there and was frozen this morning, which could have broke the pump and/or cracked the tubing. Warmed up this afternoon and I drained it out, everything works!
Now all I need is to get this sucker through a safety inspection and I'm drivin' happy!
Bring it down to Squamish - I can do your inspection and then Rocket Rally is right around the corner from us
Well it does have room for some full size towers in the back
From
what I understand, Ecutek is one of the only tuneoptions for this car,
which makes Rocket Rally or Vex performance the go-to shops. Vex is a
little shorter drive in the opposite direction...Maybe I'll start with a
Tactrix cable and do some data logging to see if I can understand any
of this engine mapping stuff, DIY style..I'm not after ultimate
performance vehicle here anyway, reliability is key, and the stock 220hp
will probably satisfy me just fine.
Anyway,
ICBC is a real pain when it comes to this stuff. They won't give any
temporary permit to drive the vehicle until it goes for the OOP
inspection, they will only give a permit for the day of the inspection,
and it's specifically to drive from my home to the shop and nowhere
else. It's pretty awful considering when I did the same in SK it was
much more convenient, I could get a temporary permit to drive the
vehicle for a full month, go to the shop/inspection as needed, pick up
parts, etc.
@rjj45 As a previous owner of a SG5 Forester, maybe you know what this is for? The weird button thingy next to the little storage compartment under the radio? I push it and it pops in and out kind of like a button, but doesn't appear to do anything, I'll probably feel like an idiot when I figure it out...
Oh crap, I can't remember - at one time I looked it up, and some people on Forester forums talked about it. Christ almighty, I loved that car! Seeing the picture brings up all sorts of memories. Mine had the 6 CD changer, remembering driving along "Is that tune I want on CD2 or CD3? Those were the days! Plus the heated seats that my wife (and I) loved in winter. Shit, great stuff.
But Chahly - Stahkist don't want speakers that look good, Stahkist wants speakers that sound good!
Hmm, that button was maybe for the (optional) fog lights?
Naw, fog light switch is kind of under the steering wheel, between the steering column and the door. I don't think it's a switch, it pops out when you push it, flush with the dash is the pushes in position, and it pops out further than a button should. Maybe it's for nothing, everything else on the dash is well labelled.
Fun fact, in Japan they use different FM frequency bands, so the radio only goes up to 90MHz, I can't pick up a few stations. I should search around the low end, maybe I can pick up some stuff that shouldn't be on the radio
Yah, I found the 2004 owners manual online, and they show the ashtray and the buttons to the left, but no description of the buttons anywhere, unless those are the cigarette lighter, aux port positions. Seen those referenced a few times, but can't remember if they are inside the flip down door or outside that ashtray thing
But Chahly - Stahkist don't want speakers that look good, Stahkist wants speakers that sound good!
Too small for cigarette lighter, that is down in the bottom compartment, and another in the centre console.
Maybe can perch a smoke or some sunglasses on it, but there's nice storage for sunglasses in the ceiling already. This is all it does, I've decided it's a fidget clicker button with no purpose.
ECUtek, ECUFlash, and RomRaider work with windows vista. Haven't used Romraider since going Cobb just because everybody can tune with Cobb. Romraider was pretty cool.
Big day today, my new Subie was delivered! It came with a dead battery and no gas, but once I boosted it there's no surprises, it looks as advertised with only some minor scuffs and some rust on the exhaust, under the hood looks immaculate! It could use a good waxing, fairly dull looking paint but none of the clear coat peeling that seems somewhat common in the land of the rising sun. My biggest concern was the washer fluid, it was just water in there and was frozen this morning, which could have broke the pump and/or cracked the tubing. Warmed up this afternoon and I drained it out, everything works!
Now all I need is to get this sucker through a safety inspection and I'm drivin' happy!
Bring it down to Squamish - I can do your inspection and then Rocket Rally is right around the corner from us
Well it does have room for some full size towers in the back
From
what I understand, Ecutek is one of the only tuneoptions for this car,
which makes Rocket Rally or Vex performance the go-to shops. Vex is a
little shorter drive in the opposite direction...Maybe I'll start with a
Tactrix cable and do some data logging to see if I can understand any
of this engine mapping stuff, DIY style..I'm not after ultimate
performance vehicle here anyway, reliability is key, and the stock 220hp
will probably satisfy me just fine.
Anyway,
ICBC is a real pain when it comes to this stuff. They won't give any
temporary permit to drive the vehicle until it goes for the OOP
inspection, they will only give a permit for the day of the inspection,
and it's specifically to drive from my home to the shop and nowhere
else. It's pretty awful considering when I did the same in SK it was
much more convenient, I could get a temporary permit to drive the
vehicle for a full month, go to the shop/inspection as needed, pick up
parts, etc.
They have tightened the reg's for temp permits for OOP inspections. I had one client bring his 1980 Mercedes G Wagon over from France - needless to say it needed a lot of work to pass - he must have bought at least 4 or 5 permits to take it to and from his house while he waited for parts for it. I also had a 2017 Nissan GTR come in that had an aftermarket straight pipe exhaust on it - no cats or mufflers - the quote from the dealer was almost 20k for an exhaust system!!!!!!!
I have a few clients that have been really happy with the results from just a down pipe and tune from Rocket. Something to think about🤔
IMO, almost any engine mod for a turbo Suby must be followed with an appropriate tune, especially a downpipe, which is probably one of the most bang for the buck mods. The sti gained about 60hp/100ftlb with nothing more than a downpipe and tune.
Plated! All I needed was a new set of tires, believe it or not, the rubber on this car was original 2002, super cracked, surprised they still held air. Eventually I'll need a new exhaust, it's somewhat rusted but currently no leaks so I can drive it until its a problem.
Now that I can drive it, this car is very satisfying, very quick car! Compared to my old 1993 WRX, this has a bit better low range performance and a bit less turbo lag I think.
We've got to sell a 2004 forester in much worse shape now, then I can figure out a head unit for this car, I'm sure it won't be long for me to get tired of using a Bluetooth FM transmitter for a stereo.
I'm being told the stupid pop out thing is just for hanging a garbage bag from...A bit silly but whatever, it'll be removed when I put in a double din stereo
I'm being told the stupid pop out thing is just for hanging a garbage bag from...A bit silly but whatever, it'll be removed when I put in a double din stereo
Correct, I remember reading that somewhere. And immediately forgot it because it was a feature that no one would ever use. And which of course, brings to mind the perennial Subaru marketing message: "All new Forester redesigned for 2021 - now with 2 garbage bag hooks!". Subaru, just give us a hybrid, ok? It is 2020 after all.
But Chahly - Stahkist don't want speakers that look good, Stahkist wants speakers that sound good!
I'm being told the stupid pop out thing is just for hanging a garbage bag from...A bit silly but whatever, it'll be removed when I put in a double din stereo
Awesome feature that i am looking for.... window shades and built in garbage bag hooks... a built in bin would have been even better....
Wow, today would have been a great day to build some speakers if I didn't have so many other things to do...like every spring. A lovely +13 deg C.
Today was car cleaning day, washed and waxed the new ride, shined up all the plastic on the interior and removed every sticker I could find. Cleans up pretty well
FW1 Cleaning Wax w/ Carnauba is a pretty darn good product.
Wow, today would have been a great day to build some speakers if I didn't have so many other things to do...like every spring. A lovely +13 deg C.
Today was car cleaning day, washed and waxed the new ride, shined up all the plastic on the interior and removed every sticker I could find. Cleans up pretty well
FW1 Cleaning Wax w/ Carnauba is a pretty darn good product.
I ordered a Sony XAV-AX5000 for the Forester. There seems to be some supply chain problems with this type of electronics these days, but I was able to find a decent deal. I'm a fan of the way it looks, and that it has real buttons for volume and track changing instead of the touch buttons you find on many models these days. Nothing too fancy but it does have the Android Auto that I really wanted and a 10 band EQ should be more than enough for my driving needs.
In the old days it was fairly straight forward to swap head units. Now head units are called infotainment centers and are wholly integrated into the car's electronics. Just thinking of upgrading one makes me nervous.
That looks like a nice piece. I've always been a fan of Pioneer, but the Sony seems well laid out in features. I still like having a CD player built in, I'm with ya on old school.😎 Mind me asking what you paid for it?
The Sony unit? CAD$540 shipped. There's a new XAV-AX5500 that is the same unit but with Weblink, but I couldn't find it anywhere to purchase in Canada, and I'm not sure I'd use the Weblink features much anyway.
Runner ups were the Pioneer DMH1500NEX and Kenwood DMX706S. The pioneer was the cheapest, but I didn't like the gloss finger smudge bezel and the tiny buttons. The Kenwood really just came down to looks, it otherwise appears to have pretty similar features.
FWIW you can still get these android units with CD players, like the Pioneer AVH-1550NEX. I don't even know where my CDs are, and plugging in a phone for data is far far more convenient these days.
Comments
Christ almighty, I loved that car! Seeing the picture brings up all sorts of memories.
Mine had the 6 CD changer, remembering driving along "Is that tune I want on CD2 or CD3? Those were the days! Plus the heated seats that my wife (and I) loved in winter. Shit, great stuff.
I have a few clients that have been really happy with the results from just a down pipe and tune from Rocket. Something to think about🤔
InDIYana Event Website
InDIYana Event Website
I ordered a Sony XAV-AX5000 for the Forester. There seems to be some supply chain problems with this type of electronics these days, but I was able to find a decent deal. I'm a fan of the way it looks, and that it has real buttons for volume and track changing instead of the touch buttons you find on many models these days. Nothing too fancy but it does have the Android Auto that I really wanted and a 10 band EQ should be more than enough for my driving needs.
https://www.sony.ca/en/electronics/in-car-receivers-players/xav-ax5000
In the old days it was fairly straight forward to swap head units. Now head units are called infotainment centers and are wholly integrated into the car's electronics. Just thinking of upgrading one makes me nervous.
I'm still living in the past
That looks like a nice piece. I've always been a fan of Pioneer, but the Sony seems well laid out in features. I still like having a CD player built in, I'm with ya on old school.😎 Mind me asking what you paid for it?
The Sony unit? CAD$540 shipped. There's a new XAV-AX5500 that is the same unit but with Weblink, but I couldn't find it anywhere to purchase in Canada, and I'm not sure I'd use the Weblink features much anyway.
Runner ups were the Pioneer DMH1500NEX and Kenwood DMX706S. The pioneer was the cheapest, but I didn't like the gloss finger smudge bezel and the tiny buttons. The Kenwood really just came down to looks, it otherwise appears to have pretty similar features.
FWIW you can still get these android units with CD players, like the Pioneer AVH-1550NEX. I don't even know where my CDs are, and plugging in a phone for data is far far more convenient these days.