Subaru Forester

[junkun13]

may nabibili na bang accessory na headlight projectors para sa 09?

[HyBrideVo]

may nabibili na bang accessory na headlight projectors para sa 09?

None. You can do a retrofit though http://www.lightwerkz.net/prod_subaru.htm

[HyBrideVo]

Hmm, there're some reports mostly from those with stereo mods and mostly 09 models. Yung akin after 2 years it's either just my stuff or if the cargo tarp pole is improperly seated -- tinanggal ko nga. My ride is bone-stock though. Pero sa US marami raming report ng rattles but their units are differently sourced, AFAIK.

Mine was 100% built in Ota Gunma, Japan. I suppose the units you guys get are from the same plant in Japan as well. Now, the only USDM built models are the Legacy (sedan & wagon), Legacy Outback, and Tribeca at their Lafayette, Indiana plant where they also build the new USDM Camrys. I don't know where you got your info.

[pup2]

A guy at MI told me they made yours exclusively for the US market with US specs (probably due to emissions standards) so there are some differences, regardless of where they were made. They also said our trannys were made by Prodrive unlike yours (pabulong pa). I thought the guy was joking but I read in a local magazine (which features an SCP guy, BTW) that they've heard this also.

I don't know how it can connect with rattles though there are much fewer reports of rattles here, most of which have to do with mods. Sorry for the confusion HBV. I meant 'sourced' differently as in made differently, not just referring to the country of origin.

Cheer up dude. These probably all boil down to just fuel and emissions issues.

Mine was 100% built in Ota Gunma, Japan. I suppose the units you guys get are from the same plant in Japan as well. Now, the only USDM built models are the Legacy (sedan & wagon), Legacy Outback, and Tribeca at their Lafayette, Indiana plant where they also build the new USDM Camrys. I don't know where you got your info.

[hajabah]

A guy at MI told me they made yours exclusively for the US market with US specs (probably due to emissions standards) so there are some differences, regardless of where they were made. They also said our trannys were made by Prodrive unlike yours (pabulong pa). I thought the guy was joking but I read in a local magazine (which features an SCP guy, BTW) that they've heard this also.

I think it's not just the emmisions, but also the octane ratings. sa US hanggang 92 lang ata eh. Dito kung binabasa mo manual mo it says the very minimum is 95, so they have to modify the engines a bit for the US. The emmision standards followed by the Fozzies sold here are the Euro things. If I'm not mistaken Euro-4 ata mga Forester niyo

Tapos re yung tranny, Prodrive din ata sa US.... di lang sila marunong maging kontento. kung pumunta ka sa website nila meron ding "SPORTSHIFT is a registered trademark of ProDrive Ltd."

or something like that. wow. memorize. Nasobrahan na sa compilation ng brochure

[MFB]

The rattles issue is present here in Manila for FXT 09. Some have it, some dont. As for stereo mods, guys in the US are mostly DIY while here we let the audio installers do it for a price. Maybe that's why we have less rattles here since pros do all the dirty work for us.

[HyBrideVo]

A guy at MI told me they made yours exclusively for the US market with US specs (probably due to emissions standards) so there are some differences, regardless of where they were made. They also said our trannys were made by Prodrive unlike yours (pabulong pa). I thought the guy was joking but I read in a local magazine (which features an SCP guy, BTW) that they've heard this also.

I don't know how it can connect with rattles though there are much fewer reports of rattles here, most of which have to do with mods. Sorry for the confusion HBV. I meant 'sourced' differently as in made differently, not just referring to the country of origin.

Cheer up dude. These probably all boil down to just fuel and emissions issues.

Point taken man im cool actually. but when you said sourced differently it's like saying all Subaru Foresters here in the States are really crappy models that were sourced from a junkyard or somethin i felt like you kinda generalized. Of course ours is different from the Asian & Euro market. We have different bumpers (JDM units have a shorter rear bumper) whereas North American models have the round like rear bumpers (which i like compared to the JDM unit). Even the Canadian models are different from ours (USDM) they have Xenons standard on the XT. Engines are different as well.

Now Emissions, Ever wonder why the EJ207 STI Spec C twin scroll turbo engine never came to US shores? You're right it's because of emissions. The EJ257 was built to be more compliant with emissions and low end torque. On base model non turbo Subarus, we still have the EJ255 SOHC and unlike you guys down there have the JDM EJ20 DOHC. Noticeable power difference comparing the two engines? Minimal. Tuneability? Quite possible. The extra half liter makes up for low end torque to our base model subies so we don't really need that extra cam anyway.

The EJ255 on our FXT's is basically an EJ257 STI/FSTI engine with a slightly different cam profile, forged pistons and crankshaft. I don't remember any details but the '255 can produce more HP than the '257.

Anyway so much about that. But like i said in one of my posts the 'rattling' noise came from a bad cabin air filter clip behind the glove box and a bad air diverter or whatever they call it. My local dealer (where i have been taking my car since purchase) replaced it under warranty and had to put a new a/c unit since there is no air coming out of any of the vents except the windshield. This was from when i've only had it in about less than a month! That was a faulty unit from the factory and i believe it's just another isolated case since only two 2008 FXT Sports (me & the service advisors' wife's FXT) has had the same exact problem. Mine doesn't have any rattles now thank god! Or maybe my car was built on a holiday i don't know.

Now, about the Prodrive transmission we had those here as well and they on the Subaru Baja. Many Subaru enthusiasts have debated about this issue over time and no one has really proved which is stronger or which is better but as far everyone knows they are the same exact 4EAT unit plus sportshift. Maybe Prodrive only did was tune the so called 'sportshift' to make it look sporty which is really not the case. Honestly, im not a fan of that thing. I had a Mazda Protege5 with the sportshift thingy and i barely used it since using that is kinda lame unless of course it's something like an EVO X's TC-SST, BMW's DSG or the R35 GTR's version of the twin clutch automatic which everyone knows is kinda thrilling to use eventhough it's an automatic. So it's probably Tuned by Prodrive but not really a Prodrive built tranny.

Unless someone has the balls to disassmeble their tranny and i see a Prodrive stamp, logo or serial number on that transmission then i rest my case.

[VT25]

Guys... Just recently every time I park my 2.0X after a drive out there's a bit of a water drip on the floor - left side below the engine. I almost always use the aircon - temp usually at '22'... Is that the cause? Is it normal or must be serviced at MI? Thanks!

[pup2]

Point taken man im cool actually. but when you said sourced differently it's like saying all Subaru Foresters here in the States are really crappy models that were sourced from a junkyard or somethin i felt like you kinda generalized. Of course ours is different from the Asian & Euro market. We have different bumpers (JDM units have a shorter rear bumper) whereas North American models have the round like rear bumpers (which i like compared to the JDM unit). Even the Canadian models are different from ours (USDM) they have Xenons standard on the XT. Engines are different as well.

Now Emissions, Ever wonder why the EJ207 STI Spec C twin scroll turbo engine never came to US shores? You're right it's because of emissions. The EJ257 was built to be more compliant with emissions and low end torque. On base model non turbo Subarus, we still have the EJ255 SOHC and unlike you guys down there have the JDM EJ20 DOHC. Noticeable power difference comparing the two engines? Minimal. Tuneability? Quite possible. The extra half liter makes up for low end torque to our base model subies so we don't really need that extra cam anyway.

The EJ255 on our FXT's is basically an EJ257 STI/FSTI engine with a slightly different cam profile, forged pistons and crankshaft. I don't remember any details but the '255 can produce more HP than the '257.

Anyway so much about that. But like i said in one of my posts the 'rattling' noise came from a bad cabin air filter clip behind the glove box and a bad air diverter or whatever they call it. My local dealer (where i have been taking my car since purchase) replaced it under warranty and had to put a new a/c unit since there is no air coming out of any of the vents except the windshield. This was from when i've only had it in about less than a month! That was a faulty unit from the factory and i believe it's just another isolated case since only two 2008 FXT Sports (me & the service advisors' wife's FXT) has had the same exact problem. Mine doesn't have any rattles now thank god! Or maybe my car was built on a holiday i don't know.

Now, about the Prodrive transmission we had those here as well and they on the Subaru Baja. Many Subaru enthusiasts have debated about this issue over time and no one has really proved which is stronger or which is better but as far everyone knows they are the same exact 4EAT unit plus sportshift. Maybe Prodrive only did was tune the so called 'sportshift' to make it look sporty which is really not the case. Honestly, im not a fan of that thing. I had a Mazda Protege5 with the sportshift thingy and i barely used it since using that is kinda lame unless of course it's something like an EVO X's TC-SST, BMW's DSG or the R35 GTR's version of the twin clutch automatic which everyone knows is kinda thrilling to use eventhough it's an automatic. So it's probably Tuned by Prodrive but not really a Prodrive built tranny.

Unless someone has the balls to disassmeble their tranny and i see a Prodrive stamp, logo or serial number on that transmission then i rest my case.

That tranny thing is apparently the one that's quite controversial. Even the mag made a point to say ALLEGEDLY.

Didn't mean to sound as if USDM subbies are crappy -- I just meant they have differences ... any differences are bound to be affected by emissions and fuel issues but there are lots of fans and growing at subaruforester.org to show they're NOT crappy as a rule nor by default. MI probably just makes the typical SOA dealer look bad. Of course, it could just be that you guys have a heck of a lot more units than we do and your 1% problems far outnumber our 1%. Hey, at least you have more affordable prices!

On a different note, isn't cali the ONLY state with low octane fuel only and even higher emissions standards? Do they tweak the specs for cali or do they change the whole thing for SOA? I guess, issues like this are the point of the differences.

[pup2]

Guys... Just recently every time I park my 2.0X after a drive out there's a bit of a water drip on the floor - left side below the engine. I almost always use the aircon - temp usually at '22'... Is that the cause? Is it normal or must be serviced at MI? Thanks!

Chances are it's water from the AC bro. Madali lang malaman kung ano yung fluid. Mag iwan ka ng ilang piraso ng bond paper sa ilalim, lagyan mo ng konting pabigat. Kung tubig yung tumutulo, clear yung fluid. Kung coolant, green yun. At kung any other fluid, brownish.

[HyBrideVo]

That tranny thing is apparently the one that's quite controversial. Even the mag made a point to say ALLEGEDLY.

Didn't mean to sound as if USDM subbies are crappy -- I just meant they have differences ... any differences are bound to be affected by emissions and fuel issues but there are lots of fans and growing at subaruforester.org to show they're NOT crappy as a rule nor by default. MI probably just makes the typical SOA dealer look bad. Of course, it could just be that you guys have a heck of a lot more units than we do and your 1% problems far outnumber our 1%. Hey, at least you have more affordable prices!

North America is Subaru's biggest market thus far so you're right our 1% is way more than your 1%. Prices? Hmmm im not too sure about that i think it's almost the same..Or is it because of the crazy ass taxes you guys have there that's why it's so expensive. MI seems to be the typical stealersh... ehem dealership to me though...

On a different note, isn't cali the ONLY state with low octane fuel only and even higher emissions standards? Do they tweak the specs for cali or do they change the whole thing for SOA? I guess, issues like this are the point of the differences.

California has 91 octane as the highest available fuel for a street driven vehicle.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/homepage.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_...nal_variations

IIRC, Subaru has PZEV & ULEV vehicles so it's really not a problem if it's sold in California or any other states. It's tuned specifically and passed emissions for the North American market. Other brands though have California spec vehicles as far as i know.

[pup2]

Prices: Yes, crazy a$$ taxes so our govt people have pocket money. For comparison purposes, our FXT goes for about PHP 1.7-1.8m now -- that's almost 37K USD. I'm not sure but I think that's bimmer territory over there.

MI has much better service quality than the dealers over there I think. We just have to remember their prices are non-negotiable so if the budget is small, there's a need to look elsewhere.

Consumers don't have too many rights over here but they tend to shoot you if they feel bad enough so maybe that's the motivation ... seriously.

91? Is that the average of MON+RON? So what's the RON? Cause our manual says 95 RON MINIMUM.

[HyBrideVo]

Prices: Yes, crazy a$$ taxes so our govt people have pocket money. For comparison purposes, our FXT goes for about PHP 1.7-1.8m now -- that's almost 37K USD. I'm not sure but I think that's bimmer territory over there.

MI has much better service quality than the dealers over there I think. We just have to remember their prices are non-negotiable so if the budget is small, there's a need to look elsewhere.

Consumers don't have too many rights over here but they tend to shoot you if they feel bad enough so maybe that's the motivation ... seriously.

91? Is that the average of MON+RON? So what's the RON? Cause our manual says 95 RON MINIMUM.

Wow i got mine thousands below $37k. You guys really got raped by the damn tax people :bwahaha:

It depends on the dealer network. My dealer is one of if not the best Subaru dealer in Florida - Mastro Auto Group (SOA calls them Stellar Performers - 5 stars or more rating i believe). I get a free loaner car if my FXT is gonna stay a day or two at the shop for maintenance service which is pretty good (does MI offer that! ) Most of the local Subie owners with my cousin one of 'em takes their car to Mastro because they have one of the best & honest service advisors and technicians. And most of all they're a 'mod' friendly dealer!

It's rather common sense that MI should give it's customers excellent service for the money... The fact that they're the only Subie dealer in the country they should at least provide 'better quality' than non authorized dealers hahaha :rofl01:

California's 91 super unleaded is the equivalent of your 95 regular unleaded. Fortunately, here in FL we have 93 super unleaded.


I suppose pinas is based on Euro standards

This higher rating seen in Europe is an artifact of a different underlying measuring procedure. In most countries (including all of Europe and Australia) the "headline" octane that would be shown on the pump is the RON, but in the United States, Canada and some other countries the headline number is the average of the RON and the MON, sometimes called the Anti-Knock Index (AKI), Road Octane Number (RdON), Pump Octane Number (PON), or (R+M)/2. Because of the 8 to 10 point difference noted above, this means that the octane in the United States will be about 4 to 5 points lower than the same fuel elsewhere: 87 octane fuel, the "regular" gasoline in the US and Canada, would be 91-92 in Europe. However most European pumps deliver 95 (RON) as "regular", equivalent to 90–91 US (R+M)/2, and deliver 98 (RON), 99 or 100 (RON) labeled as Super Unleaded.

[pup2]

Your first sentence is not true. We're STILL getting raped.

I don't know if they give out loaners because I haven't had an overnight job yet -- and I don't expect to for at least 3-4 more years. I think that kind of practice is limited to the euro brands in this country though.

They fixed my flat for free though. Plus they got my plate in less than 2 weeks -- yes, that's an accomplishment here, a big one. Because plates can take several MONTHS.

You gas up with 93 Octane? Doesn't that do weird things for your engine? Most people here use 96 ...

Wow i got mine thousands below $37k. You guys really got raped by the damn tax people :bwahaha:

It depends on the dealer network. My dealer is one of if not the best Subaru dealer in Florida - Mastro Auto Group (SOA calls them Stellar Performers - 5 stars or more rating i believe). I get a free loaner car if my FXT is gonna stay a day or two at the shop for maintenance service which is pretty good (does MI offer that! ) Most of the local Subie owners with my cousin one of 'em takes their car to Mastro because they have one of the best & honest service advisors and technicians. And most of all they're a 'mod' friendly dealer!

It's rather common sense that MI should give it's customers excellent service for the money... The fact that they're the only Subie dealer in the country they should at least provide 'better quality' than non authorized dealers hahaha :rofl01:

California's 91 super unleaded is the equivalent of your 95 regular unleaded. Fortunately, here in FL we have 93 super unleaded.


I suppose pinas is based on Euro standards

[mazdamazda]

You gas up with 93 Octane? Doesn't that do weird things for your engine? Most people here use 96 ...

The octane rating for the US & Phil is different...we use RON here not sure what they are using over there.

And yes, as what HBV said... their 91 octane is equivalent to our 95 RON.


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[theveed]

From Wiki

In most countries (including all of Europe and Australia) the "headline" octane rating, shown on the pump, is the RON, but in the United States, Canada and some other countries the headline number is the average of the RON and the MON, sometimes called the Anti-Knock Index (AKI), Road Octane Number (RdON), Pump Octane Number (PON), or (R+M)/2.

Because of the 8 to 10 point difference noted above, the octane rating shown in the United States is 4 to 5 points lower than the same fuel elsewhere: 87 octane fuel, the "regular" gasoline in the US and Canada, is 91–92 in Europe. However most European pumps deliver 95 (RON) as "unleaded", equivalent to 90–91 US (R+M)/2, and some even deliver 98 (RON), 100 (RON), or 102 (RON).[2]

[HyBrideVo]

You gas up with 93 Octane? Doesn't that do weird things for your engine? Most people here use 96 ...

Subaru would've not sold STI's, FXT's, LGT's and 1st gen Tribecas that all use PREMIUM UNLEADED fuel (minimum 91 octane) if it did weird things to the engine

[MadCow88]

Removal of Catalytic Converter on FTX to increase power......any feedback to those who have done it?... pros and cons...thanks!

[pup2]

Subaru would've not sold STI's, FXT's, LGT's and 1st gen Tribecas that all use PREMIUM UNLEADED fuel (minimum 91 octane) if it did weird things to the engine

Ah, I got confused with your RON-MON again. You meant 93 RON+MON so that would mean 97 RON right? So how's that working for you? Does it give you more HP?

So you mean the more problematic is the 91/95 in cali which is the same as our 95. Well, it works but I can't help but feel it's not performing as well ...

As for the cat removal ... nope, haven't heard of it here yet. MFB?

[HyBrideVo]

Removal of Catalytic Converter on FTX to increase power......any feedback to those who have done it?... pros and cons...thanks!

I suggest you get an STI intercooler, a catted downpipe and a turboback exhaust if you want significant HP gains (don't forget to get tuned! or go the easy route & buy a Cobb Tuning AccessPort). Removing the CAT alone doesn't give you big HP gains except add pollution to the already polluted air hehe..

Ah, I got confused with your RON-MON again. You meant 93 RON+MON so that would mean 97 RON right? So how's that working for you? Does it give you more HP?

Our 93 octane here in FL works great. I don't notice any HP gains by filling up from station to another though one thing i observed is if i fill up at Sunoco or Shell my fuel lasts a day or two longer than filling up at 'discount stations' like Sam's club, BJ's or Costco. And perhaps my ride is bone stock so it really doesn't matter.

So you mean the more problematic is the 91/95 in cali which is the same as our 95. Well, it works but I can't help but feel it's not performing as well ...

Problematic? Nahh i've never heard of EJ207, EJ255 or EJ257 turbo owners complaining about the otherwise known as 'crappy' 91 octane in California. Unless you get crazy on modifications such as a turbo swap, intake, exhaust and engine work, then obviously the motor/ecu has to get tuned for it to run on pump gas (91 octane).