ISDC Featured Member's Car

Dan's Subaru Forester STi

History of the Subaru Forester STi

The Forester STi first appeared in Japan in 1999 in form of the SG5. She had an EJ20 engine running 250 bhp and 270lb/ft tuned for more torque than bhp to better suit the type of vehicle. It was 40mm lower than the standard turbo model and used Subaru branded 4 pot callipers clamping 297mm discs up front and sliding single piston callipers (wrx style) on the rear. She came standard on 17” BBS alloys with 225 45 17 tyres, otherwise the drive train was the same as a classic Impreza except for the taller suspension! She also had a nice body kit comprising of a deep front bumper, lower roof rails, a large rear bumper, side skirts and a nice big rear spoiler!

Inside, the STi theme was continued by Forester-specific STi seats front and rear and pink stitching on the leather Momo steering wheel, gear stick, hand brake and door cards. Most of these were automatics with a very small percentage being manual!

Subaru stopped making them in 2001 and didn’t make another Forester STi until February 2004.

Then came the SG9, this time a far more focused machine!! She had an EJ25 2.5L engine with active variable valve control and was rated at 265 bhp and 280 lb/ft. This time it was 50mm lower than the next closest Forester and this time used the big Brembo 4 pot callipers clamping 327mm discs up front and two piston Brembo callipers on the rear. She came standard on 18 x 7.5” alloys with 225 45 18 Bridgestone Potenza RE030 tyres and a body kit comprising of a deep front bumper, rear bumper, side skirts and a rear spoiler. Only one gearbox this time, the STi 6 speed close ratio gearbox with the last 3 gears being 14% longer gearing to match the bigger torque output of the engine and makes for more relaxed cruising (120kph @ 2500rpm in 6th)  they also used Sure Trac LSDs front and rear which do a great job getting the power down and it has a quick rack with 2.6 turns lock to lock.

Lastly a major difference in this Forester is the extensive use of lightweight materials, aluminium being used for most of the body work, so she weighs in at about 1500kgs (Impreza plus one passenger). The interior is the same as the Impreza STi with black STi bolstered front seats and sliding and reclining rear seats, seats 5 in total!

The current model was released in May 2005 which is just a face lift version with smoother lines around the front end and rear lights, different bumpers and indicators in the wing mirrors being the most noticeable changes, while remaining mechanically the same.

My Forester History

I always liked Subarus, but I’ve always had big dogs so the Impreza saloon or coupe were out of the question and my wife never liked the look of the wagon! So we bought a 98 JDM Forester Turbo in 2003 and when searching the web trying to find out if Impreza STi bits would fit my Forester, I stumbled across a Japanese web auction sheet of a 2001 (same shape as my 98) Forester STi! I was infatuated! Two weeks later my 2001 Forester STi was on her way from Japan (see below)! I think she was the only one in the country at the time.  Around the same time I found (on the web) pics and articles about the brand new 2004 Forester STi 2.5 but that was way out of my price range at the time! So a few more years of dreaming and I finally have her!!                                                      

My Car

The 2006 model, which a friend of mine imported for me in June 2007, was a grade 5 (absolutely perfect) and had 2700km on the clock and still had most of the plastic coverings on the carpets and trims and she arrived into Dublin after 8 weeks - fully intact (nothing robbed in transit) I was very lucky!!

How she drives...

She’s very quick off the mark due to the first few gear ratios and you don’t need to rev her out too drive quickly, she does most of her good work between 3000 and 6200rpm which I love because it sounds so effortless!

She’s a bit tail happy when you’re pulling out of junctions and exiting roundabouts, but she understeers gently when you push the boundaries of grip at higher speed and at that point there is still a few options 1: (boring) gently back off and settle down 2: (fast) accelerate and steer more and she’ll screech more and chew up your tyres but it is the fastest way around the bend or 3: (fun) accelerate then suddenly lift off and the back end steps out gradually enough to catch and hold for a few seconds.

Brake-wise they did boil the standard fluid after about 8 hot laps of Mondello but before that they were only shocking! I could leave the braking so late then just stamp on the brakes right into the bend and she’d stay reasonably well composed!

For normal every day driving the Whiteline springs are a bit hard at the front end @35N/mm it’s a bit too bumpy for my 2 year old, so Tein front springs 29N/mm are on their way! And she does about 24mpg when driven normally and she absolutely guzzles petrol when you drop the boot (so worth it). The Miltech exhaust isn’t too noisy but would still annoy your neighbours if you weren’t considerate! There is nearly no induction noise due to the panel filter (shame).

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