In celebration of the CDs 30th birthday, the Forester gets an upgrade from it’s original cassette deck to a new “compact disc” player.  By “new”, I actually mean an OEM Subaru/Clarion head unit out of a 2001 Subaru Liberty RX.  This $60 eBay purchase, and subsequent $15 Nissan Double Diversity antenna adapter purchase, has brought the Forester into the pre-iPod world of scratched discs and a 74-minute limit.

However, neither my MacBook Air, Mac Mini or Toshiba Libretto have optical drives.  While the Mac Mini that runs the TV does have a DVD burner, I don’t have any blank CDs, and I don’t think I can bring myself to buy any.

What to do?  Add an SPST switch, a hacked-up C-bus cable and an 1/8″ audio jack. Courtesy of a design from a Kiwi Lamb, I made this auxiliary in / iPad adapter:

The Forester, much like just about every other Subaru, had some fairly pronounced rear suspension sag.  I addressed this issue on the old 2007 Outback Sport by swapping the front springs for a shorter pair off of a WRX.  This time I wanted to keep the front end where it was and instead raise the rear.

This Forester has a nifty mechanical self-leveling rear suspension.  If I understand it correctly, the rear struts have a ratcheting mechanism that will automatically maintain the strut length at a pre-determined setting no matter what the suspension load.  This being the case, a taller pair of springs would not alter the rear ride height.  However, raising the body on the strut tops will raise the ride height.

As luck would have it, I found some ‘saggy butt’ suspension spacers from Subtle Solutions which are specifically designed to address my sagging suspension.  The spacers are made from 0.25″ HDPE plastic and fit between the strut tops and the body.  Here’s what I did and what happened:

Tools:

• 12mm socket and wrench
• 14mm box-end wrenches (2)
• floor jack

Time:

• 15-20 minutes per side

Before and After Measurements:

Note: I drove about 50km to settle the suspension prior to measurement.

Forester Subtle Spacer Install: Before and After

Procedure:

1. Remove rear cargo cover, trim covering strut top
2. Remove three 12mm nuts and strut top cover
3. Disconnect rear sway bar (14mm nut and bolt)
4. Raise rear corner of the Forester enough to let the strut top drop and clear the body
5. Install spacer(s)
6. Align strut mounting studs to body, lower the Forester
7. Reinstall strut top cover, reinstall bolts and torque to spec
8. Reinstall interior trim, cargo cover
9. Reattach rear sway bar
10. Repeat steps 1-9 for the other side

Install Photos:

Ok, I’m back. Now coming to you from the southern hemisphere, here are more projects and random thoughts. A while ago I mentioned that we were going to need a car with the steering wheel on the other side. Well, we now have one.

This is a 1999 Subaru Forester Limited. The first generation Forester, which this is, has always been my favorite. It is not the mini-SUV that the later generations became, but it is larger inside than the Impreza wagon on which it is based.

As an Australian model, this Forester has a 2.0L with 92kW of power and 184Nm of torque (123hp and 135ft/lbs) and a four speed automatic tranny. While the choice of transmission isn’t my favorite, it does have something the manual lacks: the ‘Power’ button. It is much more impressive if I don’t describe what it actually does, so we will just leave it at that.

Aside from the button, the Australian and Saudi Arabian model Foresters received auto-leveling suspension that sits a full 10mm higher than the Foresters found in the rest of the world. This 10mm, or slightly less that 3/4 of an inch, will surely transform an otherwise pedestrian car into a rock-crawling monster.

Anyway, this particular Forester has only 73,000 km (45,000 miles), and is nearly spotless inside and out. Not bad for a 10 year old car. The only non-stock equipment are the alloy wheels, which found there way off of a turbo Forester GT and on to our lowly non-turbo. The 16″ alloys not only look good, but they also have the added benefit of (probably) increasing rotating mass and emphasizing the distinct lack of power produced by the 2.0L motor. Not that this is bad, I’m quite fond of slow, boxy cars. The Forester fits in nicely with several of my past cars like the ’87 Vanagon, ‘83.5 Subaru-powered Vanagon and the ’61 bus. While the Forester is slow, I’m pretty sure it could take all but the ‘83.5 Vanagon with it’s comparatively massive 2.2L Subaru motor.

Did you notice that blue and silver basket on the seat? That would be a gift basket from the dealer, Eblens Subaru in Glenelg, SA. This is the first time I’ve received wine with a used car. So far we have been very happy with the car and the wine.