The Family Man's Performance Car - Forester STi - Cars From Japan Reviews

The Forester STi is basically a cross between a Forester and a WRX STi. The 2.5L turbo boxer engine and 6-speed transmission as well as brakes and STi suspension transplanted into a Forester. We took it for a drive thanks to @carsfromjapan888 to see if it drives the way you expect. Cars from Japan:
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#forester #forestersti #subarusti #wrxsti #carreview
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[@eza109]

What i am seeing is the 06 Forester sti kerb weight is 1500kg and the 06 sti sedan 1495kg. Very surprising.

[@bingoberra18]

When the forester STI came out with its 330hp 2,5l it was faster to 60mph than the impreza sti

[@doubletee4391]

It's really one of the coolest things subaru has ever done.

[@Thefastfarmer]

Almost bought one myself once, I don't have a family but just liked the look of them

[@linchester8464]

Japan gets the best trims of Subaru cars and SUVs I did some mods to my 04 Forester to be almost WRX/STi Forester hybrid. WRX Turbo, STi interooler/pipings and bigger fuel pump, injectors the whole lot of WRX/STi parts. And tuned by ECUTek. Producing 200+bhp. Almost night and day difference when i first got it. Fun SUV/car. The only thing that suffered a major issue is with the 4 speed auto gearbox valve body failed and causing it to not shift in gear. Have to scrap it.

[@youdisgustme919]

Just a heads up, u spelled performance wrong in the thumbnail ❤ (also i drove an sti foz once, great car!)

[@jshrssll]

I ended up purchasing this exact car from Cars From Japan. Needed a bit of work, new centre differential, new throttle position sensor, new STI and Forester badges, a good detail and polish to get rid of the acid wash from the paint. It's coming along quite well though.

[@MrRobertmiawa]

How did you diagnose centre diff issues?

[@jshrssll]

@@MrRobertmiawa When turning at slow speed in a tight circle, there was a very obvious slip/clunk coming the rear of the car in the center. I just assumed it was the viscous coupler / center diff. I had a mechanic (Ichiban) look at it and they confirmed that was the issue and replaced it with a new one. Further to this I've had more issues. The lower control arms need to be replaced as well as the rear struts. Lower control arms are being done next week and suspension in the next few months with new coilovers.

[@ronnie5569]

I didn't have a great experience with CFJ, thankfully I found one from another source. Their stock is overpriced and from the sounds of it not mechanicaly sound. They tried to sell me "stock" one which had EL headers and completely sprayed black on the underbody.

[@jshrssll]

​@@ronnie5569 yeah look I'm not stoked about it, but from what I can tell this FSTI is pretty clean. I have it serviced at Ichiban and they also did a full inspection on it etc and said it looks legitimate. The worn out parts like the lower control arms and rear suspension seem pretty synonymous with the age & milage of the car so I'm not too annoyed. The car is a weekend toy for me, so spending a bit of money on it doesn't hurt too much. My biggest issue with the car is some of the faded paint and clear coat coming through. Especially on the roof rail covers and rear wing. Need to spend a bit of money having parts resprayed, but the quote was $4,000 haha. Need to get it mechanically sound before I start blowing money on cosmetics.

[@zxssded]

Has someone whop has had one, best family daily ever. Narrower than most hatchbacks nowadays as well so can fairly easily get around CBD's as well

[@jamesbaylis9438]

Being a lover of this era Subaru, i thought the Blue was the color to have. But this.... THIS in Black ❤❤❤❤😮😮

[@ricepony33]

Forester with a N.A. 3.6 and manual would be my pick.

[@elliotknight4487]

did i spy a roof brace? does it actually do much?

[@sc2320]

quality Kidd bad boy 🔥💯💪🏻

[@tolgarupture]

Hi, I noticed your front strut tower brace has that soft centre section. I’ve been looking into these and haven’t been able to find one for Forester sti. I’ll be grateful if you could point me in the right direction. Cheers

[@asdreww]

GD model 2002-2007 WRX STI ones are a direct fit. I have a Titanium brace from a 2004 WRX STI on my Forester

[@tolgarupture]

Thank you @asdreww.

[@TurismoVZ]

Ahhh that Subaaru reliability...🤣

[@zxssded]

to be fair, I have had my STI forester now for 10 years and has the same engine and is over 200,000k's now and is my daily. I just think 50% of subaru owners are just bad car owners

[@brzd86]

Cool car

[@jamiem9849]

Hi Andrew. As a Subaru and Nissan fan, I’d love to see you drive an x trail gt import, with the last of the sr20 turbos and 280 hp.

[@ScomaAus]

I drove one and honestly I was a little disappointed. My daily is a Toyota Aurion and the Xtrail barely felt faster than the Aurion and would be using a whole lot more fuel in the process. Sure it's a neat sleeper but it really needs more power to shift that weight around. It also doesn't really get going until the mid level rpms meaning that you really need to get up it to get anything out of it.

[@gav240z]

The other 1 is the Airtrek Turbo R but they are basically an Evo 7 GTA auto box only. I thought it was underwhelming... To be honest. I drove a Forester also but didn't love it. Ended up with a Nissan Stagea 260rs Autech version. Basically my pick of hot family wagon / SUVs with fun drivetrains.

[@linchester8464]

There is one thing that is missing from the Forester STi when you compare to the Sedan STi. There is no DCCD controller in the Forester so you cant control the torque split

[@asdreww]

Same as the early WRX STI. Forster STI has the running gear from the 2002-2004 bugeye STI, so 5x100 hubs with inverted struts, AP suretrac front & rear diffs, no DCCD etc. Still good though!

[@joshdobson2737]

Another car we should have had in the states... instead of creating a watered-down version of a STI for America, we would have bought more Foresters like this than they could make

[@50thcam]

Ive never heard someone say ‘sti’ this many times in my life

[@offgridas]

We got sti Forresters in NZ. Prefer my rev d legacy to the Impreza platform

[@Lucas_Shaolin]

Should have got a Toyota caldina gt4 it's the choice upgrade for us turbo Toyota starlet owner upgrade up to. They are a pretty rapid car but hard to get in Aus compared to a Forrester Sti.

[@HSVR383SC]

Agree. Mate has one he brings to khanacross. Auto so slow off the line but then it goes pretty hard. The foot handbrake kills him on the hairpins though👍

[@dreednlb]

"Performnace" in thumbnail

[@omgwtfbbq2k13]

I imported and owned one for two years. It was a nightmare to maintain as soon as I brought it back from the port the CEL came on. I ended up selling it at a loss. Never again will I buy an older Subaru. Oh yes, Grade 4B, with 58,000km from Gifu

[@BryorMoritz]

Was looking to do the same. That much of a nightmare?

[@asdreww]

They are fairly simple beats and a CEL will just be standard Imrpeza stuff of this era - engine sensors etc are all shared with the WRX STI? Did you find out what was wrong with it

[@jonnyturbo6142]

I don’t think the weight is all the much different?

[@Birmingham_racing]

At 36 I rather daily this over an Impreza

[@luh_jamaica9981]

Wheee do i find one ?

[@kevinmiller4757]

motive dvd has a secrete love affair for subys... lol

[@CUSSLIKEASAILOR]

☝🏾❤️🤙🏾

[@gorans7518]

Stagea 260RS is better suited to the title

[@racingandmusicmylife]

Shame they didn’t keep up with sti forester like they did with this one, bit of a joke to call the current gen sti forester an sti in the first place

[@uwisho]

These do not have sti impreza engine. They are ej255. Impreza sti is ej257.

[@jonathanchung7209]

Unfortunately it handles like a wet noodle.

[@ramdomstash32]

Kinda like the Nissan stagea