Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Anyone interested in a rapid all weather car? I'm considering selling my 2006 Forester XT.

Red
80,000 miles
2.5 XT

Mechanically the car is in very fine condition, bodywork is good with a couple of small patches of corrosion.

Engine
The engine has been built by Steve Whitson (same guy that builds engines for Andy Forrest's insane time attack car and Scotland's top Subaru engine specialist) with forged pistons, blueprinted rods, new crank, race bearings, uprated oil pump, cosworth head gaskets, tumbler delete, new water pump and all other gaskets etc around 3000 miles ago.

It's had a 200 mile and 2000 mile oil change with fully sync oil.

On the cooling side it has a Mishimoto uprated radiator and silicone pipe. Air cooling is taken care of by a large top mount intercooler from a STI hatch and again silicone pipework. The turbo intake pipe (a common failure) has also been upgraded with a large bore silicone pipe from RCM.

It has STI blue injectors and uprated fuel pump (again from RCM).

On the exhaust side it's a full Hayward and Scott 3" system with sport cat, spot on noise wise with no drone but plenty of character. Headers are wrapper with ceramic exhaust wrap.

PCV system has been replace with an RCM return to sump catch can setup.

The engine is running around 290bhp on a TD04 turbo, rebuilt less than 1000 miles ago by a specialist in Glasgow.

The engine was mapped for midrange torque and needs to be run on 97 RON fuel. The mapping was done by Andy Forrest, Scotland's top guy for mapping. It runs a switchable map that can be switched between the two maps. In the full boost map it also runs auto throttle blipping when you are braking, a very fun feature.

Suspension

It's running standard WRX ride height on Pedders shocks and springs, with uprated anti-roll bars front and rear including well greased polly bushes (24mm front and 21mm rear) this gives a compliant ride but great handling if you load up the suspension a bit.

Front wishbones have been replaced recently and the rears are the uprated STI versions to support the increased anti-roll bar loads.

STI front strut brace is also fitted.

Brakes
The front brakes are the 4 pots with Godspeed kevlar pads and grooved disks, the rears are the standard calipers and disks with Godspeed kevlar pads; TBH the rear calipers could do with being replaced at some point soon. All the rubber hoses have been replaced with goodyear braided lines.

Wheels
The summer wheels are Minilite 17" in grey, they have a couple of chips but really suit the car, these come with Vredestein Ultrac Cento 215/55 R17 . The winters wheels are standard subaru 17" 5 spoke design, a bit tatty but with great tyres; Nokian WRA3 Nokian WR A3 - 215/55 R17. The car would include one set of wheels with the others negotiable.

Body
The body is pretty good, one slight dent on the top of tail gate and few scratches here and there. There is a small corrosion patch on one of the rear arches. It's not show condition but looks smart when cleaned and polished.

I have also fitted nice black mudflaps, not too chav.

The front grille is the 'sport' version which looks 1000% cooler than the original.

Interior
The interior is mid naughties Subaru, so not a modern Audi in terms of soft touch materials. I've upgraded the seats to the heated Impreza spec D leather buckets and the gear knob is from RCM.

The stereo has been upgraded with a double din kenwood unit, the has bluetooth and DAB. All the speakers and wiring has been upgraded and there is a subwoofer under the drivers seat. The sound is great!

The rear seats are also leather.

The boot comes with a retractable load cover.

I'm thinking about asking for £6000, the engine work alone is work £4500.

I've attached a few photos (will look out better quality ones later, these are from grainy old expired film).

Anyone interested? It's such a great car, I'm sure I'm going to regret selling it!