Tofubaru - Forester II

awesome! sounds like a crazy amount of work but should make an absolute beast of a vehicle!
what kind of info do you get out of the OBD dongle? i've installed an android tablet in my forester in place of the factory sat nav - am i right in thinking it's possible to link up to android to get live diagnostics?

(also subbed in to your thread over on the forester forums)

It's actually great! I downloaded an app called Torque Pro and as far as I can see it has all of the same information I used to get on the Ultragauge in the Mini! It'll definitely work with the Android unit too so I'd definitely recommend it. Think it was about €40 for the dongle and €3.50 for the app or something like that!

I'm actually on the hunt for a headunit myself at the moment... ideally I'd like the new Nakamichi NA3605-M6 but I've emailed all of their distributors and nobody can tell me when it will be available. The older NA3605 would be ace too if you can change the colour of the buttons (can't be dealing with blue LED buttons) but nobody can confirm that for me yet which leaves me with the Sony XAV-AX100 which costs more and I don't really want as much as I want the Nakamichi one...

Will have to wait and see if someone from Nakamichi comes back to me and can tell me when the new one will be out or if the old one has changeable colours I guess...

cool. i think i'll pick one up.
i went with a pioneer fh-s820DAB in the stock location, and then the android tablet sits in the satnav housing on the top of the dash.
i wanted a cd player, and also real buttons rather than a pure touchscreen interface - plus i think the stock head unit location is a bit low down for a nav unit.

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That looks great! I'm really torn about whether to go for the dash top pod, it's a much better location for nav but then I really like having the cubby there for keys and bits and pieces... I had been planning on just running one headunit in standard location.

What's with all the tech?! all this needs is some decent tyres, a roof rack for boards and a tow hitch bike rack!

😅 that would be faaar too easy!

hey. any forester updates?

None at the moment to be honest, in the process of buying a house so haven't been spending any money on car stuff at all at the moment.

I got some new floor mats and a nice new steering wheel cover from East Detailing which I didn't think warranted sharing but I'll get the steering wheel cover fitted and snap a few pictures! Other than that I need to just bide my time until the time is right to buy the donor Lexus!

I have been giving consideration to another car to have as a runaround while work happens on the Subaru and I'm really thinking strongly about a Honda Beat... that would be fun!

fair enough! house buying can be a real time / money sucker.

honda beat would be awesome - gran turismo vibes!

Yeah I've always rather fancied a Kei car and the Beat is probably the coolest save for maybe the hallowed Autozam AZ-1 which have sky-rocketed in price! Importing a reasonably unabused Beat from Japan isn't too bad at all at the moment though!

i really like the boxy style ones like the suzuki wagon r or the honda life step van.
probably why i've ended up with the forester!

I have actually been considering a Nissan Cube as a possible other option haha!

So I've upgraded the head unit. Nakamichi NA3605-M6. Had to order one from Canada as it's such a new release nobody else had one for sale yet but have it in now and wired and it sounds great, lovely easy functionality.

I wasn't happy with the fit of the trim around the dashboard so I went about fitting the Nakamichi trim ring into the Subaru dash trim and blending them together. Currently repainting now so I'll update with the finished article soon!

I'm hoping the Honda Satin Silver paint I got will be a good match and I have also done a neat DIY refinish on the hazard/ warning button to make my own JDM spec red button at no cost (they're about €80 plus shipping on eBay).

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I also ordered a steering wheel cover from East Detailing and having retried the steering wheel in the R53 I was fully prepped and ready to install this one with utmost precision to ensure no creases or baggy bits and a factory finish fit.

I had to redo several sections of it a few times over as I was tensioning the thread so tightly I snapped it a few times and then...

... I discovered the pillocks who manufactured it didn't complete the stitching on the last part of the cover so I had to take it all off again and send a bunch of photos to the manufacturer before they sent me a new one which I'm now awaiting deliver of.

Very frustrating given what a lovely job I had done on the installation even if I do say so myself...

Anyway, it will be redone and I'll update photos when it is completed.

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I sold my roofrack from the R53 to my mate who has an R56 JCW and I purchased the same again in Forester fitment so surf trips are go!

I also replaced the battery. Boring but necessary and especially irksome when it probably won't be big enough to run the future V8.

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I also have a silver Scooby Forrest Gump. Mine's an 03 I think, 2L turbo version that is basically rusting away while doing an impersonation of a garden shed, storing stuff like bike boxes.

I took the battery out the other week to charge it (gets driven like 2x year) and now the bonnet won't close so that's great. Will almost certainly sell it when I move and/or stop racing TTs.

the bonnet won't close

Have you tried liberally applying WD40/ GT90 and whacking it with a hammer?

I hosed it down before I went away again with GT85 or something and it didn't help. Not yet gone at it with a hammer. Probably should try again.

Some forum said the rubber bump stops can unwind and stop it closing so I need to look at those.

so how many silver foresters is that on the forum? five?
just picked up a slim roof box for mine for this summer's camping dadventures.
looks like i'll easily fit 2 bikes on the roof and 2 on the back.

need to get a canoe.

found an awesome looking forester online the other day.
would love to do something like this - not too fussed about off-roading but i really like the lifted look.
probably a bit too 'one life, live it' though...

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I know the UK roads are bad but they're not quite to lift kit bad... yet.

I too am deeply conflicted between lowering and lifting. They both look excellent but I think I'll go for a very very small lower by way of compromise.

Meanwhile...
Far be it from me to toot my own trumpet but I'm rather chuffed with how this has turned out...

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great job, really clean! kind of tempted to do mine in black to match the dash top...
i must say i don't really get the red hazard switch thing, especially the crazy price for a JDM one.

i noticed a huge improvement in sound quality over the stock head unit when i upgraded my stereo.
you done / planning any speaker upgrades? i think i'll put a sub in for a bit more low end at some point.
still haven't wired up my steering wheel controls yet either which i plan to do at some stage.

i'm also really torn on lifting vs lowering. both do look awesome... maybe the answer is one of each?! or bags so you can do both?!

No specific plans for sound system upgrades at the moment but I probably will do when I do "the big job". I fancy the idea of replacing all of the speakers with Focal ones and adding a small sub in also, nothing wild but just a small upgrade. Might just go for more Nakamichi kit either to be honest...

The whole thing is up in the air anyway as I'm not even sure the dash trim will be usable after I do the transmission swap due to the absolute giganticism of the Lexus gearbox... I'm already quite sure I'll have to swap the seats for Bride Stradia or equivalent Recaros if I've any chance of making it fit as I'll need the additional space for the transmission tunnel!

I have decided air is the way to go though alright!

No updates to post at the moment to be honest, just bought a gaff and renovations (might actually do a thread for this as there's some interesting furniture business going on for it) are significantly demoralising my bank account which is only compounded by a wedding in October which all of a sudden has gone from a 25 guest cap to 100 guest so there won't be any spend on the Subaru for a while yet...

I did manage to find an insurance company who have agreed in principle to the idea of insuring the V8 Tofubaru provided I had a year of claim free driving experience on something with a similarly massive engine so I've been eying up an extraordinarily cheap Lexus LS430 which would be perfect if it's still available when I've recovered financially somewhat...

I did also spot this excellent pre-facelift SG on Facebook which is pretty much exactly what I want mine to look like when it's finished, albeit with slightly spicier wheels.

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