Tofubaru - Forester II

All the best with the life events on the horizon. Was just about to say I like the fact the OG wheels are still fitted above, although admittedly I replaced them on my Outback.

nice.
mine has unfortunately decided to lower itself.
rear n/s shock has given up after a summer spent cruising to the coast and back loaded up with roofbox/bikes/tents/kids etc.
now i have to make the decision on whether to stay stock height, or lift, or lower...

Bugger, that's a nuisance! I think I'd be reluctant to lift it unless you actually use it off-road and a touch lower than stock or stock would be ideal I reckon!

Any thoughts on coilovers?

aye, a bit of a pain but it's still driveable at least.
looks as if the self levelling shock on the n/s has been replaced with a monroe shock that isn't self levelling. not sure why anyone would fit one and not do both sides?!
anyway, the SLS springs are a bit softer than non-SLS so if they re-used the OG spring that might be why it's sagged.
although it is lempting to lower it a bit, this is meant to be a practical family car so i'll most likely replace both rear shocks / springs etc. and keep it at stock height.

Things have taken an unexpected turn...

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Somebody been shooting at you?

First thought as well!

It does look it doesn't it but on closer inspection it appears more like axe or pick inflicted injuries...

Wait, so have you bought a more battered car, or has your car been battered. I am confused.

I have bought a more battered car of course.

This one is a 125,000mile 2004 model in excellent mechanical shape aside from being a bit sad looking and needing a set of wheels, drivers side window, boot lid window, rear left side window and catalytic converter.

I'll sort the aforementioned shortcomings, swap the front end and two tone panels with those from my car and then get it tested and sell it.
I paid the princely sum of €480 for it so hopefully I'll turn a profit!

whispers "slam it"

swap the front end and two tone panels with those from my car

Why? I am confused.

Then Bosozoku

Aesthetics. I just prefer how the pre-facelift front end looks and I also prefer two tone...

Ah, so the battered one is basically a two-tone panel donor car that you’ll sell on. Thanks for explaining!

rat it out and use it as a run-around while you do a proper job on the other one?

whispers "slam it"

Whispers in the other ear "lift it"

Yeah sorry, I didn't explain it well at all : )

No I'll definitely be selling this one on once tidied up... I've been considering a forum-approved Jazz/Fit for a runaround when work starts proper on the Forester though!

So... some of you may have picked up on my comments in the EV thread and done the very simple quick maths...

I'm considering an EV swap instead of the engine swap for a few reasons (although it's really not set in stone yet)...

I want this to be my daily driver for the foreseeable future and a massive petrol engine (albeit a pretty efficient one for its size) is a bit counterintuitive in today's climate in terms of fuel costs, road tax costs, vulnerability to future legislation regarding ICE cars (I suspect that whatever dispensation is put in place for "classic vehicles" in the future won't apply to my c.10 year old Subaru...

I also like the idea of a DIY performance EV swap... performance can actually exceed that of the V8 (aside from the lack of fruity exhaust note) and the more I think about it the more sense it makes from a futureproofing standpoint...

The only real negative I can think of are the fact that it will probably be quite a bit more expensive although this won't be a huge factor over the life of the vehicle considering the much lower running costs.

Now... my big pickle (no innuendo) at the moment is that I'm faced with a question of whether to make it RWD or AWD... RWD will be much cheaper and much easier to do... AWD an awful lot more expensive and complicated...

I'm committed to the idea of using Tesla Model S motors (LDU/ SDU) in some configuration to be confirmed and not decided on batteries or controls at all yet...

It's very much a high level concept at the moment.

Thoughts?

(Here's a glorious Subaru Baja I spotted last night to keep things visually interesting in the thread)

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Aren't the currents involved in EVs quite... killy? Not sure I'd want to be tinkering with them.

Ah I have a sort of general knowledge/ working experience with that sort of thing from my work life. I design/ build portable heating and cooling plantrooms and there's lots of 400v 3ph stuff involved. I also have a great electrical subcontractor I can call on for advice and help with it...

I'm pretty sure @scherrit knows a bit about removing self-leveling springs on a Scooby. I vaguely remember him talking about that mod.

Is that a factory model?

I would love to lower mine just for aesthetics (and maybe some fuel economy benefits because you'd be pushing a slightly smaller box through the air) but let's be honest it moves maybe 2-3 times a year.

cheers, i have the new shocks, just haven't got around to fitting them.
it's only 5 bolts per side. so shouldn't be to tricky.
there are loads of bolt on solutions for lowering if you want to go down that route.
i decided to keem mine standard height as i quite like it looks wise, and it's our 'practical family' vehicle.