I'm not sure I'd ever call a forester a wagon, though the older ones aren't very SUV-like either I guess. Like the outback, though, the forester has gotten bigger and taller.

 

It's a wrx chassis, raised, and subframes spaced out. it's definitely not an SUV
The outback xt, on the other hand, is a really heavy tribeca chassis with wrx engine and legacy trans bolted to it.
IIRC the OBXT is actually heavier than a FXT in the 05-08 model years. OBXT actually rides smoother/softer

 

obligatory pic ***** pics

 

MOAR COPYPASTA FROM VARIOUS PARTS OF MT.NET!!!!!!! (because I'm on work computer and all pic hosting sites are bloxed)




















taken mostly from this thread
https://www.miataturbo.net/build-thr...D-60039/page3/

 

What seats are those? They don't look anything like my '07 FSXT seats, but they match the interior really nicely.

 

07 wrx premium

I was PLEASANTLY surprised when I installed them

 

do passenger seats not have that handle to raise/lower the seat?

my passenger seat is retraded low, mine's even jacked up all the way so i can see over the hood.

 

are you a midget?

and no, passenger seats don't, because ///Subaru

 

no. but im pretty sure every single person that's sat in my car has complained they sit too low and cant see over dash and are scared of the boost.

 

get a booster seat and some diapers (for the boozt)

 

or be mad tyte impossubru JDM-YO and swap in a JDM drivers seat into your passenger seat - now you can haz raise/lower thingie

 

not a bad idea.

I installed some shurbbery the other day:

 

where are you gonna store your obama banners and hipster bike and dogs now?

 

Even if you do the "tiptronic" shifting thing?

 

I think the 09+ boxes are a little bit better than the previous years.

And really, when I say suck I mean mostly the performance aspect. They shift at the stupidest times, they can't hold more than about 300tq, etc. For regular putt-putting around they're probably just fine.

I know it's a ton of fun when the torque converter multiplies the torque as the turbo is creating it, feels really cool.

 

So when you use the manumatic shifter, the worst thing about the auto disappears?
Do they shift reasonably quickly with the shifter? (FWIW the 08+ 535i's are fast, the 06 750i is terrible)

 

The terrible shift points disappear. The fact that it's still an auto is still blatantly obvious, and no it's nowhere near as cool as a 335i or even the vw DCT, it still shifts like your typical slushbox.

I think the newer ones are programmable with tuning, so you can make them a bit snappier, but again, this is still your run of the mill slushbox, not a fancy dual clutch or anything.

 

Do you think the turbo's powerband will make up for the wide spacing from only having 4 speeds?

 

its a baby td04, it will pretty much always be spooled

 

Which may sound cool, but I find it mildly annoying. Like lets just go up this slight grade at 75. Oh look I'm making like 5 psi at like 10% throttle and it doesnt feel any different than an n/a car would but now I'm at like 12.6AFR thats great for gas mileage.