PIGPEN 2018 forester light build and adventures

Smileyshaun

Observer
Well I finally bit the bullet , after a lifetime of tinkering and fabricating rebuilding and spending to much time in the garage I bought a brand new vehicle . With life ever changing as it is,kids in school , Orchestra and sports ,fiance , saving for a house , planning a wedding , ect ect I just don't have the time to maintain a vehicle and keep modifying stuff to a daily driver
The requirements for the new ride where , reliable , fun to drive , some offroad ability , room for stuff and good mpg . After a bit of test driving some different rigs I landed a good deal on a 2018 Subaru forester premium 6 speed manual . I already knew I liked the car because the fiance has the same thing just a 2017 . I almost went for a auto for the x mode but I really can't stand a cvt transmission or any auto for that matter with a 4 cyl , i just dont like that disconected feeling from the vehicle and having so much of the driving dictated by the computer . Its actually amazing how hard it is to find a manual transmission anymore and sadly this is the last year they will offer a manual trans forester anymore . The only modifying that will be done to it is a skid plate and a 1" lift.
The other big reason for going new is I want what free car time I have to go into finishing my jeep not tinkering on my daily driver .

 

Smileyshaun

Observer
Sunday funday

started the day off lazy as possible , sleeping in , making a nice breakfast and finally getting out the door at 11 .
took a drive up mount hood and around to the end of the Barlow road . on the way up there I turned around in a parking lot and forgot I'm not driving a rig on 35s and clipped a curb ..... this is why I can't have nice things



so far I really like the car , rides great on the road and on gravel roads , offroad I have to slow down a little more then I'm use to I don't have a ton of rubber to soak up the bumps anymore . best part is the mileage the fiance regularly gets over 30 mpg and after a few tanks I'm hoping to get close to the same . with the tahoe I'd be lucky to squeeze 250 miles out of a tank of fuel .





https://flic.kr/p/MhtD4C
 

Smileyshaun

Observer
got out to try and escape the summer heat by finding a creek up in the mountains to hang our hammocks by and enjoy a cold adult beverage . never found a creek or stream without campers by it but did find a dead end that had a amazing view of mount hood and it was nearly silent . great way to spend a day . Even with traveling up over mount hood and quite a bit of gravel road driving I still got 28.5 mpg on the 200 mile trip .






 

Smileyshaun

Observer
I knew I was kidding myself saying I'd keep it stock
I've had a set of 235/75r15 studded tires I use to use on my car trailer in the winter but have just been sitting in the garage taking up space sense I really don't tow stuff around anymore so did a little research and found out they will fit on the subi with the right set of rims .

now it seems that most everybody runs methods and I do like the looks of them but i would like the car to be a little different so I went with black rhino boxer wheels . One big selling point to me was the weight , They come in at 16.2 lbs. being my daily I don't want to take a big hit in mpg so I'm trying to keep the tire and wheel package as light as possible . The eventual plan after I wear these tires out is going with the Goodyear trailrunner in a 225/75r15 , with the wheels I should be about 4-5lbs lighter then the stock tire and wheel combo and have a lot more sidewall to soak up the bumps .


I ordered just one and busted out the tire changer to see how it fits , only place I see a little rubbing happening is on the pinch weld so hopefully I can just pound it down and heat up the plastic liner to flatten it out so everything clears



also pladipped the lower part of the bumper to cover up some scratches

https://flic.kr/p/2cqGX2u
 

Smileyshaun

Observer
well pigpen is gone , after having a multitude of issues with it and SOA not exactly getting around to addressing and fixing the problem, I traded it all for a 2003 Forester. No idea what to call it yet
 

Smileyshaun

Observer
That is sweet. I think that generation of Forester is the best looking. I am curious about how it compares to the newer model.

in my opinion it's better in almost every way . It's way more throttle responsive more low end grunt , the hill conning up to my house in the 2018 i would have to get over 40 to be able to keep it in 3rd gear in the 03 i can be in 3rd at 30 and still accelerate up the hill .
It's so much better that my better half traded off her 2017 for a 2009 and is way happier with it .
 

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