Old Skool Forester...turbo

[apexjapan]

Stardate 07/03, 2004 I've been loaned a vehicle by Ross while they replace my Legacy motor with a built 2.5-litre STi twin-scroll turbo'd screamer. Ok, I lie, they are just using it for some R&D on air boxes. I can dream, can't I? So I'm suffering with a SF Forester turbo (first generation body). Ok, I can't call it suffering. I like Foresters. They remind me a lot of my first car. No, not my *first* car, but my first *car*. The other ones were merely transportation, what changed my views towards that was a 1973 Datsun 510 2-door that I bought for a song. Literally. It had been sitting at a used car dealer forever, and they wanted only $500 for it. I finally got curious, borrowed it for a test drive with my cousin along, and we took it out back and tested the clutch the traditional way - rev it and dump it. We slowly moved about 30 feet, so figured that it was bad. Then we looked back and saw two black strips about, ah, 30 feet long. I went back and bought it on payments (really!) and drove it to the nearest junkyard to find 4 tyres that *matched*. Unlike the ones on the car... That car had been built up by somebody in the past - hi-comp pistons, big carb, 240Z transmission, 810 springs. Didn't look it, obviously, but it was quite a quick little car, and taught me all about weight shift, transitions, and other aspects of handling as I used it to deliver pizzas during Spokane winters. Which meant I was basically sliding sideways for 6 months of the year, since all I could afford was half-bald el cheapo rubber that may have been vaguely related to M+S, but were in no way snow tyres. Anyways, I digress. The Forester brings back those memories because the basic configuration is almost the same - upright seating, acres of easy to see out greenhouse, squarish body. Of course, it sits a little higher, and has a beefy 2.0-litre turbo and AWD, but funny enough, they do feel quite a bit similar. What prompts me to scribble, tho, is the latest additions to Ross's little transportation device. If you don't know, it's a rolling showcase of go fast parts. Headers, 320hp ball-bearing turbo, TMIC, downpipe, intake, exhaust. You name it, it's there. It's got this healthy 280hp thing going on, and with the light weight of the first gen Foresters, it's pretty fun, even if it's an automatic. But it also had all the suspension bits, and that took a bit of enjoyment out of it in cruising terms, because it rode pretty harsh. Not right now, though. Ross put the original, mushy, tall-sidewall high-mileage OEM rubber back on while using the low-pro RE-01's for some other duty. And that little change has transformed it back into something quite fun again. The suspension hasn't changed, but now those tall sidewalls are absorbing all the small impacts. Sometimes it's a little bit bouncy, but the rest of the time it works quite well. The funny thing is that it still handles well. Quite well, actually, quite a bit like an old school BMW. I've been having a lot of fun with it, yes, even in the twisties, because it handles with a large amount of predictability, important for the goat paths that make up the roads in Japan. The ultimate limits are not as high anymore, but who actually can drive at the ultimate limits on public roads for any length of time? When I'm worried about those limits, I'm wearing fireproof undies, a helmet, and have some runoff room with sand at the corners. Ie, at the track. Anyways, these tall sidewalls were the secret to the older BMW's, actually. They had a relatively stiff suspension setup, but they put real tyres with real sidewalls on. So that the car still turned in quite well, but absorbed those little bumps that annoy quite well too. The BMW magic wasn't all that magical, and would have been quite simple to emulate. The problem is that it no longer looks very flash to have tyres with actual sidewalls on them. Everybody wants as little rubber above the rim as possible, and to be honest, this led to almost a decade of compromised ride/handling setups in the mid 90's. Just now are car companies finding their way back to ride/handling setups that entertain and are comfortable, as witnessed by the latest Legacies. Still, I wonder what happens when it becomes chic to have tall sidewalls again? Cheers, Paul Hansen

[SUBE555]

Paul, your stories are always entertaining. :D You should take a can of paint and a brush and give Ross some nice whitewall tires. :lol: It's so in and you know it. ;)

[Th3Franz]

[quote name='SUBE555']Paul, your stories are always entertaining. :D You should take a can of paint and a brush and give Ross some nice whitewall tires. :lol: It's so in and you know it. ;)[/quote] No, don't take styling cues from the old Buick! :P

[evolutionmovement]

I've always been for tall sidewalls and skinnier tires. I think things are over tired now and I hate the ride of low profiles and the way they break away. I'm not afraid of sliding around or a little float and the tires are cheaper anyway. I hate that I have to move to 16" on my Legacy in order to clear the next set of brakes. And I still think the old muscle car look with white letter Mickey Thompsons (or substitute) looks better than all these heavy-rimmed rubber band wheels. I'm thinking of buying newer Forester rounded 5-star wheels that resemble old muscle car wheels, but I'm not sure if it will look right. White letter tires are a little tough to find in the right size, too. Steve

[crapy]

paint it to PINK!