2015 Forester 2.0

[Towtan]

https://m.facebook.com/groups/1069286409823991?view=permalink&id=2306100999475853&anchor_composer=false

 

Check out the Facebook thread. Someone repaired at Hong Yu car accessories at turf club for $80

 

As an update to bros here, I had changed the motor at SGGarage last Saturday at $120. I did not call up MI as I didn't want to spend time, money ($40+ cab fares) and effort to make the trip there. I took the opportunity when SGGarage said they could change for me when I called them. It's certainly not the cheapest but saved me the trouble.

 

Ok, the cause of the motor failure : wear and tear.

[Jamesgetz]

As an update to bros here, I had changed the motor at SGGarage last Saturday at $120. I did not call up MI as I didn't want to spend time, money ($40+ cab fares) and effort to make the trip there. I took the opportunity when SGGarage said they could change for me when I called them. It's certainly not the cheapest but saved me the trouble.

 

Ok, the cause of the motor failure : wear and tear.

Thanks for sharing!

 

How long did the repair take? Do you know whether they removed the interior door panel to access the side mirror motor?

[Towtan]

Thanks for sharing!

 

How long did the repair take? Do you know whether they removed the interior door panel to access the side mirror motor?

 

Hi James,

 

It's about 30 to 45 minutes job. Yes, they removed the interior door panel and dismantled the wing mirror, then took it to the workbench to do the change and test.

 

You can find videos on how to do this at Youtube, it's not difficult with the right tools and finding the replacement motor. Alternatively, a new motorized wing mirror can be bought online at about USD84 excluding shipping.

Edited July 10, 2019 by Towtan

[Fumio74]

Hi Fumio,

 

Not sure if you had already swapped back to the stock rear 16mm arb to address the harshness topic of ride ... I just did so on Sat afternoon while waiting for last piece of rear sti stiffener pair arriving next week. Forester sti ts is without any enhanced front or rear arbs and believe this the way for me and my quest for more compliant ride.

 

I replaced also the cusco front arb and now all stock and behold the jumping jack came back to unacceptable level but the harshness also reduced quite alot. This is despite added front/rear struts, sti front stiffener, body dampers, magic collars etc. .. but guess not like crazy angmo forester owner who swears by best ride after removing his rear arb completely.

 

As I was at soft 9/9 setting of the cusco touring A dampers, I dialed to 20/20 setting and the wobbly or roll reduces significantly .. at leàst to my acceptable level and ymmv as usual.

 

Lessons learnt for me and my fxt:

 

- vfm mod of pink springs .. be happy and stay there else others will cost a lot more

- rear arb WILL introduce harshness .. even by the least stiffen wrx one since it is still 20mm vs stock 16mm .. go more only if all out roadholding but it will NOT be a typical passenger car/suv

- go adjustable cusco touring A damper to alleviate wobbly and roll if compliant is a priority and not handling.

 

I do miss the sharp sharp steering prior to these arb reversal to stock and will try next with front cusco arb reinstalled back when fixing the rear flexible sti stiffeners.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

 

Hi Richard, 

 

Thanks for your information. I asked DM to adjust the arb to the "softest" position and i could feel some improvement. i will revert back to 16mm arb on my next trip to confirm our findings.

 

Actually during the trip up north i did something stupid and set my damper to something like 20/18(max 28/28) and i could see my headlight bouncing on the uneven roads. i was so tired after reaching Genting haha.

 

After that i tested at 26/24 on the way back which stabilized the car so much and better handling but still with much vibration from using 50 profile tyres.

 

With similar road conditions, i had a much more comfortable ride in my fren stock stock FXT and do not feel as much of the road.

 

So i think i should revert to 16mm arb and change to 55 profile tyres. What do you think? 

 

Cheers!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[richard_crl032]

Hi Richard,

 

Thanks for your information. I asked DM to adjust the arb to the "softest" position and i could feel some improvement. i will revert back to 16mm arb on my next trip to confirm our findings.

 

Actually during the trip up north i did something stupid and set my damper to something like 20/18(max 28/28) and i could see my headlight bouncing on the uneven roads. i was so tired after reaching Genting haha.

 

After that i tested at 26/24 on the way back which stabilized the car so much and better handling but still with much vibration from using 50 profile tyres.

 

With similar road conditions, i had a much more comfortable ride in my fren stock stock FXT and do not feel as much of the road.

 

So i think i should revert to 16mm arb and change to 55 profile tyres. What do you think?

 

Cheers!

Hi Fumio,

 

Not familiar with your Tein Flex Z coilover but the principles should be the same ....

 

Make sense that harder Tein coilover setting of 26/24 vs 20/18 will be less bouncy aka more stable and handles better. At the same time, you felt more vibration aka harshness which also make sense from my recent experience .. that you wish to alleviate .. hope I summarized correctly.

 

I believe change back from stiffer arb back to stock 16mm will certainly alleviate vibration, harshness or abruptness or the feeling the negative side of less than perfect road but you will likely reintroduce bouncy, less stable or poorer handling and yet already on almost max 26/24 setting of Tein which does not allow you to compensate much more. In my case, it was 10/10 on my cusco touring A damper and stiffen to 20/20 with max setting of 40/40 to try alleviate the bounce, less stability and poorer handling with the removal of stiffer arb .. one high speed on hwy, I will then stiffen it further to 30/30 or even 40/40.

 

More rubber of 55 profile will indeed also alleviate vibration, harshness and abruptness but again introduce more bounce, poorer handling and less stability but it should be minor albeit mentioned negativd effectz will also be minor.

 

As such, more likely positive move is going 55 profile tyres which will be my next choice since you settle for current set up but it is an expensive trial while arb swap is sgd20-30 that I whole heartedly recommend you try 1st and take it from there ... that is the same advantage of adjustability on our chosen suspension systems.

 

Sorry cannot help more and look forward to your further feedback.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

Edited July 10, 2019 by richard_crl032

[Rainman]

Hi Richard,

 

Thanks for your information. I asked DM to adjust the arb to the "softest" position and i could feel some improvement. i will revert back to 16mm arb on my next trip to confirm our findings.

 

Actually during the trip up north i did something stupid and set my damper to something like 20/18(max 28/28) and i could see my headlight bouncing on the uneven roads. i was so tired after reaching Genting haha.

 

After that i tested at 26/24 on the way back which stabilized the car so much and better handling but still with much vibration from using 50 profile tyres.

 

With similar road conditions, i had a much more comfortable ride in my fren stock stock FXT and do not feel as much of the road.

 

So i think i should revert to 16mm arb and change to 55 profile tyres. What do you think?

 

Cheers!

I m on 60 profile with no rear arb... after a week of driving, I had concluded it has no adverse effect on the cornering or driving. Ride as a whole becomes a little bit bouncy but totally acceptable to me. For the same stretch of road near Richard place which I used daily the compliancy improved greatly.

 

I think I will keep both the stock and upgraded arb in the storeroom haha

[richard_crl032]

I m on 60 profile with no rear arb... after a week of driving, I had concluded it has no adverse effect on the cornering or driving. Ride as a whole becomes a little bit bouncy but totally acceptable to me. For the same stretch of road near Richard place which I used daily the compliancy improved greatly.

 

I think I will keep both the stock and upgraded arb in the storeroom haha

Hey Rainman,

 

Steady for taking the lead and good to know you like it :)

 

For me, I am staying with stock arb but adding back cusco front arb cos missed the sharp sharp and predictive steering.

 

Just need to keep an eye without arb as it may stress other parts of the suspension system ..the huge stress handled by the arb has to go somewhere else.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

Edited July 14, 2019 by richard_crl032

[Rainman]

Hey Rainman,

 

Steady for taking the lead and good to know you like it :)

 

For me, I am staying with stock arb but adding back cusco front arb cos missed the sharp sharp and predictive steering.

 

Just need to keep an eye without arb as it may stress other parts of the suspension system ..the huge stress handled by the arb has to go somewhere else.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

Hi Richard I guess only time can really tell... as of now I m going to leave it as it is..

 

Next I feel like increase the car trackwidth for trying... haha

[Orixy]

Just wanna share my take on handling mods based on stock springs and dampers setup as i like the stock ride height and comfort.

 

My list of suspension mods include: Powerflex polyurethane big+small bushings for front control arm, front 4-pts subframe chassis bar, front strut bar, rear 20mm STI arb. These alone made the FXT ride felt much more planted on the roads, sharper turn-in and steering had more feel, and could take on bends at lesser leanings. Most obvious mods were the 20mm STI arb and Powerflex bushings. NVH was increased just a tad.

 

Recently decided to try out the magic collar after reading positive feedback from Richard and other bros here. Steven from AK wkshop did the installation himself. Total downtime was 2hrs as there were 14pcs front and 8pcs rear to install, including the engine mounts.

 

Initial feel was the cabin became quieter and ride quality improved. Car is now even more planted. The best improvement was when going over humps the bump and squat is now much reduced thus reducing harshness. A worthwhile mod IMO.

 

Cheers

[Renxel]

Hi Fumio,

 

Not sure if you had already swapped back to the stock rear 16mm arb to address the harshness topic of ride ... I just did so on Sat afternoon while waiting for last piece of rear sti stiffener pair arriving next week. Forester sti ts is without any enhanced front or rear arbs and believe this the way for me and my quest for more compliant ride.

 

I replaced also the cusco front arb and now all stock and behold the jumping jack came back to unacceptable level but the harshness also reduced quite alot. This is despite added front/rear struts, sti front stiffener, body dampers, magic collars etc. .. but guess not like crazy angmo forester owner who swears by best ride after removing his rear arb completely.

 

As I was at soft 9/9 setting of the cusco touring A dampers, I dialed to 20/20 setting and the wobbly or roll reduces significantly .. at leàst to my acceptable level and ymmv as usual.

 

Lessons learnt for me and my fxt:

 

- vfm mod of pink springs .. be happy and stay there else others will cost a lot more

- rear arb WILL introduce harshness .. even by the least stiffen wrx one since it is still 20mm vs stock 16mm .. go more only if all out roadholding but it will NOT be a typical passenger car/suv

- go adjustable cusco touring A damper to alleviate wobbly and roll if compliant is a priority and not handling.

 

I do miss the sharp sharp steering prior to these arb reversal to stock and will try next with front cusco arb reinstalled back when fixing the rear flexible sti stiffeners.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

Hi Richard, always read with great interest on your postings.

 

If you ever open a session to test ride your car, please let me know. Very interested to see how does your suspension feel.

 

Thanks

[richard_crl032]

Hi Richard, always read with great interest on your postings.

 

If you ever open a session to test ride your car, please let me know. Very interested to see how does your suspension feel.

 

Thanks

Hi Renxel,

 

Thanks .. old man with grown up children very free de.

 

I am free most weekday after 9 to 10pm and just drop by Seletar and we go zoom zoom .. pm you next.

 

You are right .. ymmv and nothing beats test driving which I am grateful to bros who generously allowed me to do so various set up .. I am most willing to give back to benefit those who asked.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

[Xefera]

Has anyone experienced the indicator lights flashing and alarm chime at the same time when unlocking the car? Flashes/chime for 4 or 5 times. But everything else is normal be it engine or when driving the car.

 

Doesn't happen all the time. So far 2 or 3 times in the last few weeks.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Xefera

[a_freon]

Hi all, I’ve only had my Forester SJ for close to three months but I’ve swapped out the stock shock absorbers for the Cusco Touring As like some here as recommended by WS.

 

I paired mine with the RS-R down springs which I believe have a stiffer rate compared to stock and STi springs. The setting on the shocks are currently at 17/14 (front/rear) and they are awesome when I’m cruising along on the highway with relatively smooth roads.

 

It gets quite annoying and abrupt when I have to go over humps or imperfections on the road. I do have the 20mm STi rear ARB and the magic collars fitted. Does anyone of you here have the same issue when crossing humps even on stock setup? It’s so bad that I have to cross humps so slowly because the car body is so rigid that it just flips around with it.

 

I think it will really be nice if we could test drive one another’s setup. (:

[Mann123]

Hi Renxel,

 

Thanks .. old man with grown up children very free de.

 

I am free most weekday after 9 to 10pm and just drop by Seletar and we go zoom zoom ..

 

Hi Richard 

 

i stay in yishun area

 

Now seletar not so empty like last time. Once they opened link to CTE and recently connected to Sembawang via Yishun ave 8 and huge number of new BTOs all collectively made it very busy road haha 

 

Last time Yishun Dam was like ghost town specially night time 

 

unless you are talking about Seletar Airport Runway to zoom zoom haha 

[richard_crl032]

Hi Richard

 

i stay in yishun area

 

Now seletar not so empty like last time. Once they opened link to CTE and recently connected to Sembawang via Yishun ave 8 and huge number of new BTOs all collectively made it very busy road haha

 

Last time Yishun Dam was like ghost town specially night time

 

unless you are talking about Seletar Airport Runway to zoom zoom haha

Hi Mann,

 

Indeed much have changed but also good for me cos sg400/sqft and now sgd1k/sqft .. lol !

 

But more seriously, I do miss the farms and greenery and the old seletar camp's clubs where my kids either swim or drown .. fortunately, they learned fast .. keke !

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

[richard_crl032]

Hi all, Iâve only had my Forester SJ for close to three months but Iâve swapped out the stock shock absorbers for the Cusco Touring As like some here as recommended by WS.

 

I paired mine with the RS-R down springs which I believe have a stiffer rate compared to stock and STi springs. The setting on the shocks are currently at 17/14 (front/rear) and they are awesome when Iâm cruising along on the highway with relatively smooth roads.

 

It gets quite annoying and abrupt when I have to go over humps or imperfections on the road. I do have the 20mm STi rear ARB and the magic collars fitted. Does anyone of you here have the same issue when crossing humps even on stock setup? Itâs so bad that I have to cross humps so slowly because the car body is so rigid that it just flips around with it.

 

I think it will really be nice if we could test drive one anotherâs setup. (:

Hi freon,

 

I know the rsr with stock dampers and cusco touring A well cos my colleague had/have them ... while I am on pink with stock dampers and now cusco touring A.

 

I too have magic collar, front cusco arb ... had rear cusco arb, then rear wrx arb and now with stock arb .. front and rear body dampers while others are sti front strut, sti front flexible stiffener, sti rear stiffeners, rear flexible subframe etc.

 

I can confirm your experience ... rsr is stiff and wonderfully stable on highway and even normal street road which pink springs in comparison feels inferior but abruptness on poor quality road is something I cannot accept while pink springs feels more compliant and acceptable.

 

17/14 of your setup is too high in my opinion, 10/10 or even 6/6 that my kaki is now at will alleviate the abruptness aka harshness but that is the advantage of adjustability of cusco touring A. Sure you give up a bit of stability but you get back reduced abruptness/harshness.

 

My recommendation is to:

 

- adjust touring A to <10/10

- put back foc stock rear arb .. you really wun miss the thicker arb because you oreli have stiffer rsr springs and adjustable cusco dampers while making full use of the latter's adjustability

- get flexible rear subframe .. not tired but should be ok to remove it completely since fna also does not have it

- removed rear arb comoletely like bro rainman but be aware that it MAY stress other parts to premature failures

 

Hope this helps but yes, yymv and I did tried many setups thanks to many bros that helped me here and in whatsapp toxic group.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

 

PS: my kaki is almost same as yours with rsr, cusco touring A, magic collars, stock front arb etc. except his rear arb is even thicker cusco and hence taking my removed rear wrx arb to try or even look for stock one as he threw his away

[a_freon]

Hi freon,

 

I know the rsr with stock dampers and cusco touring A well cos my colleague had/have them ... while I am on pink with stock dampers and now cusco touring A.

 

I too have magic collar, front cusco arb ... had rear cusco arb, then rear wrx arb and now with stock arb .. front and rear body dampers while others are sti front strut, sti front flexible stiffener, sti rear stiffeners, rear flexible subframe etc.

 

I can confirm your experience ... rsr is stiff and wonderfully stable on highway and even normal street road which pink springs in comparison feels inferior but abruptness on poor quality road is something I cannot accept while pink springs feels more compliant and acceptable.

 

17/14 of your setup is too high in my opinion, 10/10 or even 6/6 that my kaki is now at will alleviate the abruptness aka harshness but that is the advantage of adjustability of cusco touring A. Sure you give up a bit of stability but you get back reduced abruptness/harshness.

 

My recommendation is to:

 

- adjust touring A to <10/10

- put back foc stock rear arb .. you really wun miss the thicker arb because you oreli have stiffer rsr springs and adjustable cusco dampers while making full use of the latter's adjustability

- get flexible rear subframe .. not tired but should be ok to remove it completely since fna also does not have it

- removed rear arb comoletely like bro rainman but be aware that it MAY stress other parts to premature failures

 

Hope this helps but yes, yymv and I did tried many setups thanks to many bros that helped me here and in whatsapp toxic group.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

 

PS: my kaki is almost same as yours with rsr, cusco touring A, magic collars, stock front arb etc. except his rear arb is even thicker cusco and hence taking my removed rear wrx arb to try or even look for stock one as he threw his away

Hi Richard,

 

Thanks for your suggestion on the possible setup but I’m not sure if I want to give up the stability. I queried because I’m not sure if that kind of harshness was only felt by me or this is similar amongst other bros here. But thanks for confirming so I know my car is behaving normally. (:

 

I do have my stock ARB if your kaki is keen on trying it out!

[richard_crl032]

Hi Richard,

 

Thanks for your suggestion on the possible setup but Iâm not sure if I want to give up the stability. I queried because Iâm not sure if that kind of harshness was only felt by me or this is similar amongst other bros here. But thanks for confirming so I know my car is behaving normally. (:

 

I do have my stock ARB if your kaki is keen on trying it out!

Hi Freon,

 

Indeed ymmv with only you know how much stability vs compliant and again adjustable cusco touring dampers helps tremendously to acheive your preference, including adjusting to 30/30 or 40/40 in my case within pink for max stability on nshwy.

 

Thanks for the stock arb but another fna kaki will pass his stock one to rsr kaki with swap to cusco one while rsr kaki takes my wrx sti one.

 

Just collected my ride from ah keong of bks woodlands with all 4 new ntn japan bearings that may or may not be used by Subaru Japan, back to front cusco arb while rear arb remain stock as well as the sti rear flexible stiffener .. this is best ride experienced so far with back to firm and sharp sharp handling/steering due to front cusco arb, quiet ride free of wonk wonk whispering with new bearings after 43k km as well as more compliant rear with the flexible rear stiffener.

 

Cheers.

 

Richard

Edited July 17, 2019 by richard_crl032