New Car - 2005 Subaru Forester XT

eloplayspolo

Well guys, looks like i'm going to be moving from SoCal to New Hampshire:eek:

Looking at some 4wd cars and selling my civic right now...

looks like the winner will be a 2005 Subi Forester XT Limited.

Found one with 70k miles and they are asking for 13,000, im thinking i can get them down a bit and have some cash
to start a new install.

Gonna be fun. Im looking for some SR 5" comps, trying to figure out the Sub, the JL shallow mounts seem pretty
insane!

kawizx9r

Dependable cars I'll tell you that much.

Carfax available for the car? 13k seems a bit much IMO for Ca.

eloplayspolo

kawizx9r wrote: »

Dependable cars I'll tell you that much.

Carfax available for the car? 13k seems a bit much IMO for Ca.

yeah carfax checks out good, 1 owner.

The car is price a little under book, im sure ill get a good deal, i paid wholesale for my civic, i haven't gotten a car for anything
more than an amazing deal.

Kex

Well, here's another perspective for you to ponder. I moved from Massachusetts to California a few years ago. Was driving a FWD Volkswagen Golf up there. I drove that car for thousands of miles on snowy freeways with other vehicles ending up all over the place sometimes. I never once felt the need for AWD or lived through and "oh ****" moment. I still drive to mountain climates every year at some point (with a larger RWD vehicle).

I don't know how a Civic handles in the snow and ice, but I'm guessing it's similar to a Golf. Mostly the roads were so well cleared up it wasn't even an issue. If I were moving back the other way, I'd just keep what I was driving. I'd certainly invest in the best all season tires you can find. I'd even consider winter tires if you're really worried about it, have little to no experience driving in such conditions, or tend to drive too fast for such conditions. If you have room to store a spare set of rims for winter tires, that makes switching a lot easier too. When you compare the cost to either of those options, even getting the best and most expensive tires, it's a whole lot cheaper than a new vehicle with AWD, with other advantages too (known reliability vs. unknown, better fuel economy, ...).

Maybe some Canadian Polkies could add some perspective on this. They buy far more winter tires than we do.

codyc1ark

kawizx9r wrote: »

Dependable cars I'll tell you that much.

Carfax available for the car? 13k seems a bit much IMO for Ca.

Subobs rock, I feel like that's a good price for an 05'.

However in regards to a carfax, a lot of times it's not worth the paper it's printed on. We had a 2010 in 2010 ford focus that was bought with 3k miles on it in the shop, after an initial tear down it turned out that the car had had a uniside and quarter panel put on it, poorly. Had a clean carfax though... (dealer bought the vehicle back after we discovered that)

http://caveatemptorblog.com/carfax-know-its-limits-auto-fraud-week/

All I'm saying, is be aware, make sure you and a independent professional look the vehicle over when buying both a new and used car...

eloplayspolo

I was told MANY roads in Vermont are not plowed and 4 wheel drive is a must. My girl has a rear wheel tacoma with the TRD package and a slight lift that im sure will be fine, but my civic is like 120hp and on low profile tires, doesn't seem safe to me....

Yeah, carfax is definitely not the end all of used cars, but its still good to have. I always take my used cars to the factory and have them put it on the computer for 60 bucks before i purchase it.

My father was a General Manager in the car business for 30 years so i have him looking over my shoulder.

eloplayspolo

So here is the potential Build...

Comps: Polk SR 5250 (Bi-amp'd)
Sub: Polk SR 12 DVC

Amp 1: RUB4.600 - Soundstream 4 Ch. 600 Watt RMS Rubicon Series A/B
Amp 2: RUB1.1000D - Soundstream Monoblock 1000 Watt RMS Rubicon

Open to suggestions on the amps. PDX are tempting but the price is a little steep.

My goal for the install is to look as factory as possible so everything will go in stock unless i install it and just hate it.

I am looking to figure out a processor. MS-8, bit one... or IDK, im open.

I am also thinking of a carputer, specs i don't know, i really haven't looked enough into them to determine what im after, just something with a factory look where i can have endless media as well as tether the wifi from my phone. I have always been a PC guy so i don't see that causing me problems, i already picked out the board and it has Optical Out.

In order for me to change the factory stereo i actually need to Order a JDM part from overseas. Kind of a bummer because it costs around 430 dollars shipped... im really not happy about that.

Give me some ideas and opinions please. Mac i know you aren't just running the SRs anymore, any suggestions?

eloplayspolo

Here is the car btw. Going to try and close the deal tomorrow.

arun1963

Congrats in advance!!

Don't go with the carputer,much better to go with a processor. If you're going to run a 2 way plus sub the bit10 is a perfect match. The Soundstream should be fine. You'll get 4x100 for the components and 800 to the sub wired at 2ohms. Thats plenty power.

Even with the stock hu you can use the amps to run active. But the bit10 would add tons of processing options and allow you to really tweak the sound. Other than the processor you're set for equipment. Spend sometime figuring out where you want to install the drivers. Placement and dsp are the two most important parts of a sq setup. Get the placement right and things will be simpler to dial in.

Once you get the car take some pics of the inside lets look at some placement options. You will also need to do some deadening to try and isolate the cabin and lower the noise floor a bit. If you install the mids in doors you will need to seal them. Mac is still using the SR5250 mb.

eloplayspolo

ARUN! thanks for responding.

Im going for 75 feet of RAAMmat BXT II and 70 feet of Ensolite IUO

Yeah, i actually decided today to go for a Indash Nav, i think i might get the processor first though. That way i dont need to buy everything at once.

im actually going for the larger sound stream amp for the sub. I am going with the 1.1600d
Its 1100@2 and 1600@1, its 10 bucks more than the 800@2, so headroom will be worth it

install locations: im 99% sure im going to keep it 100% stock looking. Here is the door pannel

Sub will be done in a similar fashion to this...

How is the MS-8 compared to the bit one?

eloplayspolo

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.aspx?itemid=117203


HMMM as well

arun1963

eloplayspolo wrote: »

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.aspx?itemid=117203


HMMM as well

Ah, yes!! That is going to make the rabbit hole much deeper. 248 bands of eq at 1/24 octave:eek:. A perfect application for a rta. Flatten things out and then start. Two things though. First the ability to hear the subtle difference between changing 1, 1.04 and 1.08hz. Multiply this over 250 frequencies and you hit the brick wall of hopelessly lost at sea, on one of your expiditions.

The second is the ability to think and remember differences at 1/24 oct. Hear something thats out of place and know that you have to look a 1/8 oct range and then go back and validate at 1/24oct. The funny thing is I wouldn't be surprised if its all doable.

The 360.3 doesn't have a firm launch date yet. Like with the MS-8 there have been multiple dates that have been missed. Both units are a quantum jump in technology. It's almost a given that they will come with bugs. Plus you're going to struggle with the 248 bands if you haven't cut your teeth on 31 bands. If you're not planning to go 3 ways plus sub, a 5 ch processor will save you some $$. However yes, it will take away the flexibility of paying more but having the option for a 3 way down the road. That's a call you have to take.

The sub and mid locations are fine. You want that sub enclosure to be around 1 cuft if you're going to go with 800 watts. With 1100 watts you'll have to watch both the enclosure and the gains on the amp. The SR tweets are ring radiators and hence a narrow field of dispersion. Having one on axis and the other off axis, is going to play havoc with the L/R FR. Try the tweets in different places. double sided tape is great . Try the tweets in the stock locations, on the dash, on the a pillars and see what works best for you. Try keeping them a bit more on axis.

I'm not a fan of auto tune in a car so I would choose a bit1 over the MS8. Purely personal opinion.

eloplayspolo

of course it will be buggy at first, but what software isn't (i work for a software company lol).

The auto tune is supposed to be reallllllllllllly good as a starting point, at least that's what the few reviews i have read have said.

eloplayspolo

i was also thinking at some point i may wana go 3 way with dedicated mid bass in the rear doors.

arun1963

You don't need mids in the rear doors. You don't want speakers behind you period.

eloplayspolo

So - The dealership i went to was a small little lot that specialized in rebuilt vehicles. I wasn't impressed. The guy was actually really nice, but they made no effort to detail the car before i came, it kind of pissed me off, i couldn't get an idea of what it would look like clean.

So now, i checked around some more and a ford dealership by my house just listed a 2005, in a color i like more with the interior i like more, but its still not my first choice on exterior. My dad is going to call the GM and talk to him about the price and see how far in it they are.

I also lowered the price of my civic a bit hoping it will sell faster.

here is the car im looking at now....

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=u&car_id=317624446&dealer_id=100003816&car_year=2005&systime=&doors=&model=SUBOUTBK&search_lang=en&start_year=2005&body_style=WAGON&keywordsfyc=&keywordsrep=&highlightFirstMakeModel=&search_type=used&distance=200&min_price=&rdm=1331453885240&drive=&marketZipError=false&advanced=y&fuel=&keywords_display=&sownerid=577056&lastBeginningStartYear=1981&end_year=2007&showZipError=n&make2=&certified=&engine=&dma=LOS_ANGELES_OC&feature7=leather+seats&page_location=findacar%3A%3Aispsearchform&body_code=0&isFlashPlugin=true&transmission=&default_sort=&max_mileage=75000&color=&address=92708&sort_type=priceDESC&max_price=16500&make=SUB&seller_type=b&num_records=25&cardist=2&standard=false

we will see how it goes.