So I've been wanting a winter/offroad/camping/towing vehicle and, for whatever reason, got fixated on the idea of a Subaru Forester. Was large enough to do all I wanted, AWD, plenty of power, looks like an old station wagon in the body (which I like)... so after a few months of looking around, I found one!
It's an '03 Model X (the most basic) with 250,000 miles on it (holy cow...). The were asking $1,490 for it and, from what I could tell, it was a steal of a price. We looked at it and knew right away it was worth it: It was in great shape, single owner who seemed to have a hard time letting go of the car.
Right away, I can tell you this: MPG sucks on this thing. 15 gallon tank and already to about 1/4 after less than 300 miles! OUCH! Not used to that...
I really didn't want an Automatic, but manual ones were hard to find and expensive. This isn't going to be a daily driver, so MPG isn't critical... but I'm still thinking CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!
Eco(ish)Plans:
-LED Light Changeups (already did a few, mostly burnt-out dash lights)
-Skid Plate (should help aero some)
-Underbody coroplast panels
-Remove cross bars, maybe passenger mirror
-Possibly rear aero spoiler
-Possibly adjustable WAI
-Possibly adjustable grill shutters (Single large open grill, might be easy!)
-Light weight wheels and eco-tires (for on road travels)
-Light weight crank pulley
-Change out to synthetic fluids where I can
-Block heater, oil heater pads, possibly trans heater pad
-Possibly an aero-shell topper storage box??
Not so Eco Plans:
-Offroad tires
-1" lift
-Breather tube extensions
-Trans cooler
-Possibly add in some sound deadening/absorbing/decoupling
-Possibly change out some of the exhaust (but nothing LOUD or annoying)
It didn't take long to find the mechanical problems. I saw a lot of oil under the car, so just planned a head gasket swap (as these are notorious for needing them!) I got the valves nice and lapped and replaced plenty of seals, as well as cleaned a TON of carbon out of the combustion chamber. New timing belt and pullies, as a pulley was completely seized anyways. Lash adjustment... list goes on. Tried to concentrate on keeping it running reliably and efficiently.
I still have some leaks and issues, but little by little, it's coming together. Been driving it daily since I can't get my Insight out of the garage without tire cables!
I've ordered an OBDII adapter so I can see what kind of real-world MPG this gets. Like to get some base line data before going too nuts on improvements. The owner before me said only 20mpg, though I doubt he was really putting his numbers into a spreadsheet and monitoring it.
Anywho, been meaning to post this up. Don't expect it to be a huge MPG success, but know that I'll be slowly modding this over the years.