Greetings fellow Nasiocers,
My name is Pamela. I am sometimes called Pam, Pam_Cakes or Tunergirl. I am a member to multiple forums including Nasioc, SubaruForester.org, and several other forums. I’m not the most active poster (my hubby Brian/Tuned200 usually beats me to it) but I’m always lurking, reading, learning and setting up meets.
Life as we know it includes our 2007 Subaru Forester XT AKA the Gray Goose. The date was December 31, 2007, when we were out browsing our local dealer’s lots looking at the new Subaru’s. We had previously purchased a 2005 Legacy GT from this dealer about 18 months prior and have a long history with our salesman. At the time I was driving a 2004 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4X4 and I was just not that happy with the Pathy. With the intentions of purchasing another Subaru we set out to look at Forester models. Our LGT was equipped with a manual trans and the thought was to buy a Forester XT Auto trans and leave it stock as it would be our “family hauler”. How wrong were we...
After joining www.subaruforester.org we started looking at mods for the Goose. Within the first 30 days of ownership we had swapped out the OEM cat-back exhaust for one from a 2007 WRX STI. A nice slight rumble was noticed and the mod bug bit! The hubby and I were started looking at mods to make the Goose as quick as our LGT. He was racing the LGT and running consistent high 12’s so this was our goal. Research began we were off to the races, as I was determined to kick his butt! Mwahahahaahhaha!!
After deciding on swapping the turbo, TMIC, turbo back exhaust and suspension we were left looking for a good tuner. We selected P&L Motorsports in Chicago. The P&L Team was very helpful and answered a lot of questions and concerns we had with the mods we were planning. At the end of the day we choose to swap the stock turbo for a brand new VF-48 with all of the goodies. The Goose was tuned conservatively at 18.5psi, and produced 275whp/270wtq on the P&L dyno. The 300+ mile ride home was a lot of fun with the newfound power! The Goose was a different machine, and now could haul ass! It was pure awsomesauce!!!
The day after the tune Brian took the Goose to the track to see what he could get out of her. After a slowish shakedown pass he brake boosted his was to a best pass of 12.971@104! We both were happy that our goal of having a 12 second Forester was realized! A month or so later he talked me into racing the Goose for the first time ever. I managed to better his time and go 12.911@105! After I got the racing bug it was getting too cold to race here and the tracks were all closing. A local road course was in the process of being built and several local Subaru owners were invited out for a preview day. Off we went to try our hand at road racing. The road race event was not an all-out event, but more of a 6/10’s type event. Still I had a blast and now have to get my racing on.
Fast forward to this year, the Goose and I have not competed in an official event in over a year. Yes, sometimes life gets too busy to with work raising an amazing son and taking care of my big dogs. We managed to score some free time and scheduled a trip to the Tail of the Dragon, 318 curves over 11 miles of fun. This is what I had been missing. Brian and I signed up to race in the Subaru Challenge at the Subaru Indiana plant in August. This was my first time ever participating in and autocross event and my first time in over a year being in a race type setting. We both learned a lot about the Goose that day. Mainly the suspension we just swapped in is way too soft for racing! No worries as next season we will be back with a better understanding of the limits and better suspension!
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| VF-48 turbo 2008 STI TMIC Turbo XS 4” Downpipe High Flow cat and RFL cat-back Walboro Fuel Pump Cobb Accessport and dyno tuned B & M Trans cooler P&L high flow intake Perrin turbo inlet SPT Battery tie down SPT oil cap Secondary air pump system removed Intake manifold powder coated wrinkle red |
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| Ravspec Carbon front lip Canadian spec OEM HID headlight assemblies with working manual leveling switches Hella off road lamps behind the Grill 2008 Forester Sports XT black tail lights Tint to legal limits including moon roof OEM HID headlight sprayers that have not been installed yet Red pinstripe around front grill Red pinstripe around rear bumper |
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| STI pedal set WRX Seats with OEM heaters swapped 3m Carbon Fiber wrapped console STI shifter surround and boot Custom made gauge mount for 60mm Defi Boost and EGT Smoked lexan in the OEM radio location, Clarion VX-400 DVD/ Navi unit remote mounted to the top of the dash using OEM parts Custom made airbag monitoring LED system for passenger airbag indicator Homelink mirror LED underdash kit. |
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| DM STI control arm Whiteline forward control arm bushings Whiteline caster control arm bushings Turn in Concepts Lateral link bushings Turn in Concepts forward and rear trailing arm bushings Kartboy subframe lock bolts Kartboy endlinks Whiteline 27mm Front sway bar Whiteline 24mm Rear sway bar KYB GR-2 WRX specific struts WRX STI OEM springs Legacy GT front and rear calipers and rotors with Akebono pads P&L stainless brake line Superblue brake fluid Kick ass Turn in Concepts custom alignment and rear fender roll. Rota T2R 18x9.5 +38 in Hyperblack 245/40/18 Dunlop SP Sport 600 tires |
