We have an '04 XT auto and have a chance to trade for an '07 XS (non turbo) manual. '04 has 235km's '07 has 170km's. I love the XT but I'm not a fan of the auto box and the crappy gas mileage. It would be pretty much be a straight swap.
I miss my old legacy wagon and it's manual trans. Plus the family hauler shouldn't be faster than our Mustang. Ha.
What do you think?
tranny swap on the 04, personally. Or go find an 04 XT with a manual. Since autos are usually worth more in the trade-in market, maybe you'd end up with some extra cash in the deal 
N/A Foresters are slugs, at least to me. Get a Cobb for the '04 and tune it for gas mileage if you want for daily driving, then switch to a more entertaining map when you want to have fun.
I wouldn't do it unless there is something really attractive about the 07. It's not low mileage.
I don't think you will find a Subaru that gets great mileage. The manuals do a little better than autos, but not that much.
As others have said, get a tune. You can ask the tuner to set it for mpg, not power.
You will probably only get marginally better mileage with the manual N/A one.
Like others have said, it's modification time!Tune it, toss a turbo-back exhaust on there, and enjoy a 2-3mpg gain. Tell your family that all that extra power is "for economical reasons". 
SilverFleet wrote: You will probably only get marginally better mileage with the manual N/A one. Like others have said, it's modification time!Tune it, toss a turbo-back exhaust on there, and enjoy a 2-3mpg gain. Tell your family that all that extra power is "for economical reasons".
+1
And stick with the devil you know, vs. the one you don't.
irish44j wrote: tranny swap on the 04, personally. Or go find an 04 XT with a manual. Since autos are usually worth more in the trade-in market, maybe you'd end up with some extra cash in the deal
04 XT with a manual? that sir- is an utter unicorn made of unobtanium.
I'll check into the exhaust, nice to have a better noise and better mileage. The Cobb tuning sounds interesting, I will check around. Always great advice from the GRM forums, thanks.
Going to test drive the XS on Tuesday. It's a PZEV and 5 speed.
The wife has daily'd a '04 XS since '09, the auto box is about all I don't like about it (OK, maybe front seats too). Nice car, but we only ever get 19-21mpg mixed out of it, I'd think you could do better with a tune on the XT.
Feed us pics regardless if you get it.
mndsm wrote: 04 XT with a manual? that sir- is an utter unicorn made of unobtanium.
Interesting... a guy posted a '05 XT 5spd on our local SCCA forum for $7000 a couple of months ago. Now sold.
mndsm wrote: 04 XT with a manual? that sir- is an utter unicorn made of unobtanium.
I bought the first one I ever saw (still have it) but I've seen three more pop up. Granted, this is in North Carolina, not Canada.
Test drove the 'X' it's not an XS, I really liked it. Not running premium fuel and somewhat better mpg could win me over. Trans felt great as did clutch and brakes. I want to switch my rims/tires from the XT. I like the fact that it's a more basic vehicle, less things to go wrong. Waiting to see if PO had the timing belt changed. Only going to switch if it's a straight swap, otherwise we will keep the XT. See what happens this week.
mndsm wrote:irish44j wrote: tranny swap on the 04, personally. Or go find an 04 XT with a manual. Since autos are usually worth more in the trade-in market, maybe you'd end up with some extra cash in the deal04 XT with a manual? that sir- is an utter unicorn made of unobtanium.
Interesting. My brother has an XT with a 5MT and I could have sworn it was an 04. I don't know my fozzie years all that well though.
irish44j wrote:mndsm wrote:Interesting. My brother has an XT with a 5MT and I could have sworn it was an 04. I don't know my fozzie years all that well though.irish44j wrote: tranny swap on the 04, personally. Or go find an 04 XT with a manual. Since autos are usually worth more in the trade-in market, maybe you'd end up with some extra cash in the deal04 XT with a manual? that sir- is an utter unicorn made of unobtanium.
04-07 Forester XT's are unicorns - highly sought after in the Subie enthusiast world. One of our IT guys at work has one. I saw one on Kijiji a few months ago in Montreal and it was gone in under a week.
Why not build a Forester STI clone and do a tranny swap
Looks like we are going to keep it for awhile longer. Fine with me.
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