u/MojoFriction

With autumn in full swing here it’s time to bust out the warmer wardrobe.

I always find it a little more satisfying / interesting to pair a watch with a long sleeved shirt.

Kind of a big deal for me because it's been decades since I cared this much about the car I own. I watched a lot of detailing videos to prepare and most of the products I used I chose after they were reviewed on Project Farm (IYKYK).

I started with a basic hand wash with Adam's Car Shampoo.

Followed that up with the Mothers clay bar treatment, microfiber toweling off after treating small sections.

Then treated those sections with Griot's ceramic wax, which got stellar reviews from Project Farm.

Used Krud Kutter on the mudflaps, using that dishwashing tool to scrub them. I like that tool because those soft bristles get up between the flaps and the wheel well.

Sprayed the mudflaps, edge of the tires and the wheels with the Adam's Wheel & Tire cleaner.

Didn't worry so much about cleaning the tires themselves as you might have noticed.

Once again relied on PF and tried the 3M scratch & scuff remover to remove the more prominent pinstripes I acquired in the Pine Barrens. I included before and after pictures and it came out pretty good for a first try I think (don't let the reflections on the paint throw you off).

I'm very happy with the results - the Geyser Blue really pops in the sun again. I did my best to try to capture it.

My wife and her baby cutting loose a bit! Some action shots, some beauty shots.

Here’s a look at our his & hers 2025 Forester Wildernesses, using that space in the back to store first aid kits.

I went with a Velcro strip kit to hold mine in place, gluing one side on the plastic and the other on the canvas bag. I bought snap tabs to better secure the Velcro on the canvas just in case but so far the glue is holding up ok.

My wife opted for one of those adapters you can find online that turns that space into a genuine cubby. While I grant you it looks nice and tidy it’s a bit awkward getting the bag in and out. So I might be able to render aid to you more quickly, which could be a matter of life and death depending on what you did to yourself.

I guess the best first aid kit is one that never needs to be used. Be careful out there!

The maiden voyage for the 14'er I picked up earlier this year. So much easier to handle than the 16'er, it's a night and day difference. More importantly she's sea worthy!

Since we were in the area (and the itch is always there) we took a quick side trip in the pine barrens to explore a few roads we hadn't been on. We've had a lot of rain lately and we didn't bring any recovery gear so we didn't take any great risks but it's always fun.

On a 1600+ mile round trip this week. Such a ridiculously smooth ride in general but especially on the interstates. Love this car!

Away for the week. Brought one dress, one sport, one chronograph.

Came across the elusive Plasma Green Pearl! Only the second time I’ve ever seen one in the flesh and the first time able to get a really good look.

Wilderness & Sport!

I love SK Sports and it’s a tough choice but if I had to pick a favorite color it would be Dark Blue Pearl. I’ve been seeing more than usual lately for whatever reason.

Came across this in a used bookstore, checked it out and put it back on the shelf. Couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that if I didn’t buy it I’d regret it later.

If anybody wants to see any of it hit me up.

Got in a ride before the temp breaks 100 tomorrow! Still plenty hot as you see. Normally this region is pretty dicey with wet, muddy pits but we’ve been in drought conditions for a while now. That last picture is of a bog that is normally completely underwater

He’s gorgeous and has a feisty personality!

Chunky’s primary role will be to keep two Foresters looking their best. He will no doubt be enlisted to help with other cleaning projects as well.

Excited to have him join the team!

Well after a year and a half of ownership I got try out the physical key. It worked fine but it brought up what I think is a pretty
Important question. Here’s the background:

My wife’s 2025 Forester Wilderness’ battery was stone dead. No problem, I have a nice jump starter in there. Only problem, I couldn’t get to it because the doors are locked and the car won’t respond to the fob due to the dead battery.

Figuring it would be the same result I figured I’d try to unlock via the MySubaru app. Sure enough the attempt failed with the app correctly guessing that the issue was the battery.

Now I’m a big fan of the rear gate PIN and have it set on my car. I love using it when biking or canoeing.

My wife never set hers so I couldn’t put it to the test but I suspect this is also tied into the battery and wouldn’t have worked either.

Which, if I’m right, is a huge deal. The only way to unlock the car was with the physical key. If I count on the rear gate PIN, deactivate my fob and leave it in the car and for whatever reason the battery dies, it sounds like I’m screwed. So maybe that feature isn’t as great as I thought and I gotta rethink this whole thing.

Anyone have any direct experience with this? Can anyone confirm that the gate PIN won’t work if the battery is dead?

So I saw the 22 & 23 FW (as well as the 22 OBW btw) all came with rally (sometimes called sport) style pedals. I loved the look of them and wanted to do a swap on my 2025. My wife was on board for the same for hers. The first picture is not mine, it's from a dealer website of a 2023 and provided me with a good visual reference.

My preference was to stay OEM but I found it to be challenging to track down the part numbers, especially the dead pedal. One dealer tried to help but couldn't 100% verify fitment because of the change as of the 2024 model year. My main concern was the accelerator because it's not just a pedal cover, you have to replace to whole assembly if you go OEM.

There are a lot of aftermarket options but I wanted a set that at least looked OEM and I went with one on eBay.

The second image is of the brake covers, aftermarket on the left OEM on the right. You can see they're petty close but the after market rubber bits are raised a little higher. No big deal but more concerning was the back as seen in the third image. The lack of back coverage didn't give me a lot of confidence which is why I shelled out for the OEM brake pedal covers, which were the easiest to still find. The backs of the OEM rubber & aluminum covers are identical. The rubber peels off easily but the aluminum isn't manipulated as easily as the rubber and you have limited space and visibility getting the brake cover on so it's pretty tough to do.

Images 4 & 5 are fronts and backs of the eBay dead pedal and accelerator cover.

The new dead pedal is held in place with adhesive. In image 6 I was able to remove the trim pins from the original, plastic dead pedal without breaking them, using a proper prying tool. Although they look similar, the holes in the footwell don't line up with the rubber pieces on the new one, otherwise I would drill them out and secure them with the trim pins. Bummer.

It is much easier to get the new accelerator cover on when you remove the whole accelerator assembly which is easy to do, just two 10mm nuts (image 7) and the electronics clip. The new accelerator cover slips over the original rubber and fits pretty nicely as seen in image 8. Only hitch is you have to bend it a bit to get it to fit just right but you can do that by hand.

Last images are the finished projects in my wife's Autumn Green and my Geyser Blue.

So in the end it was about $35 for each eBay set which provided the dead pedal and accelerator cover and $45 each for the brake covers. I'm happy with how they look!

I’m not in the mix here, just came across this diverse little group and wanted to capture the moment.

Felt like it just made sense to take some pictures together. Trying, maybe unsuccessfully, to capture all the shades of blue.

Man do I love this watch!

Joining the fun!

Our 16’ Mohawk on my wife’s Autumn Green Forester Wilderness and our newly acquired, and considerably more manageable 14’ Old Town on my Geyser Blue Forester Wilderness.

Ok not exactly a scientific test but you get the idea. These StarTex seats get HOT when they’re hit with direct sun! Seriously painful!

I have to go out in a bit so I threw a white towel on the seat for now 🤞.