Regular Car Reviews: 1998 Subaru Forester 

I only get about 5% of your jokes but I watch your videos anyway

Lowered with off road tires. Killing me.

"Lumpy white as Moogo?" You're such a tripper! MCM sticker. Stay mad.

I agree with him. The Subaru Forester is to blame for the crossover pandemic we're suffering. But you can't ignore the Honda CR-V. That partial all wheel drive jacked up Civic has blood on its hands too

I have an '01 forester, still running on all stock parts except for the shocks. I love her, she really carries sound well after you add a sub and some kickers/tweeters. The only complaint is the pain in the ass that is a timing belt repair. Great for car sex!

I bought a 99 forester a few weeks ago. Dark green, 5 spd. 155k. I love it to death. Subaru 90s blue/green. Very nice brown/tan interior and designs in the fabric are a sweet 90s touch

No-maintenance sex is the best sex. The only thing necessary to make a Subaru an STi is an STi sticker.

Love the Velvet Underground references and the whispered "Is it an STi?"

I used to have a 2001 Forester. When it was fully working, it was really fun to drive. But, of course, it had plenty of problems after we bought it used. Lots of idling problems, head gaskets needed to be changed, bad O2 sensor, no working A/C, and at one point the radiator blew out while driving and exploded antifreeze everywhere under the hood leaving me stuck on the side of the road for a good 6 hours until my dad gets there and buys another radiator and swaps it out. And some of the interior features were broken. The car itself was fun to drive and felt comfortable and easy to drive. But, eventually the car was stolen by our housesitter during vacation and she totaled it going 75 mph on local traffic roads with a 35 speed limit. Hit a curb and spun out and wrecked the frame. I do kind of miss my Subaru.

As much as I love the XJ Cherokee, I kinda feel like that's what lit the fuse for the crossover epidemic. It was built on a unibody (a huge deal when it came out) and was wildly popular because of its blend of utility and comfort.

Aw I was expecting him to say SUBARUUUUUU?! IMPOSSIIBRUUUUUU!!!

hey you got a steady cam. kudos to you, you gave in to our jeering and betrayed the authenticity of your craft. As a commenter, i am required to call you out on your inconsistencies, but that doesn't mean you should listen to me. While I appreciate that I can now see the cars in your videos, more equipment is the path to the dark side. Equipment leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to you taking your self too seriously and making low quality, high production value drivel.

The writing here is impeccable. And that last Forester 'Titanium' cover was just beautiful. ALL THE LIKES!

These intro and outro songs are quickly becoming the main reason I watch these videos.

"Subaru Farrrester."

As owner of 3 of these that I treat like gods and spend my whole paycheck on I don’t know how to feel about this 😂 Love your videos

I will always love you for mentioning The velvet underground.

Holy shit, that's beautiful. And btw, this is the first time I've seen this channel, I died. :D I have an '02 Forester S with basically all the options. Preparing to do a swap myself, probably from a Wrex or a LGT, and then do a turbo upgrade and the like. Thanks for basically answering the question of whether or not I should just get a whole donor car.

The Forester may have got the ball rolling for crossovers in the US, but they actually could've been good if we'd stayed on that course. Unfortunately, that was right when Pontiac did three lines of chop and thought it'd be a good idea to make an SUV out of the Chevy Venture.

Lot of faces in this one, Mr. Regular... Thank you again for the delight I feel each Monday when I remember there's a new RCR!

I know Pennsylvanians aren't New Englanders. but "faresters?" I get it. It's kinda like "Flarida."

I love RCR, but I have to say I think this review was way off the mark. While the Outback review was hysterical and perfectly on point, this one really seems to totally mis-represent the Scooby in question. I don't think you can blame the Forester for the god awful CUV's of today because the Forester is really their cure. Most CUV's come from companies that make or made big SUV's and have raided the parts bin to make pint size versions to appease the EPA whilst making soccer moms feel safe. The only SUV Subaru ever made was the Tribeca and that both came after the Forester, and was almost a seven seat crossover itself. It certainly wasn't a Suburban or a Land Cruiser by any stretch of the imagination, even if it was a decent soft-roader and had the flat six. Subaru started small and has slowly grown their cars. You got the little Justy growing into cars like the Impreza and Legacy, and the Impreza in turn birthed the Forester. It's a car that has practicality beyond a sedan or small hatchback, but drives like a car. Has the engine of a car, the AWD of its car siblings, it doesn't feel bulky or heavy or big. We at one point had an 09' turbo and while the four-speed auto wasn't brilliant, and it was thirsty and took only premium, that Forester was a lot of fun. It felt like an Impreza on truck tires, the steering was fairly sharp, the power was smooth and strong, it rocked the snow, it was hugely practical, and yet it never felt big or oversized at all. You could drive that thing in Philly and not feel like you're threading a needle, and yet you could fold the seats down and sleep in the back if you had to. Subaru got it right with the Forester because they put a utilitarian body on a car chassis and gave it the slight lift and truck tires to pull it off whilst most of the other companies have tried to make body on frame trucks out of their compact parts bin.

The OK Cupid bit was great, these are the reasons I watch this channel. Love the random over the top analogies and comparisons.

Dat MCM sticker. :D

Here's why I love Subarus: Their motors are like Legos. It's literally take out the old motor and plop the new one right in. Easy as that. I helped convert my buddy's RS into an RSTI. And let me tell you: It was much easier than I expected. Gotta give it to Subaru. They knew the car community was going to do shit like this, and they prepared for it. "Hey! We know you want to put an STI motor in a Forester, so we'll just give you the biggest helping hand possible." ALL HAIL SUBARU.

Over here in Aus we had a model called the forester GT which had the WRX engine (probably drive train too) in it already. Good cars.

Great vid as usual!! In terms of needing a different wire harness and ECU for the swap, isn't that EVERY computer controlled car? I know with Hondas the lego reference just means little modification needs to be done for physical fitment, but yeah, I think everyone is aware that you always need wire harness converters and ECUs from donner cars!! Only time I can think of when you don't is back in the hot rodding days when everything was mechanical and not ECU controlled!

I don't see the problem. I chose a forester, willingly. It had more boot space than a sedan, but wasn't as long as a station wagon, and wasn't as large/didn't have a huge engine like most SUV's. Quite content with the car, tbh.

I must say that tail light trim panel really made that car look a whole lot better. There has always been something funky about the Forester design, but that piece does help along with all the other tasteful mods.

Every car video should have a running shadow;)

I like the little rascals song reference at the end. Good job with this review!

I know BMW is bad about having so many different engines in a category. From there 4 cylinders to there straight 6s, there are so many variations. I learned this after doing some research for an engine swap for my 85' 318i. I came to the conclusion that an e30 323i would be the best option because even though it had a 6 cylinder m20b18 engine ( I think), it used the same Getrag transmission, but a different bell housing to hold the weight better.

For a fleeting second I thought you made a William Gibson reference, then I realized you were still talking about the velvet underground. I loved your Film Noir Fiero GT review. You got to do a cyberpunk theme some day.

Ken Burns as the background sound track for Round 2. I love it. Keep up the great work.

I wish in the end you'd rev the engines properly for at least one proper 0-60mph.

Usually I agree with most of these reviews, but I couldn't disagree more with the opening statements on this one, people don't buy Foresters for any simpler reason than it's an affordable, (around $5k in my province for an imported model) JDM powerhouse that has all the practicality of an suv, but will keep up with the majority of other tuners out there, and blow them away in the snow. All the while maintaining that classic Subaru box shape that everyone into the jdm scene appreciates.

One of the realest channels on the tube, came for the cars, stayed for the philosophy.

I will never get over how awesome you are Mr. Regular.

another great review!! please do a review on a MKIII supra! That would make my day!

Anyone notice the "Such Great Heights" tune by The Postal Service he did for the intro?? Great song and review brah, keep em up.

Also that shadow of the cameraman running to keep the forester in frame at the end, lol.

Also: nice Titanium Parody at the end, kudos.

Thanks for the early Monday morning geek-out I just had to the Velvet Underground & Nico references.

I always like the British expression for wagons; "flying boot". I believe your level of angst is uncalled for, this is a good example of stealth, a way to have your boost and room for the kids. It shows a level of owner self-confidence that I lack with my Vette....

I laughed so hard at the song at the end. Thanks man I needed that.

Nice Velvet Underground pull. I really like that car for exactly the same reasons you do.

My mom had one until 2020 when it finally blew up on the highway. Miss that old banger…

I Nearly Fell assleep at the Outro. So nice

Hey Broh you guys need to do a Saab Sonett!

Man, you nailed it with this one. Love it!

Holy shit brother! I just found your RU-vid! I'll be bindge watching tonight.

You guys need to do a 2000 Honda Insight, and I just so happen to drive one :)

Got a guy here in NW AZ getting ready to swap in an H6 from an SVX, can't wait to see how his turns out. My wife has the EJ25 in her '98 too, but hasn't had the luxury of the blown head gasket even though someone's driven the piss out of it before she got it. Instead we're dealing with the noisy piston slap they're known for and a slipping auto trans. GT Ltd is not the same as WRX or STi, though some people just want it to be so. Smh

Best work in a long time. Back to the original recipe.

Wait what!? Props for the William Gibson reference!!!

"... you're not impossibu... to me..." Haha I love the little details.

You can swap a 1997-99 forester 2.5dohc with a 2.2l out an Impreza and all you have to do is tee in a vacuum line. They have to have the same trans i.e auto to auto or manual to manual to have the same harness.

I think this is one of your best.

Hats off to the Roman this week! Sounding great!

I fell in love with the sport outback.

In addition, to my other comment, the engine swaps are easier than you make them out to be. The engine in my '98 Forester was from a '96 Legacy GT. That engine from the '96 LGT, was then rebuilt and transplanted into my '02 Forester. Albeit, after also swapping the heads on from the '02. ABSOLUTELY no wiring work done at all!

man i really wish you live here in Indonesia, there is a lot of car that you can review with your style, and i mean A LOT, like more than 80% car in here..

My cousin did this swap in his Forester. You also need to change the front crossmember when you put a turbo motor in an NA shell. They need a little crease to fit the dump pipe... I think? That car died in a T-bone accident almost 10 years ago :-(

Loved the "Titanium" tune at the end.

i love foresters.. lol sleepers hard core. no one expects a granny wagon to do a 13.8 1/4 mile stock. (2004 forester 2.5XT)

your songs rule keep singing

That superman 64 reference. I love you guys

Just wanted to give a shout out to iWire, even if you just have Subaru wiring questions you can email them, and they can help you out. It's really great to have a resource like that for Subarus, because wiring can be confusing.

thanks for the closeup of our state's WONDERFUL boring plates -.-' +9 bro

Can we get a covers channel for this man? His voice is amazeballs.

It's about time they finally did this

What a good video of the forester ... the best I saw, thanks friend.

Was the intro song to the tune of Such Great Heights? I'm pretty sure it was but I could be wrong...

MCM sticker at the 5.00 sec mark = awesome!

"A whole nother". Lol

That ending song was pure gold

THE FIRST CROSSOVER?! AMC Eagle, my nigga.

I don't get it - what's wrong with a Forester (new or old)? I don't own one and have no intention to but I don't really see what's wrong with having a small SUV.

If you haven't already, it'd be awesome if you got around to reviewing a Chevy/Geo Metro 3-cylinder 5-speed hatchback.

If you get a chance you should do the VW Gold R, I'm new to this channel, don't know if you did one already or not :P

Why is this in Council Bluffs, Iowa?!

that velvet underground reference did it for me

Mr. Regular -- are you related to Dennis Miller? He's the only guy I know who can compete with your narrative. Love it.

This guy's humor is spot on! Refreshing!

Man honestly the singing was the only thing I'm taking away from this video you killed those remixes

Where does RCR live at? Interested in a 2003 Mustang Cobra to review? But doing it would be after winter time.

Mighty Car Mods!

The Super Man 64 comment did it for me. Bravo! Genius reference.

The next one you should do is the SAAB 9-2X, aka the "Saabaru." I would love to hear your wise cracks on that! :P

Amazing V.U. references. Nice!

Loving the Postal Service intro!!!!!

I'm picking one of these up today for the reason of doing this swap haha what a coincidence

Hey, could you make a review of the BMW e34 5-series? A regular one, not an M would be great! :)

Guys please do a show on PT Cruisers. I own one and would be stoked to hear your take on it.

I wouldn't say this thing is really that closely related to the crossover trend. This is an estate car that's also lifted and has some off-road capability. Crossovers are cars that pretend to look like SUVs with their styling, but have little to no off-road ability (with some exceptions), and exist mostly as a fashion statement. I suppose you could say they're both the opposite interpretations on the same idea, but I don't think you can really "blame" the former for the latter. The former is practical, functional and versatile. The latter is style over substance, designed to fill an artificially created niche.

Love my my00 sf5 gt 🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻 can fit everything from a fridge to my two dogs (both 50-55 kg each) and still puts a huge grin on my face just cruising or on a spirited drive

1:42 7:41 On the right is a GMC Envoy XUV. Those things are weird. Not something you see every day, as they were only made for the 2004 and 2005 model years, and it's one of my personal favorite trucks.

Unlike most people, I actually WANT a Forester. I need a car that can be decent off road but I don't have a lot of money so it needs good MPG. Seems like a decent compromise to me.

This is so true. But I've driven a manual forester xt and I gotta say it was a blast and slightly confusing.

This was not the first crossover, that would be the RAV4 in 1996.