diff --git a/tests/functional/auth_test.php b/tests/functional/auth_test.php
index 662b1bd38b..afb4f15fc2 100644
--- a/tests/functional/auth_test.php
+++ b/tests/functional/auth_test.php
@@ -17,8 +17,7 @@ class phpbb_functional_auth_test extends phpbb_functional_test_case
 		$this->login();
 
 		// check for logout link
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', 'index.php');
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'index.php');
 		$this->assertContains($this->lang('LOGOUT_USER', 'admin'), $crawler->filter('.navbar')->text());
 	}
 
@@ -26,8 +25,7 @@ class phpbb_functional_auth_test extends phpbb_functional_test_case
 	{
 		$this->create_user('anothertestuser');
 		$this->login('anothertestuser');
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', 'index.php');
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'index.php');
 		$this->assertContains('anothertestuser', $crawler->filter('.icon-logout')->text());
 	}
 
@@ -40,13 +38,11 @@ class phpbb_functional_auth_test extends phpbb_functional_test_case
 		$this->add_lang('ucp');
 
 		// logout
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', 'ucp.php?sid=' . $this->sid . '&mode=logout');
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'ucp.php?sid=' . $this->sid . '&mode=logout');
 		$this->assertContains($this->lang('LOGOUT_REDIRECT'), $crawler->filter('#message')->text());
 
 		// look for a register link, which should be visible only when logged out
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', 'index.php');
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'index.php');
 		$this->assertContains($this->lang('REGISTER'), $crawler->filter('.navbar')->text());
 	}
 }
diff --git a/tests/functional/browse_test.php b/tests/functional/browse_test.php
index b5748059c6..18a2ad9464 100644
--- a/tests/functional/browse_test.php
+++ b/tests/functional/browse_test.php
@@ -14,22 +14,19 @@ class phpbb_functional_browse_test extends phpbb_functional_test_case
 {
 	public function test_index()
 	{
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', 'index.php');
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'index.php');
 		$this->assertGreaterThan(0, $crawler->filter('.topiclist')->count());
 	}
 
 	public function test_viewforum()
 	{
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', 'viewforum.php?f=2');
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'viewforum.php?f=2');
 		$this->assertGreaterThan(0, $crawler->filter('.topiclist')->count());
 	}
 
 	public function test_viewtopic()
 	{
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', 'viewtopic.php?t=1');
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'viewtopic.php?t=1');
 		$this->assertGreaterThan(0, $crawler->filter('.postbody')->count());
 	}
 }
diff --git a/tests/functional/common_groups_test.php b/tests/functional/common_groups_test.php
index 7ccd78421e..7c88ec900d 100644
--- a/tests/functional/common_groups_test.php
+++ b/tests/functional/common_groups_test.php
@@ -35,11 +35,10 @@ abstract class phpbb_functional_common_groups_test extends phpbb_functional_test
 		$this->add_lang(array('ucp', 'acp/groups'));
 
 		// Manage Administrators group
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', $this->get_url() . '&g=5&sid=' . $this->sid);
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', $this->get_url() . '&g=5&sid=' . $this->sid);
 		$form = $crawler->selectButton($this->lang('SUBMIT'))->form();
 		$form['group_colour']->setValue($input);
-		$crawler = $this->client->submit($form);
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
 		$this->assertContains($this->lang($expected), $crawler->text());
 	}
 }
diff --git a/tests/functional/posting_test.php b/tests/functional/posting_test.php
index d05207edf0..9bcfcc2fda 100644
--- a/tests/functional/posting_test.php
+++ b/tests/functional/posting_test.php
@@ -19,18 +19,17 @@ class phpbb_functional_posting_test extends phpbb_functional_test_case
 		// Test creating topic
 		$post = $this->create_topic(2, 'Test Topic 1', 'This is a test topic posted by the testing framework.');
 
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', "viewtopic.php?t={$post['topic_id']}&sid={$this->sid}");
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', "viewtopic.php?t={$post['topic_id']}&sid={$this->sid}");
 		$this->assertContains('This is a test topic posted by the testing framework.', $crawler->filter('html')->text());
 
 		// Test creating a reply
 		$post2 = $this->create_post(2, $post['topic_id'], 'Re: Test Topic 1', 'This is a test post posted by the testing framework.');
 
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', "viewtopic.php?t={$post2['topic_id']}&sid={$this->sid}");
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', "viewtopic.php?t={$post2['topic_id']}&sid={$this->sid}");
 		$this->assertContains('This is a test post posted by the testing framework.', $crawler->filter('html')->text());
 
 		// Test quoting a message
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', "posting.php?mode=quote&f=2&t={$post2['topic_id']}&p={$post2['post_id']}&sid={$this->sid}");
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', "posting.php?mode=quote&f=2&t={$post2['topic_id']}&p={$post2['post_id']}&sid={$this->sid}");
 		$this->assertContains('This is a test post posted by the testing framework.', $crawler->filter('html')->text());
 	}
 
@@ -55,7 +54,7 @@ class phpbb_functional_posting_test extends phpbb_functional_test_case
 			'post'			=> true,
 		), $additional_form_data);
 
-		return $this->submit_post($posting_url, 'POST_TOPIC', $form_data);
+		return self::submit_post($posting_url, 'POST_TOPIC', $form_data);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -79,7 +78,7 @@ class phpbb_functional_posting_test extends phpbb_functional_test_case
 			'post'			=> true,
 		), $additional_form_data);
 
-		return $this->submit_post($posting_url, 'POST_REPLY', $form_data);
+		return self::submit_post($posting_url, 'POST_REPLY', $form_data);
 	}
 	
 	/**
@@ -94,8 +93,7 @@ class phpbb_functional_posting_test extends phpbb_functional_test_case
 	{
 		$this->add_lang('posting');
 
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', $posting_url);
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', $posting_url);
 		$this->assertContains($this->lang($posting_contains), $crawler->filter('html')->text());
 
 		$hidden_fields = array(
@@ -119,8 +117,7 @@ class phpbb_functional_posting_test extends phpbb_functional_test_case
 		// I use a request because the form submission method does not allow you to send data that is not
 		// contained in one of the actual form fields that the browser sees (i.e. it ignores "hidden" inputs)
 		// Instead, I send it as a request with the submit button "post" set to true.
-		$crawler = $this->client->request('POST', $posting_url, $form_data);
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::request('POST', $posting_url, $form_data);
 		$this->assertContains($this->lang('POST_STORED'), $crawler->filter('html')->text());
 
 		$url = $crawler->selectLink($this->lang('VIEW_MESSAGE', '', ''))->link()->getUri();
diff --git a/tests/test_framework/phpbb_functional_test_case.php b/tests/test_framework/phpbb_functional_test_case.php
index b1352b247e..651ab013c7 100644
--- a/tests/test_framework/phpbb_functional_test_case.php
+++ b/tests/test_framework/phpbb_functional_test_case.php
@@ -14,8 +14,9 @@ require_once __DIR__ . '/../../phpBB/includes/cache.php';
 
 class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 {
-	protected $client;
-	protected $root_url;
+	static protected $client;
+	static protected $cookieJar;
+	static protected $root_url;
 
 	protected $cache = null;
 	protected $db = null;
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 		parent::setUpBeforeClass();
 
 		self::$config = phpbb_test_case_helpers::get_test_config();
+		self::$root_url = self::$config['phpbb_functional_url'];
 
 		if (!isset(self::$config['phpbb_functional_url']))
 		{
@@ -59,12 +61,12 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 
 		$this->bootstrap();
 
-		$this->cookieJar = new CookieJar;
-		$this->client = new Goutte\Client(array(), null, $this->cookieJar);
+		self::$cookieJar = new CookieJar;
+		self::$client = new Goutte\Client(array(), null, self::$cookieJar);
 		// Reset the curl handle because it is 0 at this point and not a valid
 		// resource
-		$this->client->getClient()->getCurlMulti()->reset(true);
-		$this->root_url = self::$config['phpbb_functional_url'];
+		self::$client->getClient()->getCurlMulti()->reset(true);
+
 		// Clear the language array so that things
 		// that were added in other tests are gone
 		$this->lang = array();
@@ -72,9 +74,55 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 		$this->purge_cache();
 	}
 
-	public function request($method, $path)
+	/**
+	* Perform a request to page
+	*
+	* @param string	$method		HTTP Method
+	* @param string	$path		Page path, relative from phpBB root path
+	* @param array $form_data	An array of form field values
+	* @param bool	$assert_response_html	Should we perform standard assertions for a normal html page
+	* @return Symfony\Component\DomCrawler\Crawler
+	*/
+	static public function request($method, $path, $form_data = array(), $assert_response_html = true)
 	{
-		return $this->client->request($method, $this->root_url . $path);
+		$crawler = self::$client->request($method, self::$root_url . $path, $form_data);
+
+		if ($assert_response_html)
+		{
+			self::assert_response_html();
+		}
+
+		return $crawler;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	* Submits a form
+	*
+	* @param Symfony\Component\DomCrawler\Form $form A Form instance
+	* @param array $values An array of form field values
+	* @param bool	$assert_response_html	Should we perform standard assertions for a normal html page
+	* @return Symfony\Component\DomCrawler\Crawler
+	*/
+	static public function submit(Symfony\Component\DomCrawler\Form $form, array $values = array(), $assert_response_html = true)
+	{
+		$crawler = self::$client->submit($form, $values);
+
+		if ($assert_response_html)
+		{
+			self::assert_response_html();
+		}
+
+		return $crawler;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	* Get Client Content
+	*
+	* @return string HTML page
+	*/
+	static public function get_content()
+	{
+		return self::$client->getResponse()->getContent();
 	}
 
 	// bootstrap, called after board is set up
@@ -148,28 +196,76 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 			}
 		}
 
-		// begin data
-		$data = array();
+		self::$cookieJar = new CookieJar;
+		self::$client = new Goutte\Client(array(), null, self::$cookieJar);
+		// Set client manually so we can increase the cURL timeout
+		self::$client->setClient(new Guzzle\Http\Client('', array(
+			Guzzle\Http\Client::DISABLE_REDIRECTS	=> true,
+			'curl.options'	=> array(
+				CURLOPT_TIMEOUT	=> 120,
+			),
+		)));
 
-		$data = array_merge($data, self::$config);
-
-		$data = array_merge($data, array(
-			'default_lang'	=> 'en',
-			'admin_name'	=> 'admin',
-			'admin_pass1'	=> 'admin',
-			'admin_pass2'	=> 'admin',
-			'board_email'	=> 'nobody@example.com',
-		));
+		// Reset the curl handle because it is 0 at this point and not a valid
+		// resource
+		self::$client->getClient()->getCurlMulti()->reset(true);
 
 		$parseURL = parse_url(self::$config['phpbb_functional_url']);
 
-		$data = array_merge($data, array(
-			'email_enable'		=> false,
-			'smtp_delivery'		=> false,
-			'smtp_host'		=> '',
-			'smtp_auth'		=> '',
-			'smtp_user'		=> '',
-			'smtp_pass'		=> '',
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'install/index.php?mode=install');
+		self::assertContains('Welcome to Installation', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		$form = $crawler->selectButton('submit')->form();
+
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
+		self::assertContains('Installation compatibility', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		$form = $crawler->selectButton('submit')->form();
+
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
+		self::assertContains('Database configuration', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		$form = $crawler->selectButton('submit')->form(array(
+			// Installer uses 3.0-style dbms name
+			'dbms'			=> str_replace('phpbb_db_driver_', '',  self::$config['dbms']),
+			'dbhost'		=> self::$config['dbhost'],
+			'dbport'		=> self::$config['dbport'],
+			'dbname'		=> self::$config['dbname'],
+			'dbuser'		=> self::$config['dbuser'],
+			'dbpasswd'		=> self::$config['dbpasswd'],
+			'table_prefix'	=> self::$config['table_prefix'],
+		));
+
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
+		self::assertContains('Successful connection', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		$form = $crawler->selectButton('submit')->form();
+
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
+		self::assertContains('Administrator configuration', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		$form = $crawler->selectButton('submit')->form(array(
+			'default_lang'	=> 'en',
+			'admin_name'	=> 'admin',
+			'admin_pass1'	=> 'adminadmin',
+			'admin_pass2'	=> 'adminadmin',
+			'board_email1'	=> 'nobody@example.com',
+			'board_email2'	=> 'nobody@example.com',
+		));
+
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
+		self::assertContains('Tests passed', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		$form = $crawler->selectButton('submit')->form();
+
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
+		self::assertContains('The configuration file has been written.', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		file_put_contents($phpbb_root_path . "config.$phpEx", phpbb_create_config_file_data(self::$config, self::$config['dbms'], array(), true, true));
+		$form = $crawler->selectButton('submit')->form();
+
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
+		self::assertContains('The settings on this page are only necessary to set if you know that you require something different from the default.', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		$form = $crawler->selectButton('submit')->form(array(
+			'email_enable'		=> true,
+			'smtp_delivery'		=> true,
+			'smtp_host'			=> 'nxdomain.phpbb.com',
+			'smtp_auth'			=> 'PLAIN',
+			'smtp_user'			=> 'nxuser',
+			'smtp_pass'			=> 'nxpass',
 			'cookie_secure'		=> false,
 			'force_server_vars'	=> false,
 			'server_protocol'	=> $parseURL['scheme'] . '://',
@@ -177,48 +273,17 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 			'server_port'		=> isset($parseURL['port']) ? (int) $parseURL['port'] : 80,
 			'script_path'		=> $parseURL['path'],
 		));
-		// end data
 
-		$content = self::do_request('install');
-		self::assertNotSame(false, $content);
-		self::assertContains('Welcome to Installation', $content);
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
+		self::assertContains('The database tables used by phpBB', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		self::assertContains('have been created and populated with some initial data.', $crawler->filter('#main')->text());
+		$form = $crawler->selectButton('submit')->form();
 
-		$content = self::do_request('create_table', $data);
-		self::assertNotSame(false, $content);
-		self::assertContains('The database tables used by phpBB', $content);
-		// 3.0 or 3.1
-		self::assertContains('have been created and populated with some initial data.', $content);
-
-		$content = self::do_request('config_file', $data);
-		self::assertNotSame(false, $content);
-		self::assertContains('Configuration file', $content);
-		file_put_contents($phpbb_root_path . "config.$phpEx", phpbb_create_config_file_data($data, self::$config['dbms'], array(), true, true));
-
-		$content = self::do_request('final', $data);
-		self::assertNotSame(false, $content);
-		self::assertContains('You have successfully installed', $content);
+		$crawler = self::submit($form);
+		self::assertContains('You have successfully installed', $crawler->text());
 		copy($phpbb_root_path . "config.$phpEx", $phpbb_root_path . "config_test.$phpEx");
 	}
 
-	static private function do_request($sub, $post_data = null)
-	{
-		$context = null;
-
-		if ($post_data)
-		{
-			$context = stream_context_create(array(
-				'http' => array(
-					'method'	=> 'POST',
-					'header'	=> 'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded',
-					'content'	=> http_build_query($post_data),
-					'ignore_errors' => true,
-				),
-			));
-		}
-
-		return file_get_contents(self::$config['phpbb_functional_url'] . 'install/index.php?mode=install&sub=' . $sub, false, $context);
-	}
-
 	static private function recreate_database($config)
 	{
 		$db_conn_mgr = new phpbb_database_test_connection_manager($config);
@@ -270,7 +335,7 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 			'user_lang' => 'en',
 			'user_timezone' => 0,
 			'user_dateformat' => '',
-			'user_password' => phpbb_hash($username),
+			'user_password' => phpbb_hash($username . $username),
 		);
 		return user_add($user_row);
 	}
@@ -279,15 +344,14 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 	{
 		$this->add_lang('ucp');
 
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', 'ucp.php');
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'ucp.php');
 		$this->assertContains($this->lang('LOGIN_EXPLAIN_UCP'), $crawler->filter('html')->text());
 
 		$form = $crawler->selectButton($this->lang('LOGIN'))->form();
-		$crawler = $this->client->submit($form, array('username' => $username, 'password' => $username));
-		$this->assert_response_success();
+		$crawler = self::submit($form, array('username' => $username, 'password' => $username . $username));
 		$this->assertContains($this->lang('LOGIN_REDIRECT'), $crawler->filter('html')->text());
 
-		$cookies = $this->cookieJar->all();
+		$cookies = self::$cookieJar->all();
 
 		// The session id is stored in a cookie that ends with _sid - we assume there is only one such cookie
 		foreach ($cookies as $cookie);
@@ -314,7 +378,7 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 			return;
 		}
 
-		$crawler = $this->request('GET', 'adm/index.php?sid=' . $this->sid);
+		$crawler = self::request('GET', 'adm/index.php?sid=' . $this->sid);
 		$this->assertContains($this->lang('LOGIN_ADMIN_CONFIRM'), $crawler->filter('html')->text());
 
 		$form = $crawler->selectButton($this->lang('LOGIN'))->form();
@@ -323,11 +387,10 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 		{
 			if (strpos($field, 'password_') === 0)
 			{
-				$crawler = $this->client->submit($form, array('username' => $username, $field => $username));
-				$this->assert_response_success();
+				$crawler = self::submit($form, array('username' => $username, $field => $username . $username));
 				$this->assertContains($this->lang('LOGIN_ADMIN_SUCCESS'), $crawler->filter('html')->text());
 
-				$cookies = $this->cookieJar->all();
+				$cookies = self::$cookieJar->all();
 
 				// The session id is stored in a cookie that ends with _sid - we assume there is only one such cookie
 				foreach ($cookies as $cookie);
@@ -380,21 +443,37 @@ class phpbb_functional_test_case extends phpbb_test_case
 		return call_user_func_array('sprintf', $args);
 	}
 
+	/**
+	* Perform some basic assertions for the page
+	*
+	* Checks for debug/error output before the actual page content and the status code
+	*
+	* @param mixed $status_code		Expected status code, false to disable check
+	* @return null
+	*/
+	static public function assert_response_html($status_code = 200)
+	{
+		if ($status_code !== false)
+		{
+			self::assert_response_status_code($status_code);
+		}
+
+		// Any output before the doc type means there was an error
+		$content = self::$client->getResponse()->getContent();
+		self::assertStringStartsWith('<!DOCTYPE', trim($content), 'Output found before DOCTYPE specification.');
+	}
+
 	/**
 	* Heuristic function to check that the response is success.
 	*
 	* When php decides to die with a fatal error, it still sends 200 OK
 	* status code. This assertion tries to catch that.
 	*
+	* @param int $status_code	Expected status code
 	* @return null
 	*/
-	public function assert_response_success()
+	static public function assert_response_status_code($status_code = 200)
 	{
-		$this->assertEquals(200, $this->client->getResponse()->getStatus());
-		$content = $this->client->getResponse()->getContent();
-		$this->assertNotContains('Fatal error:', $content);
-		$this->assertNotContains('Notice:', $content);
-		$this->assertNotContains('Warning:', $content);
-		$this->assertNotContains('[phpBB Debug]', $content);
+		self::assertEquals($status_code, self::$client->getResponse()->getStatus());
 	}
 }