Drove my Spec B

Dealer called yesterday and my SpecB had just arrived. 6 Miles on the ticker. NO spoiler (most are getting a spoiler before dealer delivery). Even though I do not take delivery until Saturday morning (work is getting in the way of my free time ), I DID take it for an extended test drive.

Now for comparison purposes, I drove my bone stock 05 LGT there (reverted to stock for trade-in). Also, one of the guys at the dealer has a an 05 GT with STI rims/tires/pink springs. That will be important later on.

Looks (exterior)-In person, the car looks like an upscale LGT. While my black/black LGT looks sleak, the Spec B looks more refined. The rocker panel trim does not stand out, but accents the lines of the car. The wheels look so good I will not be putting my SSR Comps on this car. The calipers are painted a flat granite green color that works well. I was surprised how well the subtle changes made the car look.

Looks (interior)-I had reservations going to see the car about how I would react to the interior color scheme. I loved it. It is more muted than you would think from the pics. The leather is also softer than that in my LGT. I think the racer pedals with black inserts instead of the pink are also nice. Being able to set the Nav display to a brick color scheme also helped alot. It is actually very well thought out and flows well.

Handling - This is the thing I was actually wondering the most about, as are most of you. The handling and ride on this car is infinitely better than the stock LGT. I had switched to 18" SSR w/pole positions on my 05. These made a huge difference in my handling. The next thing I was going to tackle was the suspension. The SpecB rides and handles EXACTLY how I wanted my car to after planned mods The ride is both firm yet smoothes out bumps well. Turn in is awesome with much less body roll than stock. The ride and handling characteristics were so nice that I gave the keys to the dealer guy with the STI parts so he could try. He was almost in tears since he didn't get one The car was well composed at all times. The steering is a bit heavier also, which I like.

It now is back in the Showroom waiting to go home. I normally do not wish time away but these next 2 days are going to KILL ME

Overall I think they did a good job. Is it worth the extra money? That is up to you to decide for yourself. I think it is. People are already planning all kinds of mods for these. I don't understand why they would after driving it. Me? Just a short thrown, ECU upgrade and amp/subwoofer.

I will give more driving impressions after this weekend.

Spec B 265/500

I'm glad to see yet another positive review on improved handling!

Good stuff to know that, perhaps, this will carry-through to future versions of the LGT.

Glad that you're happy, Keith!

BTW, did you notice any improvement in braking? Myles from RaceComp Engineering cited this as one of the biggest improvements that he'd noted. Just wondering if you saw the same thing.

I wish you many happy miles in your SpecB !

Willing to say how much you paid for it? Did you pay the $34K MSRP? Did you pay a dealer markup over sticker?

you can add the same suspension mods yourself for cheaper.

Tsi+ - Honestly I didn't notice much difference in the braking over my 05. I will pay more attention if I remember. Funny that you mentioned Myles.....his wife helped get me into this SpecB a few weeks ago after she had hers slated . He has a laundry list of mods he wants to do. Since that is his living, I can understand that.

And Yes I paid MSRP. No dealer markup.

And Yes if all I wanted was mods to my 05 it would of been cheaper, but I wanted a SpecB

Don't forget guys, it may be cheaper but consider that all these "mods" for the SpecB are warranteed. For some, it's worth the extra money for that peace of mind (and given how many stories we hear about warranty claim issues, I can't blame them).

I agree with TSi+WRX, hopefully these improvements make it further down the line to all future LGTs.

Nice writeup keith, thanks!

Nice to see you like your new car so much you are "wasting time" at work!

I am glad to see Subaru shed the GM philosophy of making a limited production run of 500 rather than 15,000! Limited production in the truest sense.

Now to see a spec B wagon!

Enjoy!

Handling - This is the thing I was actually wondering the most about, as are most of you. The handling and ride on this car is infinitely better than the stock LGT. I had switched to 18" SSR w/pole positions on my 05. These made a huge difference in my handling. The next thing I was going to tackle was the suspension. The SpecB rides and handles EXACTLY how I wanted my car to after planned mods The ride is both firm yet smoothes out bumps well. Turn in is awesome with much less body roll than stock. The ride and handling characteristics were so nice that I gave the keys to the dealer guy with the STI parts so he could try. He was almost in tears since he didn't get one The car was well composed at all times. The steering is a bit heavier also, which I like.

What are the suspension changes to the Spec B from the standard Legacy GT? I thought it was just Bilstein struts--did they change springs and sway bars as well?

I figure the USDM market got a really dumbed-down version of the Legacy GT to start with since this car got raves in Japan and was car of the year there--it must have been better.

Did I read that right that the car is back in the showroom? Umm........bad idea. Random strangers pawing your ride and sitting in it, kicking the tires, etc.

The year the Viper came out I owned a Dodge, and was in the showroom wandering around while my truck was getting serviced. They had a Viper

on the floor, They had been back ordered for 6 months at that point..

The Dealer told the guy who got it that he had to leave it in the show room for 6 days for exposure / sales opportunities. I wanted to paw it, kick the tires fart in the seat, but they had it roped off.. bastards!

... fart in the seat...

 

Someone in Indiana could have done that rolling it off the line!

 

In any one of our cars!

What are the suspension changes to the Spec B from the standard Legacy GT? I thought it was just Bilstein struts--did they change springs and sway bars as well?

 

I figure the USDM market got a really dumbed-down version of the Legacy GT to start with since this car got raves in Japan and was car of the year there--it must have been better.

wheels, tires, struts, springs, sway bars, aluminum control arms and prolly some stuff I forgot about.

The year the Viper came out I owned a Dodge, and was in the showroom wandering around while my truck was getting serviced. They had a Viper

on the floor, They had been back ordered for 6 months at that point..

The Dealer told the guy who got it that he had to leave it in the show room for 6 days for exposure / sales opportunities. I wanted to paw it, kick the tires fart in the seat, but they had it roped off.. bastards!

I got an Accord years ago.....I noticed after I got it home, both leather seats were ripped. I waited for weeks and drove four hours away to get it. The dealer gave me the big FU, but was nice enough to include a pic of it sitting on the showroom floor. Although it wasn't mine until I drove it home, that's still not cool considering I ordered the car. Some yahoo with keys in his back pocket probably was sitting in both front seats, as the rips were in the same places on both.

*lazy subscribe*

x2

Did I read that right that the car is back in the showroom? Umm........bad idea. Random strangers pawing your ride and sitting in it, kicking the tires, etc.

+1..get it off the floor now..

The calipers are painted a flat granite green color that works well. I was surprised how well the subtle changes made the car look.

that color will change to a nice "rust and corrosion-white" in a year or so.

Thanks for helping me sweat my car sitting there It is bad enough I still have to wait until the morning to get it.

Realistically though it has just as much (if not more of a chance) getting "fondled" in the lot, in the service bay, etc. At least I know it won't be driven and since alot of the folks working there are true car buffs (not just sales people) I have faith. Yeah I may be naive in trusting them, but this being the third new Subaru I bought from them in 14 months I like to think they will make sure I am taken care of.

And no - I definitely do not want to trade trunks

you can add the same suspension mods yourself for cheaper.

How many people buy a $2,000 Dell computer when they can build a much better one themselves for $1,000 less?

How many people buy a $2,000 Dell computer when they can build a much better one themselves for $1,000 less?

1: People with more money than sense

2: People with no clue

3: People who don't know how to build it themselves, and who want warranty support.