ashwinearl's 2005 LGT Wagon 5MT

This is a chronicle of my 2005 Legacy GT Wagon 5MT.

 

For many years, the 2005 LGT Wagon 5MT was my dream car. I have owned a 1998 Legacy Brighton Wagon 5MT from new and know the utility of a wagon. I still cannot believe all the stuff I've been able to put in there. The LGT Wagon combined my love of wagons with a desire to own a performance car.

 

Had I known then what I know now about the fickleness of 2005 model year, I may have chosen to walk away but for now I am a proud owner. I call owning a vehicle like this, "Deliberate ownership". You have to want to own it, and want to relish in all their quirkiness. I have been very lucky to only experience minor issues and (knock on wood) avoided a lot of the typical hardships.

 

We are all lucky to have such a great LGT community where almost any problem or situation has been discussed in the highest level of detail. It is so much more mature and intelligent than other Subaru forums.

 

Even then, I have questioned owning this vehicle and almost cashed out on its rarity several times. Had there been another option in a true wagon with a 5 speed and turbo I might have gone that route. I've often felt I didn't have the time, money, or DIY capability to truly get this car to where I wanted it. It is stressful anticipating some doom and gloom on the horizon with this car too. Right now, I feel more confident that the bulk of reliability issues have been addressed. There is still the anxiousness of wondering if I have checked the oil or cleaned the MAF sensor.

 

2005 Legacy GT regal Blue Pearl 5MT

-Black Leather Interior/ Limited Trim

-one of 86 ever made:

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/official-my2005-production-numbers-model-color-83304.html

-Purchased at 70927 miles in Maryland. This vehicle was owned in Virginia and moved up to Central New York in February 2014

 

The vehicle was very clean in and out. It had car fax records showing dealer maintenance at recommended intervals. However, I had no knowledge of banjo bolt status, turbo issues, or whether they checked the oil regularly. All in all I got really lucky.

 

Off the bat, there were some issues including coolant leaks, coolant hoses, steering pump gremlins (still not totally fixed), brake flush, new plugs, frozen toe in bolts, one bad injector. Thankfully, I lived neat Mach V in Virginia to do this initial work.

 

From day 1 of purchase, I have had a vision of a subtle, quick, tight, but balanced daily driver. One of the things I love about LGT is the whole process of mining the forums to see what others have done and developing a build wish list. After living with the vehicle and learning about the pitfalls of LGT ownership, reliability mods has also been a driving force.

 

I started with the Cobb standard stage 1 tune and moved to an off the shelf stage 1 from Tuning Alliance. This helped clear up basic drivability issues.

 

Over time, some things I have done my self and with much help from others in the LGT Community. More so to reconnect myself with the car and not get so down on it debating selling it and saving for a 2015 WRX. Doing the brakes and detailing it helped me rebuild some love for the car.

 

I finally put together the money and time to get most of what I have wanted accomplished. I opted for AZP Installs to do the work. While I like the pride of DIY, I also know that I am not good at it, nor have the dexterity or hand/arm strength to deal with the tight spaces and rusted bolts.

 

I only have a week on the new stuff and really like it. The Konis and stock springs combined with sway bars feels good for me. Just enough stiffness to corner well and not get blown around in the wind, and just cush enough to make Central New York roads bearable. The UP and DP and stock Cobb tune have plenty of power for me. Drivability needs improvement with a better tune to really unlock the JMP turbo.

 

To quite JmP6889928: " Buy one of these and expect to love it and hate it all at once. Learn to work on it, save your money, but in the long run, it will give you more smiles than anything else you could ever find in the price range. The AWD rulz, and the handling is better than any other sedan it's size stock for stock, and the engine produces more horsepower for it's size in it's stock configuration than anything else in the category. " From http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/most-reliable-turbo-236420p2.html

 

Gallery:

http://imgur.com/a/Legvs#0

 

Current Build:

Last Edit: 8/8/2016 | 113500 miles

Engine:

Cobb AP V2 Tuning Alliance Stage 2 E Tune

Cobb Heat Shield

Cobb Catless Up Pipe

Cobb Catted Downpipe

JMP Custom VF 40

Grimmspeed TMIC

Cobb EBCS

One Step Colder Spark Plugs

DW65 Fuel Pump

Grimmspeed Lightweight Pulley

Replaced OCV valves

Replaced PCV Valve

Banjo Bolt filter removed

Turkeylord Barbed T fitting (replace Blue T)

Fumato Oil Valve

OCI: approx. 3-3.5k with Rotella T6/Blue or Mazda Black filters

 

Suspension/ Steering:

Whiteline Front (22) and Rear sway (20) Bars

Energy Suspension sway bar bushings front and rear with grease zerts

AVO Rear Sway Bar Reinforcement Bracket

Kartboy Front Sway Bar Endlinks

Whiteline adjustable Rear Endlinks

Whiteline Roll center bump steer kit

New OEM top hats front and rear

Whiteline anti lift kit

Whiteline Lower Control Arm Bushings

Koni Sport Yellow Inserts in stock housings

Epic Engineering Springs

(Saggy butt spacers - need to get installed with longer studs)

Whiteline Steering Rack Bushings

Cusco Steering Rack Brace

STI Solid U-joint steering Knuckle

 

Transmission:

Kartboy Short Throw Shifter

Kartboy shifter bushings

Clutch, unknown if changed. Mechanic felt that it was too stiff to be stock

 

Wheels/Brakes

Centric Premium Rotors / Hawk HPS/Motul RB 600 Fluid

Winter tires - conti extreme DWS on stock wheels

17x7 Prodrive by OZ Racing powder coat black)

Saga documented here: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/did-get-myself-into-stripping-paint-wheels-238883.html?t=238883

Summer Tires Stock Size Firestone Indy 500 Tires

 

Lighting:

Disconnected DRL

OSRAM Rallye halogen low beam bulbs

Philips 9011 High Beam

Narva Fog Light bulbs (uninstalled still)

 

Interior/Audio/other bits

Kartboy Knuckleball White Delrin Shift Knob

Plasti dip some trim

Morel Tempo component front speakers

Subwoofer JBL 8" in custom enclosure in spare wheel well

Sound Ordnance M-1500 Mono subwoofer amp

Aura 2150 single channel amp for front speakers

JL Audio Clean Sweep (one channel fed from front speaker line input, feeding into Sub then into front speaker amp)

Tint all around

SPT oil cap, SPT battery holder

Optima Red Battery

Grimspeed license plate relocation

Custom License plate delete (Legacy)

Replaced interior blower fan

 

On Deck:

-front Lip

-Headlight Retrofit

 

Wish List:

-Fix rear antenna

-STI pedal set

-Crown Vic Mesh Grill

-Carbotech BobCat Pads

-DBA 4000 Rotors

-when needed clutch flywheel

-Cat back exhaust

-shifter/ebrake boots

Things I don't Like

-rattles (though in some sense it's what makes a Subaru a Subaru)

-accelerator lag caused by Drive By Wire

-Antenna broken

-Gas Mileage

-Headlights even with upgraded bulbs not great

-Most uncomfortable seats ever

-Combined Head unit/ AC

-auto AC controls (though really growing on me)

-Long throw from 4th to 5th

-The stress of worrying about what could happen next

 

Some Pics

All polished up (before I got the Konis and saggy but spacers). I have a Porter Cable 7424 Dual Action Polisher and taught myself some basic detailing.

http://i.imgur.com/OaYInTyl.jpg

 

Front license plate delete made by a forum vendor

http://i.imgur.com/2IRc2h8l.jpg

 

Custom made OZ Racing Decals on powder coated Prodrive rims

http://i.imgur.com/QybQbdgl.jpg

 

Brothers from another mother

http://i.imgur.com/ajVKuODl.jpg

 

Got a little crazy with the Plasti dip when I first got it. Also showing my Greddy Shift knob (burns when hot, freezes when cold, but just feels good)

http://i.imgur.com/K0B2cJkl.jpg

 

On my desk at work too

http://i.imgur.com/MdcbOHNl.jpg

 

Makes my garage look good

http://i.imgur.com/bTFbQshl.jpg

 

Custom Made (by me) subwoofer box in the wheel well of the spare tire.

http://i.imgur.com/stPkwmll.jpg

 

Aura amps installed in the back, with DIY carpet from Home Depot

http://i.imgur.com/cW0ntFnl.jpg

 

Some 'go fast' SPT bits

http://i.imgur.com/VugSQzUl.jpg

 

Clean when purchased, still in ok shape. Hate the seats though, so uncomfortable

http://i.imgur.com/RhgUMQBl.jpg

 

Resurrected OZ Prodrives. No matter what happens with this car, my place in Subaru heaven is set for saving these wheels

http://i.imgur.com/ZN5FxbPl.jpg

 

A Subaru with a mountain bike on top just feels complete based on the commercials I have seen.

http://i.imgur.com/WCROW8Ol.jpg

 

With Some Linea Limex 18x7 and HTRZIII Tires. Honestly, I liked the look but hated the ride with them. It might be different with my new mods, but am much happier back on 17s

http://i.imgur.com/gjvPiuDl.jpg

 

Slightly dirty, but with the subtle white highlight of the wheel decals

http://i.imgur.com/FAmuzVfl.jpg

 

My first attempt at stripping of the original rattle can paint. There were like 7 layers of previous paint that prompted me to pay to have them sand blasted and powder coated

http://i.imgur.com/SrQCjCrl.jpg

where did you find this:

http://i.imgur.com/MdcbOHNl.jpg

Can't remember. It was either ebay or directly from a seller. They are made by Tomy. Here is one that came up from google

http://collectablediecastvehicles.com/shop/new-tomica-subaru-legacy

 

Here is the box:

http://i.imgur.com/f5JrFKXl.jpg

Good looking wagon! Mod list is very similar to what I've done with mine. Looking forward to see what else you do with your wagon!

I like reading chronicles. Congrats on your wagon.

nice wagon! nice mini wagon! lol

Some new pics:

http://i.imgur.com/Yj4QScQh.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/tZpsoeXh.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/jgzpSI5h.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/59wzr6Jh.jpg

It's been awhile since I've updated this story.

 

I'd been on the stock Cobb stage 2 for some time. It was fine and AZP did a wonderful job on the installation. I've had no issues. However, like most here, the sickness continues and I wanted to move to the next step.

 

Before I could get there though there were the continuing maintenance issues that we all face. My 105K maintenance was due and I had a shop do a Gates kit/OEM water pump. I had a broken passenger front CV boot, and a ball joint that had broken rubber. My friend and I went at both and ended up breaking the pinch bolt on the ball joint. The same sad song that many sing. I took the right way out and just got a completely new knuckle and also new OEM wheel bearing. We rebooted the axle to maintain the OEM quality, though the Autozone replacement looked to be Subaru OEM too.

 

My goal has always been a custom dyno tune. The recommendations for my setup included getting a TMIC that could better support the hybrid turbo. The caution was that these generate a lot of heat and the stock TMIC would be a limiter.

 

For my grandma style of driving, I'm sure I would have been fine with the stock TMIC and maybe a bullet-proof mod to it. But naturally, I wanted to do it right. I put in the GS TMIC all on my own and was proud of my DIY. I should do a leak test to see if I made any mistakes.

 

To go along with the TMIC, I also opted for a Cobb EBCS and DW65 fuel pump. Both too I put in myself. That fuel pump was a ordeal. In hindsight, I probably should have let a pro do it, or at least pull the damn car all the way out of the garage. I am slow, slow at DIY and smelling that gas for that long was a mistake.

 

I was planning a road trip to Innovative in Buffalo, but decided to just upgrade my previously purchased Stage 1 OTS tune from Tuning Alliance. The price for upgrade to custom E-tune was just a fraction of the dyno so thought I'd try it out.

 

Mike was, of course, great to work with and showed patience with my questions and inability to perform good pulls. I realized through this process, that I am a grandma driver. I 'think' I drive spirited, but to be perfectly honest, I don't believe I had ever put the pedal all the way to the floor. AKA Wide Open Throttle (WOT). This was a foreign concept to me... I think, I've just ingrained into myself the fear of blowing up the car, that I've just babied it too much.

 

It was sort of funny doing a pull. I looked at the data afterwards and saw that the throttle position was just 75-80%. It honestly took a lot of mental gymnastics to get myself to do a full WOT 3rd gear pull. There was also the problem of finding a good road, worrying about cops, other cars, etc...

 

Also there is something going on with my tires, steering, or suspension, but my steering is really light. And it gets way lighter under pulls with the rear squatting. So doing a pull also freaked me out with the vague steering. But I think I had the hang of it and was on my 4th iteration.

 

Right before this I installed a Company 23 Turkey Lord barbed t. So proud of myself for being proactive... However, I didn't do a complete job and didn't secure the other ends of the hoses off the blue T. Specifically the one that runs into the back of the manifold. No doubt, I loosened it up when installing the Barbed T.

 

So there I am all psyched to do my 3rd gear pull, get on it, ...PSSFTTT ...car looses all power, and coast to the side of the highway. My heart is sinking, my mind is racing with all the paranoid fueled thoughts from spending WAY too much time on this forum. I didn't see the BPV hose blown off but didn't really know about the one under the manifold. I ended up getting a tow and the mechanic found it.

 

I struggled with how to secure it. I ended up dabbing some super glue on it and it hasn't moved. But I feel scarred for life. It was really tough to get myself to do some more WOT pulls. I made it to a 5th iteration and was declared 'done' by Mike.

 

It's running so well right now. It's pretty conservative and I'm sure the JMP has much more to give. For me it's perfect. Power comes on smooth and it's enough to push me back in the seat a little. The reality is I rarely ever go over 75-80 on the highway, and rarely ever get past 5000RPM. My only paranoid concern is that right when I started the tuning process, I did an oil change and for whatever reason, I put in Pennzoil Platinum Pure Plus 5W30. I think I'd read some WRX or STI owners post with a UOA of it. I started to have second thoughts when reading about oil and saw the Resource conserving sticker on the label. The engine also just sounded louder, at idle and driving. I opted to change it back to Rotella 5W40 after only 600 miles. The idle/engine still does sound a little louder than it used to, but everything seems to be running fine and logs looked good. I love that subtle boxer growl.

 

The main problem is that the new power has magnified the shortcomings in my steering, suspension. My speculation is that it's a combination of things: 1) taller/narrower mushy winter tires, 2) Koni's that aren't adjusted right, 3) worn steering rack bushings, 4) play in the stock steering dampener. So now I am going to attack the steering with new bushings, STI solid link, and Cusco brace. I think I am also going to bite the bullet and go to H&R springs. Epic/Eibachs would be me ideal choice but they are no where to be found. I think with the adjustability of the Koni's I'll be fine with the H&Rs and have been jonesing for some tight cornering. Stock springs and Konis were recommended as a good compromise of performance/comfort but for now I'm going to go stiffer.

 

I also installed a Cleansweep which was another episode of do it wrong a few times. It's all in and finally, I've the sound I've been craving. It was so disappointing installing my high end speakers, amps, and subwoofers only to find a flat sound. The same setup in my 98 with a just a mid level Pioneer head unit sounded great. The only thing to relearn is to use the cleansweep volume mounted down by myshifter. Also new is a Kartboy Knuckleball white delrin knob. I have small hands and I really love the low fit and shape of it compared to my Momo Air. I'm sure the heavier aluminum would shift better, but the metal knobs just get too cold or hot for me. The jury is still out on the white, I may go to a black one.

 

My end goal has always been a balanced vehicle in terms of form, function, aesthetics. I'm slowly getting there with my engine mods ticked off (for now). I'm hopeful that I can get my suspension/steering sorted out. After that comes brakes. I've got good rotors/pads, but am getting that nagging shudder from uneven pad deposits. I'm looking to go with some Carbotech Bobcats pads next.

 

Along the way, I'm sure I'll face continual maintenance issues and wear items like clutches. And I want to continue the aesthetic mods with lighting upgrade, grill and lip.

Good looking car! I had the same issue running my stock head unit with my four channel amp and components. It just wasn't the sound I was looking for and there was no way to eq out of it. I opted for the jdm double din with an Apline deck but I had highly considered the clean sweep. I was really suprised how much of a difference it made.

 

What % tint do you have?

How do you resist going WOT?!? Teach me your ways!!!! I think I've gone WOT every time I've driven my car except just driving around campus since installing the vf52

drogos has a set of epic springs for sale on the f/s section

 

The main problem is that the new power has magnified the shortcomings in my steering, suspension. My speculation is that it's a combination of things: 1) taller/narrower mushy winter tires, 2) Koni's that aren't adjusted right, 3) worn steering rack bushings, 4) play in the stock steering dampener. So now I am going to attack the steering with new bushings, STI solid link, and Cusco brace. I think I am also going to bite the bullet and go to H&R springs. Epic/Eibachs would be me ideal choice but they are no where to be found. I think with the adjustability of the Koni's I'll be fine with the H&Rs and have been jonesing for some tight cornering. Stock springs and Konis were recommended as a good compromise of performance/comfort but for now I'm going to go stiffer.

 

My end goal has always been a balanced vehicle in terms of form, function, aesthetics. I'm slowly getting there with my engine mods ticked off (for now). I'm hopeful that I can get my suspension/steering sorted out. After that comes brakes. I've got good rotors/pads, but am getting that nagging shudder from uneven pad deposits. I'm looking to go with some Carbotech Bobcats pads next.

 

Before swapping suspension parts, get better tires. Not all seasons, but summer tires. then see what the car feels like.

tight suspension with squishy tires is not going to make you happy.

Before swapping suspension parts, get better tires. Not all seasons, but summer tires. then see what the car feels like.

tight suspension with squishy tires is not going to make you happy.

 

I have some Firestone Firehawk Wide Oval Indy 500 Tires in stock size on my OZ Pro Drives waiting for spring to fully get here. They are listed as performance tires and seemed a good bang for buck. I only had them on last summer for a little while so don't have a firm opinion of them yet. I do wish I had just gotten 225s though.

 

My light steering is no doubt tied to my winter tires as there was immediate change after making the switch a few months ago.

I am almost feeling content. For the first time in a long time I am driving without thinking of the next thing that needs to be done.

 

My steering seems to be under control. The first thing that helped was going back to my summer rubber: stock size Firestone Indy Ovals. They are not the highest rated summer tires but get good bang/buck scores.

 

I didn't realize till I'd taken the winters off how squishy the tread was. It was a huge improvement to go back to the summers. However, there was still a floaty feeling in the steering. Windy days made it much worse.

 

I finally had my mechanic install Whiteline Steering rack bushings, Cusco Steering Rack brace, and my ebayed STI Solid Link U-joint knuckle.

 

Transformation. The steering is actually heavier, and doesn't wander. I even stopped thinking about H&R Springs for a little while. I also had my brake rotors turned which helped with the terrible pulsating I've had with my Hawk HPS pads.

 

For the first time in a while, I felt content. Tune -check, steering- check, sound quality-check, konis+ stock springs best compromise for a daily ? maybe, wash, wax

 

So what's on deck. ...I still get a little stumbling at low rpms in 2nd. Maybe I'll clean the MAF soon. Oil change coming up in 1K. Checking oil every 2 or 3 days just to b paranoid. Brake flush

 

Some bling? A Bayson R Lip? A crown vic Grille?

I had a bayson r on my LGT. It's a great lip! Nice to see you sorting out some issues and possibly becoming content. :-)

Continued goal: balanced daily driver with just a bit of edge to it.

 

8/8/2016

Recent installs:

-Energy Suspension greaseable sway bar bushings front and rear

-Epic Engineering springs paired with existing cut/gut Konis (1 1/4 from full soft on front, 1 turn from full soft on rear

-Warranty replacement rear driver's side Koni

-New OEM tophats front and rear

-Whiteline Roll Center-Bump steer kit

-replace rear Kartboy solid endlinks with Whiteline Adjustable End links

-Transmission flush - Motul 300V

 

In the past months I'd been growing increasingly unhappy with my suspension. It was a combination of components failing and the feeling that Konis and Stock springs weren't designed to go together.

 

First my rear sway bar bushings were worn out leading to rear klunking. I had some Energy Suspension bushings installed which addressed some of the vibrations, but the rear driver's side strut didn't feel right. I'd go over bumps or dips and rather than a single thunk, the vibrations would continue and I'd feel like the car picked up and moved over.

 

It is a pain to access the rear Koni's for adjustment in the wagon, but I finally got back there and it looked like some oil on the top of the adjuster on the rear driver's Koni. I followed Koni's instructions for pre-purchasing a replacement and have sent the old one back. No word yet on whether they will reimburse me.

 

The Konis and stock springs, to me, felt like I was getting the worst of both worlds. The harsh compression damping of the Konis was uncomfortable and the floatiness/squat of stock springs overshadowed the comfort. The power of the stage 2 didn't feel so great with the unpredictable rear and floaty feeling.

 

I decided to scoop up some Epic Engineering springs from a friend and sat on them for while. I was torn on going to stiffer springs. From reading, it sounded like something like Epics would work better with the Konis then the stock springs. However, some of the roads around here aren't the greatest and was concerned.

 

Finally, I decided to just have it done locally. On AZP's advice I changed got Whiteline adjustable Endlinks and the Whiteline Roll Center Bump Steer Kit.

 

The mechanic put in the new springs (which I wrapped with some tubing per some past posts to help minimize future noises from coils touching in the rear springs), new OEm tophats, roll center kit and did an alignment. Unfortunately, I forgot to tell him to salvage the studs from the old rear top hats which are longer and needed to use the Saggy Butt spacers, so no spacers right now in the rear.

 

I'm quite pleased so far. The Konis and Epics counterintuitively feel more comfortable than the stock springs. Of course, getting a new rear strut helped a lot too. Right now I have the Koni rebound adjusters to 1 1/4 from full soft on the front and 1 turn from full soft on the rear.

 

Sure, the concrete seams and frost heaves on I-90 are annoying, but rough pavement I've encountered hasn't felt too bad. Cornering is improved as well as less squat under power making for just a fun ride with the simple stage 2 setup.

 

I do have click in the front after accelerating slightly then braking, like starting from a light but then having to slow down again for someone in front. I didn't put any of that tubing on the front springs.

 

I had and still have a weird rattle at when the front is unweighted or the steering wheel is turned on rough pavement. The vibration comes up through the steering wheel. Similar to what is described here and here. I was hoping that when the local mechanic took the struts apart to put on the new springs and top hats, something loose would be revealed. I haven't checked the bolt on the bottom of the Konis yet.

 

So once again, the pendulum swings back and forth between content and not content. It is just amazing though, how this mod sickness continues unabated. Not a second passed as I am driving home that I'm thinking of what comes next.

 

On the list:

-Check the oil, always check the oil. It's drinking T6 more then I'd like but will just keep feeding it.

 

-Headlight retrofit

-Cosmetics - lip, grille

-Boost and Wideband gauges

-STI pedal set, dead pedal

-All weather Husky Floor mats

-225 or 235 tires if I get some 17x8s

-Exhaust

-get the Saggy Butt spacer put back in

-STI or Group N transmission and engine mounts (not sure on this)

-Sound Deadening

-Rotors/pads/fluid/

 

Once again, thank you to a wonderful LGT community for sharing knowledge and inspiration.

Do you know anyone with a GoPro camera? It could help locate the source of that vibration.