New Member LegacyGT Review

[font=verdana, arial, helvetica][size=1]Finally, a review of the car at about 3000 miles. Everyone says you should wait till after 3,000 miles, but this car has seen and passed redline on several ocasions, so yea- if its not broken in, it is now. First the exterior. Beautiful and elegant in black. However, the styling is very bland. I have yet to see any other 05 Legacy or even an Outback on the road, so it has that exclusivsity for those who seek it. The front fasia is simple but smooth. The rear however could use a bit more styling cues from the front. Overall nothing to dramatic nor aggresive. For 30K I can use a bit of more luxuary look, but more than content with its exterior look. The fog lights does miracle to illuminate the road when negotiating tight turns. Downside- for 30K I would appreciate at least a HID option, since it has projectors that works great. I've already disabled DRL thanks for this site. [/size][/font] [font=verdana, arial, helvetica][size=1]This car has been mistaken as the new Scion TC about 5 times, Nissan Altima about 3 times, and Camry twice, and Acura once. So far only 1 person has been able to correctly identify this vehicle. Then the interior. Absolutely beautiful interior. No cheap materials here. The roof and pillar is wrapped in luxary cloth materials found in Mercedes. "Oh-Shit!" bars resides above all four doors.(Why would the driver need an "oh-shit" bar?) I opted for the cloth interior because I don't enjoy getting my ass scortched on summer day and sliding around when turning. The seats are extremely comforable and relatively supportive for a sedan. 6 in dash CD changers with 6 speakers that emits clear and percise music. Dual climate control that cools the cabin within a minute after sitting in the sun all afternoon. Cruise control that does its job at least, and dual ass-warmers that I will never put to use. Large glove box and comparments here and there. Oh! And 4 cupholders, 2 of which will accomadate extra large sodas from McDonald's. The options I got gives me STI pedals, MOMO shift knob, auto-dim rear mirrors, and STI short shifters. Downside- 12 FM preset not enough for me. And NO GPS OPTION!!! Now the powerplant. Incredibily torquey motor(not as much as WRX STI), fast and pulls smoothly. Almost too smooth for my liking. Sometimes I can't even detect the engine speed without looking at the tach. This motor makes cutting others off as well as preventing others from cutting me off an easy task. At 3,000rpm is where this car pulls the strongest. You can feel an instant jolt backwards when WOT around that rpm range. Downside- Despite of 250hp rated at 6,000rpm, when accelerating up the gears, the car does not have a strong feel towards higher rpm. This motor redlines at a mere 6,500rpm and not 100 more. This car possesses the low end "ummph" but lacks the high end "YeEaaaHh~~" that I am accustom to. Despite of the fast speed, cannot increase my heart rate. Onward to transmission. Not happy at all with the transmission. This is in my opinion the worst part of the car and requires dramatic improvement. The shift gate feels notchy and long, and completely uninspired. It lacks the precisness of Subaru's Japanese counterparts. Installing the STI short shifter does ease the pain slightly, but pushing into gears(up and down) requires more force than finess. You literally "throw" the shifter into gears as oppose to"clicking" it into gears. Something about this trasmission hinders you from shifting too fast. You have to wait almost half a second between each successful gear shifts. Other than that, the clutch pedal has a nice travel and reasonable engagement point, the gear ratios mates well with the powerplant. Big disappointment here. Last but not least-Handling. On day 3 after driving off the dealer's lot the stock Bridgestone Potenza RE92 215/45ZR17 M+S were swapped out in favor of a Falken Azenis Sport 225/45ZR17. The Falkens in this size have tremendous amount of grip that is hard to exceed. Despite of making every single turn relatively fast, but the combination of fear along with this car's incredible acceleration has compelled me to brake early and enter the corner at somewhat of a sane speed. Once passed the apex, and in the proper gear, the car will turn as hard as it can accelerate. Stock rating is .84 lateral G. I think with these gummy rubbers it should be at .90 or real close to it. [/size][/font] [font=verdana, arial, helvetica][size=1]Throttle-lift oversteer can be induced in mid-turn, but the car's front plows heavily in corner entry. I can see how possessing AWD can provide a false sense of traction, it is avaliable for corner exit, not entry. Its closest import competitor would be the Acura TSX. And to be honest I'd much prefer FF than AWD, NA-high rev as opposed to turbo-low end. For same price I can easily get the TSX with GPS and HID. But if you are anything like myself who wants something a bit different then this is the car for you. Overall I am more than satisfied with this car, and for a mid-priced sedan I wouldn't have it any other way[/size][/font]

Oh yea, almost forgot! This car guzzles gas like its "haterade". I do mostly local commutes and average about 17mpg and 270 miles to a full tank. Granted every monring I heat up my car and allow it to idle for 5~10 minutes before operation, but this is still far higher fuel consumption than any other cars I've had. I reckon this is the price to pay for a reliable 250hp 250tq powerplant that runs rich.

About leaving the car 5-10 minutes for warm-up is not needed. Today's new cars are made to be driven in the cold. Scientifically, I think it gives a false sense that the car is ready to go fast because the engine being warm doesn't mean the other important parts of the car are. These parts include: - tires - 2 front CV joints - front differential - transmission - rear differential - rear axle Also, leaving the engine running for 5-10 mins on a nearly constant rpm I think is harmful, even if not in the break-in period, in the long term because those mins add up for the life of the car. I think that 10-30 secs after the car is turned on, after the oil has reached all the crevices, the car is ready to move. Then maintaining the engine's rpm below 3k till the Coolant Temp is up and at the normal point, then the whole car is ready to go fast. Also, all this will be happening while your moving instead of waiting and wasting gas. Just an opinion. Mojo

decent review, just some friendly criticism: 17 mpg? breaking in must not have worked for you :lol: most people recieve anywhere from 20-26 mpg after that initial 1500 miles. thats is not bad at all for a turbocharged awd vehicle. as for the transmission, well that was your choice to get manual, luckily i chose automatic so i won't have too many problems. as for styling, i love the legacys interior, every bit of it. you speak of it not being optimally suffiecient for 30k, yet when compared to other cars that are in the low thirties the legacy offers what they cannot, whether or not it be sacrificing awd for fwd or rwd. and trust me, that feature is important to many of us, i am in NJ and wanted a sedan at a decent price, the legacy seemed to be the only option, thankfully it was the perfect one. this car is alsoa sports sedan, but not an STI. you cannot compare the two, they are aimed at two different markets. if this car's speed or torque is not sufficient for you, it may have not been the best solution in your case. the acura tsx was an initial choice for me, but after seeing thelegacy i was won over immediately. the "subaru reliability" (acura has had recent transmission problems and whatnot), styling, after a rim change and spoiler lip addition of course :) , awd, and speed just make this car stand out so much. it is hard to find a unique car these days; i wanted to buy a g35, as good bargaining could get u a fully loaded coupe (awd version) for about 32/33 grand, but there are alreayd 4 of those in my school parking lot, no one even know this cars exists. as for there not being an HID or nav solution, those don't bother me too much. HIDs are suually rediculously overpriced from manufacturerers, its better to buy your own kit for 3-400 dollars and easily install it yourself. as for nav, i actually did mind that but hey, what are u gonna do? dropping two nukes ona country won't exactly get you the best car options :D . so improvise, you cna easily find a gps system that can overreach a factory solution. once again, good writeup, and i'm glad that you are overall happy with teh car. but comparing it to the sti and telling us that awd is not a nessecity to you leads me to beleive that perhaps the legacy wasn't the best solution for you.

Thanks for the review -- I'm looking to get a LGT and still trying to decide between manual and auto (was pretty set on stick after testing a short-shifter, but yes, it is notchy). The dealer I was with said that the stock stick was supposedly not nearly as notchy, so I'd be interested to see if anyone has compared them.

[quote name='pug']Thanks for the review -- I'm looking to get a LGT and still trying to decide between manual and auto (was pretty set on stick after testing a short-shifter, but yes, it is notchy). The dealer I was with said that the stock stick was supposedly not nearly as notchy, so I'd be interested to see if anyone has compared them.[/QUOTE] First of all, as measured, the stock shifter has a one-inch longer throw than the STi short shifter. Measure out an inch, move your arm that much, then tell me if it matters that much. :lol: The stock shifter is indeed smooth and elegant-feeling, as suits the rest of the car, IMHO. There is much less effort required to move through the gears, but the feeling of precision is still there. Don't be fooled by the absence of the "snick, snick" mechanical feeling that some people like. The stock box is quite precise, and vastly preferable, IMHO, to the short shift kit. Regarding the original review, I don't understand for the life of me why anyone would buy a car with so many aspects that are a major disappointment. I would have shopped around more, to be sure, had I test driven a GT and found many significant things that weren't to my liking. Kevin