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I will definetly take a serious look at the new 05 Legacy GT as a replacement for my 02 IS 300 (bought in the summer of 02). Subaru will now have the first car I see right now that really packs a TON of punch into a very reasonably priced package. This mid-sized 4 door market segment is filled with cars that are really starting to push the cost envelope (330...S60...A4 with any power, 3.0 L and the AWD option...Loaded up G35 with the factory AWD). There are a few cars in this segment that are priced decent with the factory incentives (IS300...9-3 Vector...04 TL...1.8T A4 with the 5 spd MT...base S60 with the 5 spd MT), and then Subaru (brilliant marketing IMO!!!) comes along and will dump a kick ass $29,000 to $32,000 range beautifully styled civilized looking WRX STI on the U.S. doorsteps. I am sure that several auto manufactures are seriously worried about the market affects of this new Subaru (I will bet big $$$ that it will out sell the IS300/9-3 Vector/S60 T5 total sales combined after the first fiscal year of sales). The new Legacy GT is a awesome looking car with many possibilities for product expansion IMO (STI version, 2 dr coupe...when was the last time Subaru had a great coupe?). The recent WRC Championship win by Peter Solberg in the FIA WRX rally car could not have come at a better time to help promote the rugged racing heritage in which these Subaru vehicles are built upon. Subaru has also done a very good job IMO with the new interior styling for the new GT, it is not ground breaking (G35....yuck), but yet it is a very clean design that looks understated elegant. Subaru needed to build a car that a potential Audi/BMW/Lexus owner would even come to their dealerships to look at...THIS CAR IS IT!!!!!!! I am 39 years old and I feel like a kid before Christmas in anticipation of this new Legacy...WOW, now that is good marketing!!! Subaru did "All the right moves" with this new Legacy! First they designed a very attractive exterior, and then they designed a more upscale interior with new features for a Subaru that are a must in this segment. Now they take all this and add it to a GREAT engine and drivetrain that is already proven, with the reduction of around 180 lbs over the previous Legacy through the use of weight saving aluminum components...great engineering! Subaru also adds the 5 spd AT with the "sportshift" feature as an option with a beefed up 5 spd MT as standard (I think they are saving the 6 spd MT for any STI version...makes sense to me). In the end, I looked at the WRX STI when they first hit the dealerships (WOW...what an awesome car!), but this car is just not for me with my wife and two elementary school aged daughters (my wife said the WRX STI looked "mean" to her and she would not drive it..."THAT IS THE IDEA", I said...go figure?). Now Subaru has a vehicle on "approach" to land in the U.S. that fits a HUGE number of drivers that want some excitement in their cars...I think the name LEGACY may be higly appropriate for such a car...we shall see!!!
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Yeah i think your right on the button there. The Legacy is a move by Subaru to head upmarket. It has big mass market appeal that Subaru are looking for. As your wife demostrates the WRX Sti is too extreme for the mass market. In many ways the future of Subaru rides with this model.
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I also agree with your comments, 2003 was a "best ever" year for Subaru as far as units sold although sales of the current model Legacy were down from 2002 so new model is timed perfectly as interest in the old one is decreasing. I'm not surprised you didn't manage to get your wife into an STi, it took a lot of convincing to get my wife out of the late model Volvo she was driving and into our WRX, we also have 2 kids and she was worried about the size of our wagon. I see it as a Costco spending control measure. She loves the car BTW and would never go back.
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My wife wants the S60R after she saw the new Volvo factory body kit for the car (we saw a silver S60R on a rotating display out in Vegas over the New Years weekend...that car looked meaner than an M3! I give a lot of credit to Volvo though...they are starting to finally "get it" also like Subaru has). The new S40 is a good looking car also, but the Legacy GT has one heck of an engine onboard with TONS of tuning potential...I can't wait! :cry:
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  • 3 weeks later...
I am new here. I also have an IS300 5spd and highly considering the Legacy turbo, but the only thing really holding me back is the HID and probably Nav. anyway, i think the legacy will be better than the IS300 in anyway except the service dept. from Subaru(that will not stop me from buying the car). anyway hopefully Legacy will have HID as an option.
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I doubt we will get the HID's for the Legacy this year, but I am willing to give those up for more performance and the addition of the AWD. I love the IS300 except for what should have been a factory 250 Hp car right from the start. I also do not think that the new direction for the IS is what I would want (V-6 powerplant) for my next car. I really like the Subaru products and I am looking forward to my first test drive when the Legacy finally hits the dealerships...I think I will be impressed! :) BTW, ckk81...welcome aboard!
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I don't even know why in most cases that anyone bothers with service at a Subaru dealership - these cars are very easy to fix in the rare event that something goes wrong. My 1990 Legacy wagon has 235,557 miles on it and still has the original alternator, PS pump, all the sensors, and the fuell injection system has never even been touched except for a couple tanks of cheap FI cleaner. Runs excellent, no hesitation, no problems. Even the wheel bearings are original and I beat the bag out of this car. Not even that many rattles and the interior still looks great. If the new Legacy is anything like the step up from the older cars that mine was then this new car is going to be one of the best cars on the road, period. I'll still trust my old Legacy over nearly any new car and enjoy driving it much more. Women aren't so impressed by it, but they're so damn superficial anyways, screw 'em. Steve
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  • 4 months later...
I have a Toyota Altezza RS200 (that's an IS 300 with a 2 litre 210 bhp engine). I'd say that Subaru are going for exactly the same market as the IS. Are HID's really that important? I know it gets pretty dark out in the wilds....
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[quote name='AMT4SWA']My wife wants the S60R after she saw the new Volvo factory body kit for the car (we saw a silver S60R on a rotating display out in Vegas over the New Years weekend...that car looked meaner than an M3! I give a lot of credit to Volvo though...they are starting to finally "get it" also like Subaru has). The new S40 is a good looking car also, but the Legacy GT has one heck of an engine onboard with TONS of tuning potential...I can't wait! :cry:[/quote] Think of the Legacy GT as a S60R with a very healthy discount. :D
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[quote name='racerdave'][quote name='AMT4SWA']My wife wants the S60R after she saw the new Volvo factory body kit for the car (we saw a silver S60R on a rotating display out in Vegas over the New Years weekend...that car looked meaner than an M3! I give a lot of credit to Volvo though...they are starting to finally "get it" also like Subaru has). The new S40 is a good looking car also, but the Legacy GT has one heck of an engine onboard with TONS of tuning potential...I can't wait! :cry:[/quote] Think of the Legacy GT as a S60R with a very healthy discount. :D[/quote] Only better! Took a testdrive of an S60R, and it has the turning radius of a Battleship. If it weren't for that, and the auto tranny (this was a lightly used CPO car), it would have been in serious contention for me. It was a BLAST to drive fast, but parking lot maneuvers would have sucked big time.
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I know a couple that have driven it, a few liked it but the more serious folks didn't like the suspension system (variable), and the power bias being rather forward. To each their own, but from everything I have seen, heard, and read, the new Leggy will be a lot of car for your money and a very usable and fun car, I think definitely more than an S60R. I've heard a few who have driven them liken the GT to a BMW in handling. That's a VERY good thing for that weekend jaunt at the track of through the back hills. :cool:
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  • 2 weeks later...
Well, I'm going to play devil's advocate here but I'd say that if I could afford either of the two I'd get the S60R/V70R over the GT. Why? Well, a better (6MT) transmission, adjustable suspension, a more powerful engine (300/295 vs. 250/250), and superior interior acccomodations. A while back at a gas station a guy pulled in with his V70R next to me to fill 'er up. I checked it out and was very impressed. Is it worth $10k more than the Leg GT LTD? Well I don't know about that, but it is a nicer car IMHO. Yeah, it's a big heavy car but (IIRC) from a european car rag that I read a while back it still pulls .9Gs on the skidpad. It was tested in a comparo vs. the S4 and M3. It performed almost as well as those cars (for about $10k less) in most categories and was actually better in some regards. Just my $.02 EDIT: well, here's one review anyway...not too shabby: [url]http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=6848&page_number=4[/url]
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Check out consumer reports. Volvo's are quite unreliable, especially the engines. My friends say they also handle like crap...they're extremely top heavy. No wonder you can stack them on top of each other (remember the commercials?) :) You guys don't need HID's. I actually do drive out in the country and still don't need them. Remember that projectors are so much better than reflectors.
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[quote name='AMT4SWA']but this car is just not for me with my wife and two elementary school aged daughters [/quote] Maybe, but what better way to get your kids in the back to quiet down than to downshift a couple gears and glue them to the back seat of that STI ;)
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  • 2 weeks later...
FYI, i have watched a VCD of Best Motoring, which is about a few wagaons competing on a race track by GT500 racers. it includes a JDM Legacy Wagon (280hp), and Audi RS6 (with more than 400HP). and the Legacy came first, mean while the RS6 came the second. it lost becox RS6 is not fine tuned, the suspension set up was wrong, the weight is too heavy, the tires were too wide etc.... in fact, the auto ver. of legacy came third. and volvo's came last.....
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