Sell or keep and mod my LGT

Hey guys,

 

I have a 05 legacy gt. Bought it new. Never did any mods to it other than brake pads and tires. I had a NA Miata that took most of my money and kept the LGT stock.

 

Family grew and forced me to get rid of the Miata. The LGT has 148K miles on it and it needs new pads/rotors and shocks. I’m not sure if I want to sell it or keep and mod it. I’m either going to buy new and get a GTI or Civic Sports Hatch. Or a used Infity G37 sedan or Lexus G430. I know I’m all over the place.

 

Money wise, things might be getting rough so not sure if I want a car note. LGT is paid for. I figure the cheapest route is to keep the LGT and mod it.

 

I used to use Hawk street brake pads. A shop quoted me $1300 for new shocks and brake pads and rotors including labor. I’m pretty sure it’s crappy parts. Im not too handy. I don’t want to do anything extreme. I mostly do spirited driving.

 

Can u guys recommend a suspension set upend brake set up on a budget.

 

Thanks!!

I stand by Hawks HPSs they are fantastic brakes for a daily driver that's occasionally driven aggressively. As for rotors. Some basic blanks from wherever are fine. I prefer centric because they coat the cap in ceramic paint.

 

You may find people telling you the stock rotors are slotted and thus should be replaced by slotted.

 

This is an entirely opinion based situation, but the fact stands slotted rotors will last longer while destroying your pads quicker. Blank rotors will warp faster but your pads will last longer. It's just a trade off you have to decide for yourself on.

 

I would suggest looking into getting a Cobb Access Port as well. They go for about 650 new and 400 used. If your really looking unleash some of the fun potential hidden in your engine bay this will do it.

It will require you to either shell out the cash on a tune or do some research on running the available maps, but these too have some bonuses such as improved gas milage.

 

All together you have a great platform to build upon. Your car can be so much more than it has been for the last 150k. And it can achieve this for cheaper then a new car.

 

Identify your goals, budget these goals, compare to cost of new vehicle.

 

Note: at your mileage you can't really expect to push a ton more power without problems, but it doesn't sound like this is your goal. Finding another 15 to 20 hp should be a relatively safe power increase for your car. This won't take much modding to achieve either and the difference you feel behind the wheel will be drastic.

Keep the car, you can't get this bang for the buck from anything out there now.

 

PM member "m sprank" see if he can get you Koni sport Yellows. Ask him how they will be with your stock springs. Years back he offered a amazing package deal. I love them on my wagon.

 

He has a rel brick and mortar repair shop so he knows these cars well.

 

There are plenty of brake options out there that will fine for what you do. I currently have rebuilt NAPA calipers on both my cars and Hawk ceramic pads. My Spec B has slotted rotors on the front that I had on my wagon a while but will replace them this summer with standard rotors.

 

My Tuner, tuningalliance@gmail.com can sell you a Cobb AP and give you a great tune if you want further down the road.

 

 

As for you mileage, have you replaced the vf40 turbo yet ? Is your car 5eat or 5mt ?

 

We'll need to know more about the health of the engine before making other recommendation s for a little more HP.

First things first. Go get a compression test and leak down test done to make sure any money invested will be in a car that is not going to need a new engine. Let that be your guide on how to procede.

 

I had Koni Yellows with stock springs and it rode quite well. If you do this though please consider adding 3/8" or 1/2" Saggy Butt Spacers to the rear struts, it will level out the look and is worth the $50 in my opinion. I added King springs and it rides a lot more harsh now, I wanted improved handling so it was worth it to me.

 

Another thing to consider is the head gaskets going BOOM. If you have never done the head gaskets, water pump, etc. Its not an inexpensive repair ($1500-3000) depending on who does it. Dealerships are not your friend on this repair so visit someone in your area that tunes Subarus and knows which gasket sets are best.

 

At this point you most likley have Vacuum leaks and if it is a turbo you need to check for boost leaks as well.

 

In the end it does come down to spending money now or spending money later.

 

Two other cars to look at are the Acura TL SH-AWD, and the Lexus IS350 AWD. Both are quick and comfortable to drive. The reason I point you to AWD is that you are used to it and it is better no matter the weather.

 

I love my LGT but if you need reliable consider your options.

Also Tirerack.com has Koni Yellows on sale.

It’s a GT, turbo manual. My info very old. I was thinking of brembo blanks and Hawks HPS. I actually found a set for the rear. Suspension wise, I was thinking of eibach prokits and koni yellow.

 

I don’t want to slam the car. I’m good with the current height actually. I’m looking for performance than anything.

Compression test and Blackstone UOA, good ideas.

 

Rotors - centric premium blank f&r

Pads - stoptech/centric street f&r

Struts - koni f&r

Springs - lots of good choices

Tuning - Cobb Accessport stage 1 with catless uppipe

 

Done.

The car is still in the shop. Called the mechanic asking to do a compression test. He’s a good guy and said if my engine light didn’t go off then the engine is “healthy” he said usually the knock sensor will go off is there’s something wrong. I don’t think he’s being lazy just trying to save me a couple of bucks.

 

What’s Blackstone UOA? Recommend a place to buy the parts. It’s Ben awhile all the places I know is Tirerack. I’d like to compare prices.

 

Sorry for the newbie questions.

Blackstone labs in Indiana, a Used Oil Analysis.

 

Jump on their website and get a free test kit sent to your house. Next time you do an oil change, take a sample and mail it over to them. $25 and a week later they'll tell you how your motor is internally. One of my favorite tools to determine motor health for many situations, non-invasive and inexpensive.

 

Buy your parts from one of our vendors here (top left toolbar is the list) since we're being so helpful and saving you time/money

He’s a good guy and said if my engine light didn’t go off then the engine is “healthy” he said usually the knock sensor will go off

 

haha, these are both reasonable assumptions, but he's also just being a bit lazy. You should push him on it a bit and let him know you're considering modding it. Or just wait to get it back and do it yourself its not hard.

 

the Oil analysis is also a great idea, good call Boozer!

I decided I probably should go ahead and order a free test kit for myself. Made me chuckle when I saw that Legacygt.com is an option for "how did you hear about us".

Yeah he is being lazy. There is more money to be made doing larger projects than a compression test (does it compress air), leak down Test (how fast does it lose compression due to leaking rings), and smoke test (are there vacuum leaks that can run engine lean and burn valves).

 

I hope this helps.

All also good things to consider getting done ^^^ maybe talk to him about what he'd charge for those.

Being that you're the first and only owner of the car, I would keep it and do some light modifications to it. You know the full history of the car and it's already paid off so I don't really see the point into getting into a new or more expensive used car. From the sounds of it, it seems like you want to have a family friendly car that is fun to drive so doing brakes and suspension upgrades seems like the best route like you mentioned. Even if you're not super handy, a suspension job is relatively easy. Brakes can be a bit more complex but as long as your bolts are super rusty like mine were (good ol' Canadian winters) you should be alright. Lots of walk throughs and youtube videos make it pretty accessible for anyone with a brain and some mechanical know-how

I got the compression test result, the right bank is at 130 and the left bank is at 125. Does anyone know what the right compression rates should be?

 

Also I’m torn b/w H&R Springs and Konis or BCBR coilovers.

 

I’m looking for a mild drop our curb/driveway is very high and steep. Also not really a fan of the slammed look. I like to control the dampening.

 

Thanks!!

130/125 sounds reasonable for this amount of wear. As long as they're close, should be ok. Not perfect anymore, but I don't think any real issues.

 

 

btw, what area are you in? Guys on here can point you to many reasonable/lower-cost shops..

Tucson AZ

Read the sticky's up top on this forum.

 

Any auto parts store can get you most of what you'll need for the car. I like to buy local and support local business if the price is reasonable.

 

Spend time reading some of the threads on here, everything you need to know about these cars is here.

 

Google any part you need, Amazon has everything.

 

I bought my 05 new also, it just rolled over 256,000 miles, granted not much on the car has that mileage but it runs great.

It has about 100hp more than stock and gets better mpg. These car offer great bang for the buck.

 

 

You'll want to verify your turbo is healthy next, the vf40 is not known to last much past 140,000 miles. That cat in the up pipe is not good either, reading on here you'll see we all remove them. Subaru figured that out for 2007.

Keeping your car and modifying it is always the cheapest. No car payments! Just $$$ for parts and mods!