Prospective 3rd gen owner with a few questions

I've long been a fan of Subaru Legacies, and was hoping to get a 4th gen GT 5MT as a first car. However, my tastes have shifted towards '90s cars as of late (by this, I mean pretty much any mid-late '90s cars, for example my grandfather's '96 Accord), and from what I've seen the 3rd gens feel like '90s cars while being decently safe (something I care about as this will be my first car as a new driver, and I like the prospect of living.) This brings me to my first question: how safe are these? I know Subaru has a reputation for saftey, but these cars are still 20+ years old. Some may call me "weak" for caring, but considering that my age group is at a 2x higher risk for a fatal crash, and that I still have the rest of my life ahead of me (hopefully...), I'll happily take those insults.

Next, from the information I've gathered, the EJ turbos and EZs are a decently good fit into these cars, but I could only find information about swaps with an Automatic transmission (if I wanted an auto, I'd just buy an Outback with the 3.0). Does anyone know what extra parts I'd need (aside from the engine and ECU) to get an EJ257 or an EZ (preferred) swapped into an MT car? I've seen some conflicting information on this, the main thing that I've gathered is that 2.5NA MT-->2.5T/3.0 MT is easier than 3.0 AT-->3.0 MT

Sorry for the long post, I've looked up these questions but have not found fully conclusive answers. If I posted in the wrong section, I apologize, as I am new to the forum (aside from past lurking on threads found via Google).

also inb4 i get called a squeaker and stuff

Congratulations on having more sense than most people your age. Don't let anyone put you down for it. If they do, it says a lot more about them than it does you. These cars are near top of class for safety. That only applies if you are talking about a rust free car. That also applies in this gen to cars that have not had rust repairs done. The metal used is specific alloys with specific heat treats and using the wrong metal and even welding can mess that up. I'd still take a wrong metal welded in Subaru over any car from the 80s even if that 80s car was abducted by aliens right from the factory and kept pristine until I got it.

Of course the most important safety factor is not getting in the wreck in the first place. Keep your eyes on the others, keep your mind on driving, practice for precision.

I don't know so much about swapping stuff around. I've heard that the 6MT is a good deal stronger than the 5MT, but I don't know what will cross with that.

Congratulations on having more sense than most people your age. Don't let anyone put you down for it. If they do, it says a lot more about them than it does you. These cars are near top of class for safety. That only applies if you are talking about a rust free car. That also applies in this gen to cars that have not had rust repairs done. The metal used is specific alloys with specific heat treats and using the wrong metal and even welding can mess that up. I'd still take a wrong metal welded in Subaru over any car from the 80s even if that 80s car was abducted by aliens right from the factory and kept pristine until I got it.

 

Of course the most important safety factor is not getting in the wreck in the first place. Keep your eyes on the others, keep your mind on driving, practice for precision.

 

I don't know so much about swapping stuff around. I've heard that the 6MT is a good deal stronger than the 5MT, but I don't know what will cross with that.

Thanks for the reply, and I'll be looking for something without rust, even if it means traveling a bit.

I fully understand the importance of being a good driver, partly because of all the bad drivers I see around here have motivated me to not be anything like them.

I've also heard about the 6MT being better than the 5MT, and from what I know, it should bolt up with the same things. However, I will likely focus on the engine first, as that's my first priority.

I flew to AZ to get mine and drove it back to MI.

Right after that I just moved to AZ, so mine is still nice. No you can't have it. Yes I see others like it around here, but not so many for sale. We are hoarding them.

I flew to AZ to get mine and drove it back to MI.

 

Right after that I just moved to AZ, so mine is still nice. No you can't have it. Yes I see others like it around here, but not so many for sale. We are hoarding them.

I'm probably gonna look in Texas or in a southern state in that direction, as I have other reasons to be over there anyways. I may give in and get a 4th gen, I do admit they look pretty sharp (especially for their age), but I still like the 3rd gens more. I didn't expect this search to be particularly easy lol, finding MT cars in general is kind of a pain.

At least I have plenty of time to procure the car, though waiting longer=less time to get it sorted if I could get an EJ Turbo or EZ in there.

BTW thanks for the thanks lol. Meant to give you one earlier.

I was visiting for other reasons for a couple weeks and getting a car was part of the plan. With more time to make the decision there is less pressure to settle.

Definitely, it also gives me more time to sort out any issues.

I had a 2003 GT 5MT, and since it was a fairly rare variant of the model, I had to drive it back home to Nevada from Texas. That said, i chose it as a safe family car for my kids who were just babies at the time. The car was fun to drive, had four airbags and had 16k miles when I bought it. When I sold it at 178k miles, it was still running on its original clutch, although it had started to slip by then.

It wasn't without problems over those 10 years. The viscous coupling gave out at around 90k miles, and that was about $1500 if I recall. Leaky seals seem to be common on these too. Overall, though, it was a good car, and I moved on to a 2011 Legacy, which is a bit bigger, and more problematic. I like the handling of the 2003 better. Good luck finding one that's not driven to the moon and back and is still in decent shape.

I had a 2003 GT 5MT, and since it was a fairly rare variant of the model, I had to drive it back home to Nevada from Texas. That said, i chose it as a safe family car for my kids who were just babies at the time. The car was fun to drive, had four airbags and had 16k miles when I bought it. When I sold it at 178k miles, it was still running on its original clutch, although it had started to slip by then.

 

It wasn't without problems over those 10 years. The viscous coupling gave out at around 90k miles, and that was about $1500 if I recall. Leaky seals seem to be common on these too. Overall, though, it was a good car, and I moved on to a 2011 Legacy, which is a bit bigger, and more problematic. I like the handling of the 2003 better. Good luck finding one that's not driven to the moon and back and is still in decent shape.

Gad to hear it's as nice as I thought (I'd heard in the past that the older Subies handled better). Luckily I live in an area with a lot of Subarus, but a lot of them are probably rusty... Hopefully I'll be able to find a nice one within the next year.