No compromise Legacy 3.0R spec.B tune up

Finally, the exterior. Over the years I have come to appreciate how much weight plays a role on car performance, so I’ve decided to carbon-fibre everything that could be carbon-fibred

 

Front hood – guys at VIS Racing did such a great job with this hood that we were even considering leaving it unpainted. I’ve acquired the safety pin latches for it, as carbon fibre hoods tend to be notoriously structurally unreliable and prone to opening, but once we put this one into place we felt confident there is no need for latches.

Carbon fibre trunk and rear spoiler. In contrast with the VIS hood, this was of much lower quality, supplied by what seems to be a company in China. Trunk did not align well, it cracked and started splintering in one place, underneath the spoiler, and it was missing few details of OEM trunk. On the positive side, it was much lighter than the OEM trunk, even with the addition of the spoiler. Puling the trunk opening lever would result in the trunk violently popping open, as the spring mechanism was now way too strong.

Edited May 6, 2018 by BojanR

STI lip spoiler was added, rear carbon fibre diffusor, new stock Spec.B bumper, as well as the LED indicators in the rear-view mirrors, and the new grille. Grille looked a tad too yobbish, so I later decided to return the OEM grill, repainted in matte black.

Edited May 6, 2018 by BojanR

Anyway, car is now mechanically complete and ready for dyno tuning. One of the best tuning shop for this job in Europe turned out to be 1400km away in the Netherlands, so it went on its way on a back of a truck.

 

After few more bits were upgraded by the tuning shop, such as the new fuel pump and the 380cc injectors, they have managed to get the 360 WHP at the dyno, with a very smooth torque delivery, all the way to the red line. They reckon, knowing scoobie powertrains, that the engine now has about 450 HP, which is almost double the power of the stock engine. Impressive!

Edited May 9, 2018 by BojanR

Next the car was off to get a new paint job. I wanted a colour that would make this car as inconspicuous as possible, so I opted out for dark grey, with few details left in matte black. I also had the removed OEM trunk painted, just in case.

Edited May 9, 2018 by BojanR

This is the outcome, after the first car wash. Ideally the colour could have been a tiny bit lighter, but a I feel it is an impressive result nonetheless.

After a one whole year worth of work, how does the car feel to drive?

 

First of all, to put my comments in perspective, my car history is 2003 BMW M3, 2006 Audi RS4, 2008 Audi RS6 ABT tuned to 700 HP, 2010 Evo X, 2015 Audi A6 allroad MTM tuned to 385HP… In addition, I tend to rent different fast cars whenever I travel to a large city abroad for business.

 

This car has such a violent acceleration. It reminds me the most of the Ferrari F430 I have driven several times. It is just mad. In 1st to 4th gear it is quicker than a 700HP RS6, and waaaay better sounding. I just love the result that came out of supercharging the naturally aspired 3.0 boxter engine. It is still very revvy, but at the same time crazy fast.

 

Suspension is much firmer, even though I did not change the Bilstein shocks. It is borderline real-life usable, but nice and planted in corners.

 

Handling with the new short STI steering rack is strange. I might have not gotten used to it yet, but it feels distanced and numb. Wheel is heavy, which is good, but it has an apparent empty travel from the neutral position. It is slow to roll back from the full lock by itself. My first thought was that the stock servo pump could be at fault, either inadequate for the STI rack or simply worn out. I'll need to dive into this more thoroughly.

 

Exhaust sound is very loud, that “ultra quiet” resonator did not mute it as much as I hoped it would. When the car is pushed hard, in high revvs, the engine sounds positively sublime, and everything just comes into place. Once again, it reminds me of F430. Car sounds like it wants to bite your head off. But when you try to drive slowly and not annoy you neighbours, it is almost impossible to avoid that deep, loud drooling noise. Same goes for cruising on a highway at 160 kmh. At that speed it produces an average of 78db, which is exactly the same as a stock Evo X, but still way too loud to make it at least a semi-comfortable long-distance cruiser.

 

Short gear shift is a treat. Given its relatively modest price, I would suggest this upgrade to every owner of a manual Legacy.

 

I cannot comment on the new brakes, as the rear Brembos are not aligned properly, probably at the fault of the adapter. As a result, they wobble on heavy breaking. I will try to re-align the disks to the callipers and see how it turns out.

 

New Recaro seats are one of the best ones I’ve ever driven in, and coupled with the thicker STI wheel, give a whole different feel of the car. I love them, even though they were way too pricey.

 

Looking back, I have probably thrown my money away on all of the carbon fibre body parts, as in the end car is only negligibly lighter than the stock. Same goes for the carbon fibre interior parts, that I ended up eventually not installing, as they seemed cheap and poorly made.

 

But the end result was way above my expectations. I am now happy and somewhat proud that I eventually undertook to build it. This car puts a smile on my face whenever I drive it, a feeling that I did not experience so intensely since I first drove my BMW M3 15 years ago. Subaru’s are such special vehicles.

Edited May 6, 2018 by BojanR

Simply amazing, would love to drive something like that one day!

Thanks for sharing all the details, love seeing what people put into their car that they are passionate about.

Damn it, why doesn't this forum have the drooling guy emoticon. That's what this build deserves.

 

Beautiful perfection. I really like that you didn't go over board and kept things nice and clean.

 

Almost doubling the power in one shot basically is just awesome, love the 3.0. The raptor is a perfect match. I dream of a day.

 

It was also such a pleasure to read a build posted all at once, I mean it took all the suspense out of it but I prefer to see the entire progression all at once.

 

I think you nailed what you set out to do, build a true STi 3.0 in spirit. And it's way more unique then if it was ever available for sale.

 

I hope you post more details and any follow ups etc. Definitely subscribed.

Edited May 5, 2018 by nevets27

Well that is just amazing. I have shared the link many times this morning amongst the AUS community and some in USA too.

 

You have done an amazing job, fantastic detail about the work done

 

(Tim)

New STI gear shift knob and a new wheel from 2007 STI, both plucked from ebay. Shipping the OEM airbag for this wheel though proved to be a nightmare. Apparently shipping companies do not like having explosive charges in the bellies of their airplanes. Luckily, I’ve managed to get one by without causing a major aviation disaster.

 

Could you provide some more info on what steering wheel that is and swapping it into the legacy.

 

Looking at pictures on google and it seems more likely a 2015 wheel then a 2007 so I would like to know more.

Do you have any driving videos?

Could you provide some more info on what steering wheel that is and swapping it into the legacy.

 

Looking at pictures on google and it seems more likely a 2015 wheel then a 2007 so I would like to know more.

 

You are right, its a typo, I should correct that.

 

It's the OEM 2015 WRX STI wheel. I was lucky enough to find one used, in almost perfect condition, for just USD $250 on e-bay. Connecting the controls on the new wheel had proved to be the science in it self, so I delegated the job to a friend of mine with the background in electronic. He fiddled with it for few months, while we toiled away on the car, and eventually got it to work properly.

 

I just realized I did not post a single pic of the completed interior, I will snap one tomorrow, when I get back to the car.

You are right, its a typo, I should correct that.

 

It's the OEM 2015 WRX STI wheel. I was lucky enough to find one used, in almost perfect condition, for just USD $250 on e-bay. Connecting the controls on the new wheel had proved to be the science in it self, so I delegated the job to a friend of mine with the background in electronic. He fiddled with it for few months, while we toiled away on the car, and eventually got it to work properly.

 

I just realized I did not post a single pic of the completed interior, I will snap one tomorrow, when I get back to the car.

 

Yeah, we're gonna need a write-up on what he fiddled.

Do you have any driving videos?

 

No, but I'll make sure to post a clip when I come around to making one.

Yeah, we're gonna need a write-up on what he fiddled.

 

I'll ask for more specific detail.

 

I think he used these guys to source the connector adapters:

 

http://www.autoharnesshouse.com/

I'm sure a lot of us would really appreciate knowing what he did. I don't have any problems with electrical work. Seeing that it has been done now definitely puts this on my list of mods.

 

I assume all the controls function. I'm curious how the phone controls are wired. Obviously we don't have the functionality stock but if the controls are able to be accessed there might be a possibility to use them with aftermarket bluetooth.

 

Also would be interested in some driving videos. Love this build.

Superb build!

Hi! Wich Short throw gear shifter and wich rear brake adapter you used? Rear discs are you using the ones for the 190mm rear parking break? If so did you installed bigger brake shoes?

 

Great job. Dont sell it

Edited May 13, 2018 by K_Senhor

For the cabin noise, focus more on that front muffler, go for a type with more muffling and then you will see a big reduction in noise right throughout the car

Hi! Wich Short throw gear shifter and wich rear brake adapter you used? Rear discs are you using the ones for the 190mm rear parking break? If so did you installed bigger brake shoes?

 

Great job. Dont sell it

 

 

Hi, I've used STI Short Throw Shift Linkage Legacy Spec B 6MT (RSTL-350B), sourced from RalliSpec:

 

http://www.rallispec.com/gea_shi_rst3501.html

 

Rear brake adapter is KNS brakes v1.1 caliper bracket. Here's the good overview of how it works:

 

https://www.knsbrakes.com/c/rear-brembo

 

Legacy has a 170mm parking brake drum, but KNS also makes a drop-in replacement brake shoe that is thick enough to work with the 190mm 2004 STI drum:

 

http://www.knsbrakes.com/c/caliper-item/2287_Subaru+V1+Rear+STI+Brembo+Caliper+Upgrade+w%2F+Oversize+Park+Brake+Shoes/31536_Rear+Adapter+shoes+-+For+Legacy

 

I also came across the alternative solution for the hand brake, in this great build. It is basically mounting the sawed off 170mm Legacy drum underneath the 190mm STI drum, so it doubles as a wheel spacer. I ended up using the KNS brake shoe. Hand brake had to be readjusted, and it now works properly.

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/soba-noodles-06-jdm-3-0r-ble-237330p7.html

Great job. 380cc injectors... tiny!

Outstanding work. Proves that turbos aren't the do all. Superchargers have NO lag at all either. Thanks for the write up.

I'm going to bring this thread back because this is beautiful! I've been avoiding charging my 3.0R (already with headers) for some time now. I must ask for an exhaust sound clip!

 

Incredible work. Very inspiring.

Perfect work