Subaru Legacy GT Tuned by STI
Discussion
God it's been a while since I've posted here.
@OP - extremely happy you brought attention to the Legacy GT! I have a 2006 facelift Twinscroll Spec B GT that I Imported in 2020. I have the auto box, so an EJ20X engine. It runs a smaller VF38 turbo instead of the TD04 that was on the manual (which I think was changed to the VF45 latterly). That's the general reason as to why the Auto makes 20bhp less than the manual.
Your TbSTI will hopefully have the Genome exhausts (quads tips), brembo 6-pot brakes and the Enkei wheels (I think they are PF07s or RPF1s I don't remember) which are drop-forged and look beautiful. I think they also have the Defi boost gauges but I don't remember. I can't see the images on this post for some reason so apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs about your own car.
I honestly thought that all TbSTIs were autos but with the larger turbo, so I'm a bit surprised that it's manual but it could be my knowledge is failing me. You'll probably notice that a chassis check would bring it up as a Legacy GT Spec B, but the TbSTIs were sent through to STI to be tuned, hence not a true STI - similar to a Range Rover and Urban arrangement.
The engine tuning capabilities are a downfall of these, the 6-speed manual box is strong and not made of cheese like the 5-speed manual. The engine is an open deck engine so the cylinder bore is only supported to the engine block in about 3 locations (I want to say 3/6/9 o'clock position on a clock face). This makes it susceptible to heat and then subsequent cracking in the bores. That's generally why you'll never see many pushing more than 300bhp as they're a time-bomb, unless they've had a EJ207 short-block conversion.
Saying all that though, I do love my Legacy, and it goes like s
t off a shovel once it's warmed up. Leaving it to idle for a couple minutes every morning to allow PS fluid to flow properly and turbo become lubricated does it a world of good, too. For £6k I don't think I'd be able to get a sub-6s 0-60 wagon like I have. I'd really only trade it for an (R)S4 Avant or bigger, but the spec I'd be looking at I'd have to find at least another £5k minimum. For that price, I bought myself an Elgrand with the VQ35DE engine in it - which is another fun car to own!
I've used mine as a daily since imported and loved every minute of it. It had a bit of age-related work completed recently which tallied up to about 1.4k, but it was worth it and will hopefully last another 70k miles until it all needs doing again. It's also quite fun to stomp on the loud pedal at lights and blow off some of our European friends in their VAGs and the local McDonalds crew in their Fiesta ST's.
Wish you all the best with your ownership!
@OP - extremely happy you brought attention to the Legacy GT! I have a 2006 facelift Twinscroll Spec B GT that I Imported in 2020. I have the auto box, so an EJ20X engine. It runs a smaller VF38 turbo instead of the TD04 that was on the manual (which I think was changed to the VF45 latterly). That's the general reason as to why the Auto makes 20bhp less than the manual.
Your TbSTI will hopefully have the Genome exhausts (quads tips), brembo 6-pot brakes and the Enkei wheels (I think they are PF07s or RPF1s I don't remember) which are drop-forged and look beautiful. I think they also have the Defi boost gauges but I don't remember. I can't see the images on this post for some reason so apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs about your own car.
I honestly thought that all TbSTIs were autos but with the larger turbo, so I'm a bit surprised that it's manual but it could be my knowledge is failing me. You'll probably notice that a chassis check would bring it up as a Legacy GT Spec B, but the TbSTIs were sent through to STI to be tuned, hence not a true STI - similar to a Range Rover and Urban arrangement.
The engine tuning capabilities are a downfall of these, the 6-speed manual box is strong and not made of cheese like the 5-speed manual. The engine is an open deck engine so the cylinder bore is only supported to the engine block in about 3 locations (I want to say 3/6/9 o'clock position on a clock face). This makes it susceptible to heat and then subsequent cracking in the bores. That's generally why you'll never see many pushing more than 300bhp as they're a time-bomb, unless they've had a EJ207 short-block conversion.
Saying all that though, I do love my Legacy, and it goes like s
t off a shovel once it's warmed up. Leaving it to idle for a couple minutes every morning to allow PS fluid to flow properly and turbo become lubricated does it a world of good, too. For £6k I don't think I'd be able to get a sub-6s 0-60 wagon like I have. I'd really only trade it for an (R)S4 Avant or bigger, but the spec I'd be looking at I'd have to find at least another £5k minimum. For that price, I bought myself an Elgrand with the VQ35DE engine in it - which is another fun car to own!I've used mine as a daily since imported and loved every minute of it. It had a bit of age-related work completed recently which tallied up to about 1.4k, but it was worth it and will hopefully last another 70k miles until it all needs doing again. It's also quite fun to stomp on the loud pedal at lights and blow off some of our European friends in their VAGs and the local McDonalds crew in their Fiesta ST's.
Wish you all the best with your ownership!
T2GF, sorry, I missed your reply and thanks for the information.
They were definitely available in manual though!
"It's also quite fun to stomp on the loud pedal at lights and blow off some of our European friends in their VAGs and the local McDonalds crew in their Fiesta ST's."
Yes, it suprises a few people for sure. However, I don't WOT it in first and by the time you shift to 3rd, you are doing licence losing speeds, not really suited to the roads around my local McDonalds.
The impreza I had before, while roughly the same sort of overall speed, was more of a point and squirt machine, with the turbo coming in at less RPM.
They were definitely available in manual though!
"It's also quite fun to stomp on the loud pedal at lights and blow off some of our European friends in their VAGs and the local McDonalds crew in their Fiesta ST's."
Yes, it suprises a few people for sure. However, I don't WOT it in first and by the time you shift to 3rd, you are doing licence losing speeds, not really suited to the roads around my local McDonalds.
The impreza I had before, while roughly the same sort of overall speed, was more of a point and squirt machine, with the turbo coming in at less RPM.
Edited by MattsCar on Friday 24th March 11:27
MattsCar said:
Cheers.
I have noticed over the past few days, that the suspension is very crashy and makes clunky sounds when going over pot holed roads. I think this is going to need further investigation.
Anyone have any ideas what to look for?
Wishbone bushes don't last that long, arb bushes also go fairly quickly. All fairly easy to replace and parts are available from ICP. I have noticed over the past few days, that the suspension is very crashy and makes clunky sounds when going over pot holed roads. I think this is going to need further investigation.
Anyone have any ideas what to look for?
MattsCar said:
Cambs_Stuart said:
Wishbone bushes don't last that long, arb bushes also go fairly quickly. All fairly easy to replace and parts are available from ICP.
Will have a look once on a ramp. I am guessing the coilovers will have reduced the life of a few perishables after 20k miles.Drop links are noisy buggers on crappy roads if they are shot.
trails said:
MattsCar said:
Cambs_Stuart said:
Wishbone bushes don't last that long, arb bushes also go fairly quickly. All fairly easy to replace and parts are available from ICP.
Will have a look once on a ramp. I am guessing the coilovers will have reduced the life of a few perishables after 20k miles.Drop links are noisy buggers on crappy roads if they are shot.
Anyhow, i have kind of warned my chap that it will be with him at some point in the next few months. He mentioned that he is good friends with...
https://mickgardnerracing.com/
...who can rebuild the shocks.
They are 4 years old, with 20k miles on them, so are probably ok, however, if the suspension components are being dismantled, it is probably worth doing for the sake of whatever it costs.
One other thing. I do not like the exhausts. Yes, they are very high quality etc and they introduce absolutely no sound whatsoever in to the cabin (how they do that is unbelievable). But they look terrible.
I am thinking of selling and switching back to stock. Which I reckon if done wisely, might net me a bit of profit.
Edited by MattsCar on Monday 27th March 20:51
Had the car a good few months now and all is well.
The knocking noise from the front turned out to be anti roll bar bushings...£20 later all sorted and 0 noises. I also replaced the drop links as well.
Car was also treated to a coolant flush along with new engine oil, gearbox oil and diff oil using Millers stuff.
All brake pads have been replaced with Godspeed Kevlar pads, replacing the YellowStuff that were on there. They are great pads and produce a fraction of the dust of the EBC's, which turned the wheels black after just a few miles.
Now, I do love my music and appreciate a good sound. The owner had spend what I gather over £1k having a nice Kenwood Double Din android and some speakers fitted by "professionals". However, it sounded shockingly bad. This weekend i decided to have a look, behind the door panels, see if there was anything glaringly obvious and maybe make some tweaks. Obviously, I had no intention of removing anything...
we are not going down the road of a full install again.
So...rear doors off....
This is quite honestly the worst speaker install I have ever seen and I am amazed that a company like this operates.
Firstly, the speakers are running from a headunit...so there is no need for £250 worth of Focal Flax speakers. Good up sell to the previous owner no doubt.
Secondly, when you install them, make sure the door card isn't resting on the front of them, stopping the cone moving. Luckily, the speakers are fine and have not been damaged, I put them in the hot sun yesterday and luckily the rubber surround has reformed back to normal.
See below of when they came out the car.
Finally, the sound deadening was laughable. It literally peeled off in one go. I think they had used roof flashing ffs. The speaker connection was just as laughable, a few spade terminals loosely stuck in to the factory plug.
The front doors were essentially the same in terms of terrible installation, however, behind them lurked a rather nice pair of Alpine component speakers.
So, I am now left with a Legacy with no speakers installed. But, i have a Headunit that can run a 2 way active system and some very good Focal component speakers. I also have a subwoofer in the garage, but not a 6 channel amplifier, which would allow for a very simple system, with 2 channels running the tweeters, 2 channels running the midrange and the remaining 2 channels running the subwoofer.
Anything "new", i.e the latest/current range, in terms of 6 channel amplifiers, costs a pretty penny. I did get lucky though, very lucky, thanks to Facebook Marketplace.
I managed to find a very high quality ADS 6 channel Powerplate amplifier, brand new old stock for a stupidly cheap price. While I was there, i also picked up an 8 channel version and then 2x 4 channel versions. You can never have too many amplifiers.
They really are superbly made bits of kit. Old School, high end stuff, they don't make them like they used to!
The plan is pretty simple, a very good quality install, using decent speaker wiring and terminals, along with some proper sound deadening in the front doors and MDF speaker rings to ensure the speakers are mounted correctly. I will also try my best to hide everything, so if you looked at the car, you couldn't tell what was in it.
The amplifier is only 6x 50wrms. It is not going to be earth shatteringly loud, however, i don't want it to be as the Legacy is not a good starting point for a loud stereo. What is will be, is an excellent sounding, well balanced system that will be a joy to listen to.
The knocking noise from the front turned out to be anti roll bar bushings...£20 later all sorted and 0 noises. I also replaced the drop links as well.
Car was also treated to a coolant flush along with new engine oil, gearbox oil and diff oil using Millers stuff.
All brake pads have been replaced with Godspeed Kevlar pads, replacing the YellowStuff that were on there. They are great pads and produce a fraction of the dust of the EBC's, which turned the wheels black after just a few miles.
Now, I do love my music and appreciate a good sound. The owner had spend what I gather over £1k having a nice Kenwood Double Din android and some speakers fitted by "professionals". However, it sounded shockingly bad. This weekend i decided to have a look, behind the door panels, see if there was anything glaringly obvious and maybe make some tweaks. Obviously, I had no intention of removing anything...
we are not going down the road of a full install again.So...rear doors off....
This is quite honestly the worst speaker install I have ever seen and I am amazed that a company like this operates.
Firstly, the speakers are running from a headunit...so there is no need for £250 worth of Focal Flax speakers. Good up sell to the previous owner no doubt.
Secondly, when you install them, make sure the door card isn't resting on the front of them, stopping the cone moving. Luckily, the speakers are fine and have not been damaged, I put them in the hot sun yesterday and luckily the rubber surround has reformed back to normal.
See below of when they came out the car.
Finally, the sound deadening was laughable. It literally peeled off in one go. I think they had used roof flashing ffs. The speaker connection was just as laughable, a few spade terminals loosely stuck in to the factory plug.
The front doors were essentially the same in terms of terrible installation, however, behind them lurked a rather nice pair of Alpine component speakers.
So, I am now left with a Legacy with no speakers installed. But, i have a Headunit that can run a 2 way active system and some very good Focal component speakers. I also have a subwoofer in the garage, but not a 6 channel amplifier, which would allow for a very simple system, with 2 channels running the tweeters, 2 channels running the midrange and the remaining 2 channels running the subwoofer.
Anything "new", i.e the latest/current range, in terms of 6 channel amplifiers, costs a pretty penny. I did get lucky though, very lucky, thanks to Facebook Marketplace.
I managed to find a very high quality ADS 6 channel Powerplate amplifier, brand new old stock for a stupidly cheap price. While I was there, i also picked up an 8 channel version and then 2x 4 channel versions. You can never have too many amplifiers.
They really are superbly made bits of kit. Old School, high end stuff, they don't make them like they used to!
The plan is pretty simple, a very good quality install, using decent speaker wiring and terminals, along with some proper sound deadening in the front doors and MDF speaker rings to ensure the speakers are mounted correctly. I will also try my best to hide everything, so if you looked at the car, you couldn't tell what was in it.
The amplifier is only 6x 50wrms. It is not going to be earth shatteringly loud, however, i don't want it to be as the Legacy is not a good starting point for a loud stereo. What is will be, is an excellent sounding, well balanced system that will be a joy to listen to.
Having now sorted the front speakers, replacing with some new ones, the improvement has been huge.
However, I have decided to put the car up for sale.
It is a great car, but, it does not fit in on my current driveway.
I already have an estate car that i use for work and the plan was to replace the Volvo with the Legacy. However, the Volvo has just had the best part of £1k spent on it and it continues to be a very dependable workhorse that does fantastic MPG and is in a condition where I would not fret about leaving it anywhere, chucking any work related items in the back or driving in the winter on salted roads, none of which would apply to the Legacy. It is far too nice for that.
I also have a Mazda MX5 used for fun and to have a second estate as a 2nd fun car, does not really make sense, especially when I would not drive it in the winter and have no storage.
Anyhow, a few pics of it before I listed for sale.
I have listed it on PH (am i allowed to share a link?). Price is negotiable.
However, I have decided to put the car up for sale.
It is a great car, but, it does not fit in on my current driveway.
I already have an estate car that i use for work and the plan was to replace the Volvo with the Legacy. However, the Volvo has just had the best part of £1k spent on it and it continues to be a very dependable workhorse that does fantastic MPG and is in a condition where I would not fret about leaving it anywhere, chucking any work related items in the back or driving in the winter on salted roads, none of which would apply to the Legacy. It is far too nice for that.
I also have a Mazda MX5 used for fun and to have a second estate as a 2nd fun car, does not really make sense, especially when I would not drive it in the winter and have no storage.
Anyhow, a few pics of it before I listed for sale.
I have listed it on PH (am i allowed to share a link?). Price is negotiable.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff