1999 JDM Legacy GTB 5 speed manual
Discussion
I have noticed a few of these for sale at the moment and may look at buying one as I've decided against the Legnum VR4. Most come as 280 BHP and have a decent exhaust system, has anyone got one of these because I'd like to know if there are any known problems with the engine or transmission this is the twin turbo model
Edited by David Wiltshire on Thursday 14th May 22:21
Great cars
No complaints with mine, though some (more so older cars) have a quite noticeable flat spot at ~4200rpm as the turbos change over from primary to parallel.
Manuals are 280bhp, autos 260. Similar performance to a VR4 in a straight line, and better in the corners.
Fuel economy is better than many people expect too, I average around 27mpg in mixed use and can get 30-33mpg on a run without being a granny about it - ie still covering ground faster than the majority of traffic ad overtaking fairly frequently.
GravelBen said:
.... Similar performance to a VR4 in a straight line, and better in the corners......
http://jalopnik.com/358862/
You're quoting one test, of a completely different car. That video shows that the VR4 and previous generation GTB are pretty much equal, the gen3 Legacy is a big step up.
The Legacy RSK and Galant VR4 sedans were tested back to back pretty extensively by the NZ car mags when they were new, and gave a clear victory to the Subaru. IIRC NZ Autocar referred to the Legacy as "better than anything made by BMW, up to perhaps the M5" and dubbed it "the fear of Europe" - just a pity the European market never got them I guess.
Edited by GravelBen on Friday 15th May 06:55
Thanks I'm more concerned about possible maintenance issues as from my browsing of the VR4 forum the auto gearboxes can be a problem as can the rear diffs. I think the style of the 98-99 Legacy is a great improvement on the previous model which i have tried but at the time preffered the Legnum but with this new model coming over from Japan and my decision to not buy a Legnum this car looks like it will fit the bill providing its fairly bomb-proof with the mechanicals I may even go for a bit of tuning later.
They are pretty solid but the sequential twin system is still very complex so don't modify lightly! Folk who want big power often go for a single turbo conversion.
I'd recommend going for the 01+ facelift (like mine) if you can, they have quite a few changes in the engine department - higher compression, different turbos, newage reflashable (denso) ECU, and so on.
I'd recommend going for the 01+ facelift (like mine) if you can, they have quite a few changes in the engine department - higher compression, different turbos, newage reflashable (denso) ECU, and so on.
chevy-stu said:
Fair enough, didn't realise the 3rd gen ones had such a performance hike.. Definately a much nicer looking car than the 2nd gen, which is a bit 'industrial'.
They don't necessarily feel faster than the gen2 as they're so much smoother and quieter, but I know mine anyway doesn't suffer from the 'valley of death' flat spot between the turbos and pulls harder right through the rev range - the torque curve is very wide and smooth with over 80% of peak torque available from 2000-6500rpm. Just make sure you run it on good fuel, I notice quite a difference between 95 and 98 in both power and fuel economy.Its the handling which is the biggest difference over the gen2 IMO, multilink rear suspension rather than the old mac struts, well sorted Bilstein dampers and so on make for much better turn in, grip and body control than older Legacies.
For what its worth a bloke on one of the NZ Subaru forums commented that his GTB has noticably more top-end power than his Ver.9 STi. I've also seen in-car video from one of the club trackdays of run between an RSK and a Ver.2 STi Type RA, the Impreza has the edge up to 100-120km/h and above that the Legacy starts pulling it back again.
In 1998 the GTB held the official record for the fastest production station wagon (estate to you) at 270km/h (168mph). Since beaten by the Audi RS6 though I think.
Edited by GravelBen on Friday 15th May 11:06
I test drove a blue GT ata dealer in S
horpe last week.
It was the colour I wanted, Manual and only £2500 with 44000 miles on.
It had a fair few dents, 2nd Turbo wasnt working, bits missing in boot (toolkit), maff sensor "borrowed" for a sold car and Underseal, alarm, and cambelt were all extra, so I walked.
Shame as I expect them to be a hell of a motor, loads of space. It even had a dehumidifier in it.
Is the difference between the GTB and the GT just suspension?
Just noticed it censors Shorpe LOL
horpe last week.It was the colour I wanted, Manual and only £2500 with 44000 miles on.
It had a fair few dents, 2nd Turbo wasnt working, bits missing in boot (toolkit), maff sensor "borrowed" for a sold car and Underseal, alarm, and cambelt were all extra, so I walked.
Shame as I expect them to be a hell of a motor, loads of space. It even had a dehumidifier in it.
Is the difference between the GTB and the GT just suspension?
Just noticed it censors S
horpe LOLEdited by nottyash on Friday 15th May 17:12
Is there that much difference between the 98-99 models compared with the 2001 models? I run a highly modified RX7 which still retains twin turbos so I would keep to the twins and as you say all these cars run better on V-Power. I am looking at this vehicle to use as alternative long distantance transort for my Transit which is too uncomfortable on long distance work. Ideally I want to buy a pre 2001 as the tax bracket rockets after that and at the moment there are a lot of manual estates coming in at about £4-6K
David Wiltshire said:
Thanks I'm more concerned about possible maintenance issues as from my browsing of the VR4 forum the auto gearboxes can be a problem as can the rear diffs.
Autoboxes will go any on any car, its all about putting in proper fluids and maintaining them... You put Dexron in the autobox yes it will probably s
t itself, put in Amsoil ATF or Mitsi SPIII then it will be fine.Rear diff, the AYC switch might pack up, easy fix just put a new switch in, again good fluids and it will last....All though a link to the rear diff problems would help as I cant remember any VR4 owners to really blow up a diff or kill it
Wether you buy a scooby or mitsi, they are high performance estate cars, they will need a fair bit of maintenance.
Couldn't agree with you more, but having taken over 4 months to look into high performance estates I have decided that there are far to many re-occuring incidents with the Legnum so its out of my reckoning. I run an RX7 and as everyone knows they cost a fortune to keep properly but my decision against the Legnum has been one that I didn't really want to accept. I am sure the later series Legacy is a more reliable prospect and so far no obvious re-occurring issues seem to be reported. I fully accept that the running costs are a bit more than a standard estate but there is a limit to how much you're prepared to pay for high performance
nottyash said:
Is the difference between the GTB and the GT just suspension?
Generally you won't see a GT-B badge on a gen3, just a GT with the Bilstein badge below it. As far as I know all manuals were GTB with the Bilsteins but some autos may not have them - there is also the GT VDC which is an auto with stability control - why you'd want or need that in a Subaru beats me though!Gen2 Legacies GTB was 280bhp with Bilstein, GT was 260bhp without.
chevy-stu said:
GravelBen said:
.... Similar performance to a VR4 in a straight line, and better in the corners......
http://jalopnik.com/358862/
My manual gen 3 GTB had a broken centre diff when I got it. I'm not sure it's exactly a common problem, but it does seem to be something of a weakness on the early gen 3 cars (and Imprezas of the same sort of age).
Not easy to check for on a test drive either as it takes 20-30 minutes of driving at a reasonable speed to show any symptoms. Then the centre diff overheats and locks up - pretty obvious when turning at near full lock when it happens though! Not cheap to fix either.
There seems to be a much more common problem with similar symptoms on the auto too
Not easy to check for on a test drive either as it takes 20-30 minutes of driving at a reasonable speed to show any symptoms. Then the centre diff overheats and locks up - pretty obvious when turning at near full lock when it happens though! Not cheap to fix either.
There seems to be a much more common problem with similar symptoms on the auto too
911stu said:
chevy-stu said:
GravelBen said:
.... Similar performance to a VR4 in a straight line, and better in the corners......
http://jalopnik.com/358862/
Mine is a '98 - You'll find lots of 98 and 99 ones as they're 10 years old now, so they can be imported and only need an MOT rather than SVA / IVA to register them. I don't think it's possible to import a newer model anymore as I don't think a model report for the manual version exists.
Whether they're more likely to have the centre diff problem because something was done to fix it later on, simply because they're older or just because the older cars are more common so you'll get more cases I don't know.
Whether they're more likely to have the centre diff problem because something was done to fix it later on, simply because they're older or just because the older cars are more common so you'll get more cases I don't know.
FlatPack said:
Mine is a '98 - You'll find lots of 98 and 99 ones as they're 10 years old now, so they can be imported and only need an MOT rather than SVA / IVA to register them. I don't think it's possible to import a newer model anymore as I don't think a model report for the manual version exists.
Whether they're more likely to have the centre diff problem because something was done to fix it later on, simply because they're older or just because the older cars are more common so you'll get more cases I don't know.
For many reasons initial cost, road tax bracket etc I will go for a 98-99 model Whether they're more likely to have the centre diff problem because something was done to fix it later on, simply because they're older or just because the older cars are more common so you'll get more cases I don't know.
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