covertrussian

7 hours ago, BoozeRS05 said:

Nice pickup! I think the VB is a solid option, maybe not my favorite look, but I’d buy one of these before a VA.

Whenever I see one on the road it looks like a LGT at a glance to me. 

A buddy of mine has a 2015 WRX, I'll need to drive it and compare to the VB... but I don't remember it being this good.  Best way I can describe the VB is, it's nimble like a go-cart but has room for the whole family.  And boy do I love that clutch, my LGT's clutch (at similar ~250whp power levels) was STIFF (I blame Exedy Stg1).

50 yards down the street, neighbor bought it for his son last year I see it everyday .  He's been enjoying the car until the son gets his license.

Well folks it finally happened, I bought a replacement toy for the Legacy!   As per tradition it won't stay stock, so here's the build thread for ya'll:

 

 

Place holder 3

Place holder for pics 2

I think my biggest issues with looks is just this generation of Subaru's styling, it's just too Mazda for me.  I prefer the boxier styling and previous generation WRX and even 22 and older Ascent

 

In my opinion the VB WRX (and BRZ) has the best looking tailights

 

The side profile of this car is also very nice, the muscle rear quarter panels make this car stand out from regular sedans.  This was my biggest annoyance  with VA WRX's, they just look like regular sedans/Sentra from the side and back.

 

The front end, specifically the grill is my least favorite part of the car, fortunately an aftermarket Sport Grille or V1 grill is not expensive

 

If I do half/quarter car pictures it doesn't look so bad! These should be vertical but forum rotated them.

 

After a couple year long hiatus, it's finally time for me to get back into the car world!  I've been looking for a VA WRX/STI for some time now, but their prices are simply insane (guess it shows how little people like the VB's)? I love the 2018+ WRX front ends, that's peak JDM design for me (reminds me of Skylines and Evo's), but I really didn't want the half-baked FA20, which requires a retune and rods just to be drivable, or another EJ and world's supply of engine oil to keep running.  Thus that left me with the VB's, which I've heard so many positive things about performance wise.

I was waiting for the VB refresh, hoping it would get less ugly, but seeing that 24+ now have Eyesight standard left me with only one choice, the 23.   I still wanted to wait a bit and get one used since VB's are depreciating much faster then any other WRX, but with massive discounts off MSRP and introduction of 1.9% APR, figured now is the best time to get one new for the price of a used one.  I also wanted a Limited, which are impossible to find, for creature comforts and power seats (driver only, though). Funny how my 2012 Outback Premium had a power seat and 05 LGT had dual power seats...

 

Driving Impressions

I was out of state for the Eclipse and finally found a dealer with a Limited on the lot, wasn't planning on getting one 400 miles away from home but I got close to $4k off MSRP, while ones at home were $2k off tops.  This also meant I had 8 hours of getting to know the car, on semi-freeways.  I wont lie the ride is way harsher then the 05 LGT or the Ascent, it got a bit old on the concrete highways plus constant  Pulse and Gliding, to avoid stationary RPMs, made me a bit remorseful, though the highway entry and exit ramps were a lot of fun though.

Towards the end of the night we finally hit the last leg of the trip, the super windy mountain rounds... Let me tell you this is by far the best Subaru/vehicle I've ever driven!!!  After years of modding and tuning cars, none of them come even close to this car's power delivery and handling, simply blows my mind. Subaru made a very special car that's simply unbeatable at this price range, and that's before all of the deals!  I got home with a giant smile on my face, something that I haven't experienced from a car in a LONG time!

 

Even with the STI being gone, this car feels like a top level sports car that I feel would compete with the Godzilla (I won't lie I will always want an R33/R34, and I was shopping for one, but since they are legal to import the prices are now insane). It's a shame the styling is so polarizing, which is leading to poor sales (almost 50% down from last year) and will ultimately lead to the demise of this wonderful car.  I hope the refresh will be amazing, like the 2018 refresh was for VA's, because I plan on pillaging those parts onto mine .

 

Of course right as I was leaving the dealer I saw to VA WRX's that look amazing:

 

As you can imagine this car won't stay stock forever, cosmetic only until warranty is out .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's been some time since I last posted related to this car.  It's been a great and reliable daily driver so no reason to do much.  With that said I did try to change out the ugly stock grill with the Legacy one since some people mentioned it worked.

Stock Grill:

 

The goal is to go for the Crosstrek Sport style look:

Here's an example of another outback owner using the legacy grill

 

Ordered the Legacy recessed grill similar to the Sports one:

 

Drum roll.... Yeah no go on this sadly, would basically have to get the Legacy bumper to make this look right.  Maybe could do some kind of a dark surround to hid the bumper guts, but not sure it's worth the effort.

Glad to help, this was one of my favorite cars to build AND DRIVE, so had to share the love :).

 

Now I will also say that having the fuel filter so close to the fuel rail might have doubled as a damper.  Also tune has a lot to do with it too, this car's tune is some of the worst factory tunes I've ever dealt with.

Updated the first post and clarified that the Dorman connectors are optional.  Also fixed the image embedding

My recommendation would be to go with on of the loop mufflers, they are the closest to OEM design without having the sharp 180's that OEM mufflers have.  Just weld it into your existing Y pipe and no need to hunt for new catback :).

On 4/10/2023 at 5:37 PM, Infosecdad said:

OEM mi-pipe is critical to keeping the sound tamed if you don't mind the restriction.

I have an eBay 3" mid-pipe (no resonator), and it's only quieter on the interstate because of the cable 6sp transmits much less noise into the cabin than the direct linkage 5sp.

Big part of it is the muffler it self, straight through designs are just too inefficient at reducing sound.  I had a 3" setup, 5" Borla resonator, to an modified 04-07 STI muffler (bored out to 3", modified baffles for straighter path).  The car was TOO quiet, would barely register on DB meter auto-crossing, it has a really deep idle though and sounded good free revving.  I think removing the resonator would have helped make it a tee webit louder but at that point it was already in place and I didn't want to fight with it :).

7 hours ago, rebourne said:

Your posts were some of the most interesting and detailed on the internet!  Sad to see the LGT go, but I 100% understand that sometimes we have to move on.

Thanks for the kind words, it was fun digging in and then sharing the experience with the community.  In some ways I wish I did Youtube videos too, would have perhaps provided an income .

 

7 hours ago, rebourne said:

What will you do with all that time saved from editing and uploading posts to this thread?

Well that's partly why I've been so absent, all my spare time has been going digging and building the house addition along with other house related projects.  I haven't even been auto-crossing in 3 years because my weekends are so busy.

With that said, I wont lie I've been really eyeballing a 2018-2021 WRX.  To the point that I might even ditch my G20 project/race car and just have the WRX for that duty too (they do really well auto-crossing stock!)

 

Yeah I peaked at about 30-31mpg, though last couple years I was getting 28mpg on the LGT, dunno if it was tune or gas related, or just age of the car, still better then EPA's 24mpg.

I doubt I'll mess with the Ascent tune, especially when CVT is so prone to failure.  Cobb tune 93 tune sounds great, but car has enough power for it's purpose.

Pretty bad, 16ish city 21-24 hwy (winter blends), but at the same time LGT would get that bone stock too.  At least Ascent is 2x the car/weight

The power is pretty decent for the car it's size, it's quick but no WRX or LGT (especially modded LGT).  But it's miles ahead of the Outback!  My biggest frustration is the CVT, it's laggy and constantly downshifting on slightest hills and then it feels gutless going up that hill still, which is so weird.  It just doesn't feel fine tuned or refined at all and feels like the transmission has no consistency, which makes it really hard for me to predict, especially as a stick driver only.

While I miss the Legacy it was just sitting and rotting like my G20 is too.  I use the Ascent/Outback all the time, between extra space and ground clearance it's just hard to justify regular cars.  In fact I could use a truck instead...

I am, just been too busy with house projects to care about cars.  I just posted an updated in my build thread with the replacement car.., can continue the conversation there.

It's been a long while since last update, but this car moved on to a new owner, we really wanted a bigger car then then even the Outback.  What makes it worse is I get to look at it daily and will probably be the primary mechanic for it still .

 

 

Keeping the Ascent as stock as possible, because finicky CVT, but I did do some cosmetic changes already (door guards and front bumper cover).

That's an impressive amount of miles, but you did rebuild it a few times!  I too ended up selling my 05 LGT and I miss it, the NA Outback or Ascent just doesn't scratch the itch.

Car's sold, mods feel free to move/delete.

Year, Make and Model: 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Limited

Color: Red

Miles: 160k

Transmission: 5MT

Title: Clean

Lien: None

Location: Harrisonburg, VA

VIN: SOLD

Seller's email address: SOLD

Asking Price: $5,500 SOLD

 

Time for me to part ways with the LGT, I simply don't drive it enough anymore and we need a 7 seat SUV instead. When I drove it all the time I got 20mpg city and up to 30mpg highway.

 

Mods:

Open Source ProTuned - 250whp on only 13psi

Big 16G Turbo 8CM

GrimmSpeed Header, Cross Pipe, Up Pipe, Downpipe

Custom 3" exhaust

TGV Deletes

WRX Radiator - Koyo

WRX Simple Mass Flywheel & Exedy Stage 1 Clutch

GrimmSpeed CrankPulley

STI FPR & Z32 Fuel Filter

All Bushings replaced with Poly (Whiteline) & Whiteline LCA ALK Kit

Whiteline Rear Swaybar

Kartboy Short Shifter

2007 Folding Seat Mod

JDM HVAC Controls

Sony Head Unit

AEM Wideband & Innovative Boost Gauge

Stainless Steel Turbo an AVCS oil line (Banjo Filters removed)

Replaced Wheel bearings, Ball Joints, Radiator and Hoses, AVCS Valves, Oil Seals

 

 

 

Problems:

- Clear coat is painting from Bumpers and headlights (were refinished at Subaru a couple years back)

- Slight oil consumption, could be from using Full Synthetic 5w30 (Valvoline) or Fumoto valve is slowly dripping

- Interior has wear and tear of a 15yo vehicle (but I do have spare parts that I can throw in)

- Rear Right tire deflates over time

Replied with some ideas in that other thread, to not derail this one.

That sounds like a fueling related issue to me, either bad O2 sensors (both front and rear contribute to fuel trims, but they should be ignored on startup) OR it's a leaky injector or leaky injector o-rings that are flooding the engine. Maybe even the fuel pressure regulator, which is super complicated and you should just do an STI FPR mod.

 

Could also be MAF sensor or vacuum leak or injectors, but you said you looked at those already. Could also be fuel pump or more specifically the fuel pump control module. But I would look at injectors and fuel pressure regulator first.

Aha that explains it, they didn't look like 2x6's but pictures are pretty small

Wait, how are you fitting R21 in 2x4 walls? Even R15 is a tight squeeze!