After 8 years... I'm back

[music.to.kill.yourself.by]

I've been doing a lot of reading here, and there's some great history, spanning YEARS. I really appreciate the read from everyone I've read.

 

I bought a 2005 Legacy GT 5 spd Ltd wagon new, in 2005. I drove it for 7 years, and it was my most favorite car ever.

 

 

I broke a piston ring land, and sold the car for a used '09 WRX. I nearly turned my back on Subaru forever, the experience was so terrible. That car was a rampaging pile of shit, in spite of presenting like something that had a flawless body and appeared to have been looked after.

 

This past summer, I did a track day in my LS3-powered car, and I enjoyed it so much, I started thinking about something with less power, and less expense in the event that I put it into a tire wall. I also needed to find a car for my soon-to-be-16 year-old son. That brought me back to a Legacy GT.

 

So I picked up an '05 Sedan (pictured with the wheels off my poxy '09 WRX):

 

 

I've been trying to assemble a parts list of things to get for some improvement on the track, while retaining streetability. And for cheap thrills, I really need precious little. Suspension refresh, brakes (I have a big brake fetish, but know I don't *need* it), up pipe/down pipe, turbo back, intake, tune, and tires.

 

I don't *need* more power than what it has -- especially for my son who's already chomping at the bit to drive the LS3 car with 3x the power and ~4x the torque. But relatively speaking, I feel like 300 whp/tq should be attainable without too much expense and/or strain on the rest of the driveline. If I'm wrong about this, feel free to correct me.

 

It's drinking a bit of coolant, and with 178k miles and the heads having never been off, I know it's time. So a friend who's a master Subaru tech has agreed to help me out. Once the motor is bolted to the stand, a lot of things are easy to do. The clutch was replaced on this car only 40k miles ago due to a failed TOB, but while we're there, I'm thinking single-mass flywheel, and something less-nice in traffic.

 

I'd love some Spec.b struts and STI springs, but... That's probably not realistic. As a cost saving measure, I'm thinking coil-overs? I just always hated the idea of them because they usually ride like garbage on the street. Sway bars and bushings all around are what I'll have to do the most research on.

 

Thanks for following my ramblings.

 

[awfulwaffle]

Nice! There's someone on here selling some very nice KW and RCE coils for pretty cheap used. Having ridden KW V1s, they are waaaaay better on the street than cheap coils, and at least the fronts are rebuildable. Might be worth a look.

[shralp]

What Awful said. Coilovers will be much better for spirited driving on the streets and certainly better on the track. That said, I ran JDM Legacy Bilstein struts with Whiteline Control Springs for many seasons on track with no issues until swapping in the KW’s which are really great. At $1950 new, they are not cheap but I wouldn’t recommend the cheaper sets available out there. Ever. With rebuilds an option and a lifetime warranty, (but only for the original purchaser), I’d suggest snagging the used set on here and send them down to CA for a rebuild. Edited December 6, 2019 by shralp

[Nonamedude]

I can't comment much on the handling aspects, but as far as brakes go, my understanding that the only way up is really the sti brembos. There were a few sets for sale used here but they aren't cheap. Otherwise the lgt brakes are the way to go. I don't think wilwood makes a kit anymore.

 

Also the intake is a place you can save money since it's not really needed. You could follow covertrussians lead and do a custom 3" intake and inlet, he has a good walk through and that's almost certainly the most bang for the buck.

 

There's also currently a bunch of used sway bars for sale. There was someone selling a used gs tmic as well, which seems to be the way to go for more power and tmic.

[pdXammo]

If you decide you want to keep it cheap I've got spec b struts I'm selling. Especially if you helped me get a bumper from your area here. I can't get the guy to drop it at Fedex for me...

[music.to.kill.yourself.by]

If you decide you want to keep it cheap I've got spec b struts I'm selling. Especially if you helped me get a bumper from your area here. I can't get the guy to drop it at Fedex for me...

 

PM Sent.

[NORULZleggy]

Nice! There's someone on here selling some very nice KW and RCE coils for pretty cheap used. Having ridden KW V1s, they are waaaaay better on the street than cheap coils, and at least the fronts are rebuildable. Might be worth a look.

 

I just think its funny how people quote KW, and all the pricey stuff, I ran Tein SDS on my 09 WRX and on my 08 Legacy, and I had no issues ever. car road great! They are also not cheap. BTW if your going to dump the car or tuck tire your ride is going to be garbage. All I ever did was take out the tire gap and never touched them.

[music.to.kill.yourself.by]

I just think its funny how people quote KW, and all the pricey stuff, I ran Tein SDS on my 09 WRX and on my 08 Legacy, and I had no issues ever. car road great! They are also not cheap. BTW if your going to dump the car or tuck tire your ride is going to be garbage. All I ever did was take out the tire gap and never touched them.

 

None of it matters because the guy who's selling that stuff is unresponsive. I'll probably just go with Tein springs and stock struts/shocks. This isn't an expensive build. Just something for me and my kid to have fun in at local track nights.