covertrussian Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 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. That plus constant Pulse and Gliding, to avoid stationary RPMs, made me a bit remorseful about the purchase, 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 . 5 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 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. 2 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 Place holder for pics 2 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 Place holder 3 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoozeRS05 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 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. EB's Subaru journal - 2005 LegacyGT Wagon & 2014 Forester FB25 (2008 specB - RIP) IG@legacygtliving Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kojak Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Onboard to see where a purist can take this new platform. Congrats on getting back in the game. Already enjoying the feedback on drive experience. Subbed for awesomeness. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted April 14 Author Share Posted April 14 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). 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dre617 Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 I will also follow this thread and see where Covert takes it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoobyDoobyDoo Posted April 14 Share Posted April 14 Good to see you back in the game, I’m curious as to what you’ll do with this as well. I’m not a fan of the front end…the black plastic with all that grill material is too much for me. Good to know it doesn’t look like much, but got it where it counts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted May 27 Author Share Posted May 27 Let the modding begin! I'm not even done with the break in period but the cars looks are just that bad. Biggest gripe with this car is the grill, it's just too Crosstreky. Subaru even made the new Impreza look just like the Crosstrek now. I went with the CS style grill, because I personally like the deep style grills (once again from my love of Skylines). I'm not as big of a fan of the mesh on this big of a grill, so I did replace it with a bigger diamond one, but honestly it's not THAT big of a difference. Removing the grill requires removing the bumper, which is a bit frustrating compared to older cars. See car already looks much better, they really could have made this thing look awesome! Stock Grill vs the CS Grill Unfortunately the stock emblem is a no go without some kind of an adapter. I stuck with using the supplied mesh grill adapter, which you can use stickers on. After installation, I got a 2015+ Outback rear emblem, which fits as good as it's gonna get. Grill installed without the badge, something is simply missing. Plus some people say it looks like a fish, adding the emblem helps reduce that look. Now this grill wont allow for the stock air diverter to fit, so you have either remove it or trim it a bunch. I tried removing it at first, but too much of the blue and other guts were showing through, once again making for a very non-oem look. Now I had a wise idea (sarcastically) of zip-tying the rubber up, while this made it look good, it really chocked off the intake (more in next picture) This is why you gotta trim it, this thumb sized air hole on each side of the grill was the all the fresh air that the intake was getting. This made the car be a bit more lethargic, second pic shows it trimmed up a bit more, but I do think it could use more trimming. I didn't want to pull the bumper off again so I trimmed it a bit more from the engine bay (was a pain, just remove it or do this while bumper is off). You can see how much more fresh air can get in now. I might try to do a ram air setup even eventually. Finally here is the before and after, though a sneak peak of the next mod, which I HAD to do while the bumper was off anyway. I'll post up the final pics with Subaru emblem later too. 5 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted June 7 Author Share Posted June 7 Next up was reducing the amount of unpainted plastic on the front end. Easiest way is with OEM JDM DRL fog light bezles, those are quite spendy so I opted for eBay special, which also double as turn signals! I will say if your planning on paint matching these, the oem ones have more surface area on the bottom so might look better. Though if you paint the top portions it looks kind of weird in my opinion. I will say it's kind of cool how easily the whole lower section can be replaced. Curb/rally damage could be fixed pretty easily. Subaru even added the wiring (one with pink ribbon), but using this method does require adding a fuse inside. Once it's all connected time to reinstall the bumper, which is a PAIN. Make sure to get the bottom on first otherwise it will get stuck. OEM kit comes with 1A fuse, aftermarket ones don't so I created my own, which was pretty easy to do. Just gotta tuck it back under plastics after: Here's the before and after with the grill and fog bezels. I drove it a couple weeks before doing the the fuse mod to turn them on, since then added the emblem and another mod. Earlier I mentioned that these double as a turn signal, which looks pretty cool actually, there's even a nice little PNP harness so you don't have to tap any wires. Except it doesn't work on the fancier Limited headlights! The harness is only for Base and Premiums, which have a simple bulb for turn signals. My only option would be to use a line tap, but I'm not ready to do an irreversible mod yet. 3 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
covertrussian Posted June 13 Author Share Posted June 13 The next mod was not really on my list until a friend of mine mentioned it and I agreed that makes it look like older WRX's (Blob eye is one of my favorites). These WRX's have pretty small hood scoops, very reminiscent of the Legacy GT. They are a bit small compared to early 2000's and even VA's. Here it is compared to my old Legacy, she's still alive and kicking . It's pretty awesome having so much aftermarket support, if you don't like a grill, hood scoop, spoiler, well there's a color matched one for not much money. There a couple companies like AeroflowDynamics, Nobel, etc, they are all pretty much the same from what I can tell. The other reason for getting one of these is for the bug net, my Legacy's TMIC was always full of bugs, WRX, barely 500 miles in was already having a buildup too Installing one is not that hard, just have to pull a bunch of plastic clips OEM one has better mounting surface (big surprise right?). OEM uses metal mounting while this one is using screws and plastic. You also need to to use stick on foam pads and washers, this was a bit of a pain to do. You have to raise and lower the hood while trying not to loose the washers. Besides that pretty straight forward, just reinstall how you removed the stock one. I wont lie, I'll miss the vertical supports of the stock one. Side profile shot of OEM vs the bulge scoop: Before and after: Here's some better angles of stock vs now With this I'm done with the front end mods for a bit. I would love to color match some pieces of the bumper, but that's for another time. 2 05 LGT 16G 14psi 290whp/30mpg (SOLD) 12 OBP Stock 130whp/27mpg@87 Oct 00 G20t GT28r 10psi 250whp/36mpg 22 Ascent STOCK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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