Official 08 Spec B thread

[SUBE555]

Whose comments are you referring to? According to Joe Spitz (the usual Subaru reference site) the Spec B is available in Diamond Grey and Quartz Silver while the 3.0R is available in Obsidian Black, Harvest Gold, Deep Bronze, and Quartz Silver. While I don't keep up on the news all that much anymore, that is apparently the color line-up for the 3.0R and 2.5GT Spec B models for MY08.

[rs6er]

The 08 Spec B comes in Diamond Grey Metallic and Quartz Silver Metallic. It does not come in Urban Grey.

[Chris Godawski]

SUBE555... there is no limited slip offered with the 335 is that true? All i know is a guy i work with works at a Beemer dealer and says there are nothing but problems with them. Everything from the different modules to the engine are trouble prone. I've had my LGT 2 years now, and there has been nothing to go to the dealer over. How is the 335?

[SUBE555]

I haven't had a single issue and no it doesn't come with an LSD, only M models come with LSD's, they used to come with them in most if not all up until about I think 10 or 15 years ago.

[SubieDriver]

I haven't had a single issue and no it doesn't come with an LSD, only M models come with LSD's, they used to come with them in most if not all up until about I think 10 or 15 years ago.

 

So, that would be one wheel drive?

As opposed to ALL wheel drive?

 

Just teasing...

[psi365]

I have a '08 diamond grey Spec B

'Hadn't heard that it was also available in silver.

Are you sure you don't mean the new 6 cylinder

sedan Subaru just released?

Anyone care to clarify?

Thanks

 

My 08 spec b is in Quartz Silver metallic. 08 is the first year Subaru has offered a color choice on the spec B. In fact the dealer I bought mine from has one of each color spec B in stock right now if anyone is interested. They both have spoilers iirc.

[SUBE555]

So, that would be one wheel drive?

As opposed to ALL wheel drive?

 

Just teasing...

 

Both of my vehicles are one-wheel drive and perform well. Just gotta have the right equipment.

 

Besides, do you have about 290whp and are making 31mpg on trips?

[SubieDriver]

Both of my vehicles are one-wheel drive and perform well. Just gotta have the right equipment.

 

Besides, do you have about 290whp and are making 31mpg on trips?

 

Nope, I probably have about 290 crank hp, and only make 25 mpg on trips...

 

I'm still waiting for that Legacy STI.

[SUBE555]

I waited long enough, saw it wasn't coming for 2008 and based on how far the product has been developed in Japan, our chances of getting that ultimate machine anytime soon wasn't looking like very good odds. Besides, I love the high-compression direct-injection turbo engine in the 335, it's a marvelous thing-stock. It makes more power, is more efficient, and for my needs, AWD was not a requirement, neither the 335 or Leg STI would have been a salt season car.

 

I just haven't been impressed with Subaru's driving force with advancing the breed on the hardware end. The new Leg looks great, can't deny that, but for me the product is much more than skin-deep.

[Vimy101]

^ meh.

 

The beemer doesn't perform 40% better based upon price and the LGT is an all weather vehicle with excellent reliability, longevity and safety.

[SUBE555]

To each their own. If you can afford both, does it really matter?

[Vimy101]

I just haven't been impressed with Subaru's driving force with advancing the breed on the hardware end. The new Leg looks great, can't deny that, but for me the product is much more than skin-deep.

 

meh

[burnin4]

i wanted to let everyone know that kartboy has released their 6 speed shifter/bushings for the spec b. I ordered mine today, happy to provide a full write-up after installation.

[camber]

I haven't been impressed with the 335 but it comes down to personal preference. Between the horrible never ending problems, hard interior platics and hard riding sports suspension I chose to stay away.

 

The rumours say the problems with the N54 engine will be solved for the 135i but I'll wait and see. A friend of mine is a tech a BMW dealership and they have 5 cars waiting for fuel pumps(apparently very hard to come by and some people have waited a month for the part) and another two that need the engine to be replaced!

 

I felt the 335 was rushed to stop lost sales to the Infiniti G and maybe BMW will eventually get everything ironed out. The 335 sedan with sports package I drove never felt like an intergrated package. To make the 335 feel like a true sports sedan I would have to voided the warranty and I felt a new BMW without a warranty is bottomless money pit.

 

Also, I'm not impressed with the piggybacks tuning solutions that everyones been using for these cars. One day you make 320 whp, the next day 270 whp and a month later your engine goes pop. Piggybacks are a piss poor and unreliable way of tuning new cars with their advanced ECUs. There was a post with a poll on e90 where 42% of people that responded had experienced limp mode once with a PROcede piggyback installed.

 

It seems like all the people(usually the established BMW tuners) that can flash the ECU do not want to bump up power past 10% because of reliability concerns. Although, I hear some smaller tuners will be offering the ability to reflash the ECU in the near future.

[Sponge]

^don't tell Car & Driver that if I read another stinking article were they reference the 335 as the end all be all of cars I am going to puke...what a crappy magazine.

[psi365]

^don't tell Car & Driver that if I read another stinking article were they reference the 335 as the end all be all of cars I am going to puke...what a crappy magazine.

 

and NASIOC. The 335i is touched by the hand of god

[paycer]

Last Saturday my wife and I test drove both the 328xi and the 335xi. The 328 was boooring for our tastes, but the 335 did have an impressive amount of power. Unfortunately our dealer doesn't ever order manual transmissioned cars so I had to drive the automatics. The xi's don't come with the paddle shifters, nor does their sport package option include the revised shocks/springs the coupe gets.

 

For the record, Car and Driver in my opinion is the BEST of the major car mags, and they were correct in saying that the 335 is fast and handles well etc. What C & D should have said was the new 3 series seems tp be aimed at late 40s-60 year olds that want to be coddled along with their power. Not exactly pure enthusiasts. These same folks would like a Caddy CTS or a Mercedes (non V or AMG respectively).

 

Our take from the test drive was "meh". Fast? Yes. Refined? Yes, but too much so. It wasn't a fun to drive the car quick (triple digits), it was unexciting and way too silent on both the intake and exhaust. For $47,850 (our test cars sticker price), it was a no go. Perhaps if the price was 10K cheaper it would seem more desireable to me, but I dunno, it wasn't our thing. This Saturday the wifey and I are going on a 3 hour road trip to see a spec.B in person since the 3 @sshat dealers in town won't get any.

 

PS We also drove a Volvo S60R the same day and thought it was a much more exhilerating drive. Too bad Volvos are a maintenence nightmare. We drove and shot down about 6 other contenders and it looks like our 4th Subie will be showing up soon!

[dmiller5]

^^ I have a feeling the 08 SpecB will be a perfect fit.

[psi365]

Paycer.....

 

Not sure if its going to be in your price range, but in a month or two the Audi A5/S5 will be coming out which is probably the best looking Audi in the line up (including the R8 which I have seen in person).

 

A quick search found this write up. Unfortunately the write up is for an Australian paper so the units are going to be in metric.

 

http://www.webwombat.com.au/motoring/news_reports/audi-s5.htm

 

http://www.tuningnews.net/news/070227/audi-s5.jpg

 

BTW the first A5/S5's are all going to be stick.

[Sponge]

Agreed on the A5/S5's...I am looking forward to the 1 series to hit dealers...same engine as the 335 but a little less coupe and fam/yuppie sedan and more sports car I think? Not to mention a better sticker price...

[paycer]

Ah yes, the A4/S4, very cool. I am also excited to see the new M3, BUT ( <--that's a big but) I have a 2 month old daughter now (first kid!) and the LGT SB will be my wife's daily driver if our test drive/viewing goes as I expect it will.

 

The wifey's requirements for her next car were:

Manual transmission,

AWD,

Sedan (ingress and egress of child seat)

fun to drive.

 

I almost pee peed in my pants from excitement when she listed out those attributes for her next ride. No coaching from me, I swear!

 

Unfortunately, the reality of parenthood leaves out all the really cool coupes and after experiencing AWD since 02, we're hooked on it like crack cocaine.

 

We tested out the MS6, A4, 335xi/328xi, S40, S60, Passat, Merc C 280/350, and also an 07 LGT (my dad's car) and next up is a 6 hour roundtrip to see some spec.Bs. Some of the above "contestants" only came in automatic, but we checked them out anyway them to see what they were like and if they were worth ditching the stick for. After testing them, we didn't think so. The MS6 and the Volvos were amazingly fun to drive, but searching their respective forums revealed mucho problemos. Couple that with the inferior Haldex AWD and we crossed them off the list. Audi's are pretty scary as far as reliability goes too based on my research.

 

Someday when (if) I ever grow up and I tire of my STi I'll look into something less family friendly for myself. At this point in time, Subie lets me have my cake and eat it too. Mmmm, cake!

[psi365]

Ah yes, the A4/S4

 

Audi's are pretty scary as far as reliability goes too based on my research.

 

 

The car I suggested is a A5/S5. ITs going to be a completely new car in the line up. Size wise its supposed to be between teh A4 and A6. However seeing the wife's requirement it isn't a sedan.

 

Speaking from a ton of experience (8 years of being an Audi Tech) a lot of the "problems" that supposedly exist on Audis are extremely over played and are usually problems that aren't on current cars. People still talk about the supposed turbo problem on S4s which is rather funny since the exact same engine was used in A6s and next to none of them had problems. The S4s that had blown turbos were generally modded and tracked. The other problem that always comes up is ignition coils which for the most part we haven't seen problems since 03 maybe 04.

[SubieDriver]

And Subies are some of the safest and crash-worthiest cars on the road. Another bonus for being family friendly.

[paycer]

psi365, oops, yes I knew you meant the A5/S5 but my fingers typed the 4s.

I've been lurking along with your's and other's quests to get the spec.B and I'd read somewhere that you're an Audi tech. You're the first person "in the trenches" that has given me any insight to the Audi reliability (or lack therof) rumors.

 

My bro-in-laws friend's V8 S4 hasn't given him any trouble either so maybe we'll test out the 3.6 or 2.0 T if the dealer finally gets a manual in stock. The 2.0T we drove was an automatic and it was super slow and quite unremarkable performance wise. It had all-season tires on it too. Probably not the best test candidate. Thanks for your insight from the tech perspective.

 

By the way, if I read it, I forgot, but why again is that you aren't driving an Audi these days? Just curious.

[psi365]

By the way, if I read it, I forgot, but why again is that you aren't driving an Audi these days? Just curious.

 

There are many reasons as to why I don't own a Audi. First and formest to get an Audi with the same options my spec B has I'd would be paying close to $40k and that's a A3 2.0T fwd. I could barely get a A4 2.0T without sport suspension for about the same price and that is through Audi's employee program. I paid invoice for my spec B which with my options was around $33,500. For the buck you get a lot more car for the money with the Subaru. I did look at 00-02 S4's but 99% of them were beaten into the ground, and the ones that weren't I didn't like something about the car like one had Cailfornia emissions, one was a wagon (not at all a big fan of wagons except the LSTi wagon for some reason). Thought about the 04< V8 S4's but at the time we didn't have any automatics ( the stick shift ones are really notchy feeling to shift and they remind me of a german version of a Mustang). Honestly Audi has gotten out of hand for the price you pay

as compared to what you get. I will say this though Audi still has one of if not the best interiors in the industry.

 

FYI A4s have either a 2.0T FSI, 3.2 FSI, or S4's have a 4.2L and then the RS4 has a high rev 4.2 FSI.

 

 

All in all Audi has gotten a really bad reputation were BMW has been able to slide by even though they have major failures as compared to any Audi. Presently unlike BMW we haven't seen engine failures, fuel pump failuers, never a rear diff failure, and unless someone is doing hole shots we rarely see trans failures. A 335i by itself has had more major problems with it then almost all the Audi's in the line up.