zennoodle Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 Hello Everybody. Kinda new here. I've been lurking for a bit. I've been looking at the STI for quite some time before my girlfriend dragged me to check out the Legacy at the autoshow earlier this year. It's quite an amazing car from the outsite. I can't wait to test drive it come March. Is there a big difference driving wise between a 5 and 6 spd? I know 6spd, you get one extra gear to hit the higher speed without having the engine push as hard. Other than that, I'm not sure what to think about it. Any advice would be appreciated. The more I look at the Legacy though, it seems to have this magnetic power...I don't get it. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Th3Franz Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 I'm told that the Legacy GT still pulls even at 130 MPH in 5th gear. Basically, with the extra gear on the STi you can shorten each gear to get slightly better acceleration. Since my GT is my daily driver, I'm glad it has less and taller gears than the STi. Sometimes it would be nice to have a 6th gear as essentially an overdrive gear. The STi has the same final drive in 6th as the WRX does in 5th, so that's not the case there. Overall, there really isn't that much of a difference between a 6 speed and a 5 speed.. -Franz The end of a Legacy http://www.youtube.com/th3franz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 The extra gear is really to keep the gearing closer together to keep the engine operating in a smaller rpm range. But in all fairness, the gearing that Subaru chose (and most car manufacturers) do is to select a ratio that is very usable on the street.. For the STi, 5th and 6th gear are overdrive gears.. on the GT, 4th and 5th are over drive gears.. so that means that on the STi, gears 1 through 4 are designed to keep the car in the higher rpms with a better choice in gear selection to keep the rpms rolling high.. on the GT, gears 1 through 3 is the same as well.. the major difference will rely on the comparison of how useful 1st gear is on both cars. As for the STi, 1st gear is so short that you can spin all 4 tires on it and top it out pretty quickly.. making it fairly useless for daily driving since you end up shifting out of it very quickly (on the GT it's not AS bad but still bad).. Subaru designed it this way so that 1st gear is creepable.. too tall of a gear will make city driving one bad experience. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1 Posted November 25, 2004 Share Posted November 25, 2004 speaking of 1st, i saw my friend and his 04 black sti smoke all four tires at once, stupid and pointless yes, but the girls liked it lol.... if we WANTED to, could we smoke all four as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zennoodle Posted November 26, 2004 Author Share Posted November 26, 2004 Thanks for the responses! Whenever I look at the legacy, then look at the STI...the STI looks like a squished up jelly bean. :D I'm sure both cars are very nimble and yes, I'm looking for a daily driver. I guess another concern is projectors compared to the HIDs on the STI...hmm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ih8vtec13 Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 [quote name='mobilezen']Thanks for the responses! Whenever I look at the legacy, then look at the STI...the STI looks like a squished up jelly bean. :D I'm sure both cars are very nimble and yes, I'm looking for a daily driver. I guess another concern is projectors compared to the HIDs on the STI...hmm.[/QUOTE] I'm actualy happy with the projectors the visability is really good from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z4 Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 The current configuration of the LGT with a 5 speed works well. subaru will need to build a stronger LGT for a 6 speed to make sense for the daily driver. Being a subaru owner, gas mileage is not why I bought the car, so this isn't a valid reason for an extra shift either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexmobbin Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 as far as i could tell you, the 6th gear means each gear is shorter (run through them quicker) and you'll get better long drive mileage. my buddy with the STi tells me that shorter gears mean quicker acceleration, but i couldn't tell you yes or no. performance wise, i'm sure the 6speed does offer advantages, but i haven't really missed anything other than freeway gas mileage. p.s. the L's headlights are GREAT. p.p.s. i'm drunk, so if this post doesn't make the best sense, ya know why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 it really depends on how the gearing is done from the manufacturer.. but the whole idea to choose between a 5 and 6 speed is that a 6 speed has a better selection of gears to keep the rpms in the "sweet spot" (I hope everyone knows what the sweet spot means). Some cars have the wide torque band that it doesnt make a difference to have an extra gear. Unless you are doing some heavy amounts of spirited driving a 5 speed is more than plenty of a selection to get you into the sweet zone (most street car gear setups have overlaps from gear to gear without a huge torque suffer differences. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted November 26, 2004 Share Posted November 26, 2004 [quote name='Alex1']speaking of 1st, i saw my friend and his 04 black sti smoke all four tires at once, stupid and pointless yes, but the girls liked it lol.... if we WANTED to, could we smoke all four as well?[/QUOTE] If you want to spin all fours (which you can, cuz I do it from time to time on my launches for autocrossing), expect to also spend some time later in on investing for some better tires and a better clutch with more clamping force. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zennoodle Posted November 27, 2004 Author Share Posted November 27, 2004 Has anyone owned/driven both mentioned cars? thoughts? :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 In the World of Subaru: STi = Pure Sports, GT = Pure Luxury Both have their own unique driving characteristics. I have driven both cars in motorsports events.. STi is surely the winner for that. As for daily driving and hauling stuff, the GT has a bit more interior room and a lot more cargo room (sedan) in the trunk for things, the GT is definitely more usable for errand running when the extra 2 to 3 cu. feet of room is needed. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zennoodle Posted November 27, 2004 Author Share Posted November 27, 2004 [quote name='Xenonk']In the World of Subaru: STi = Pure Sports, GT = Pure Luxury Both have their own unique driving characteristics. I have driven both cars in motorsports events.. STi is surely the winner for that. As for daily driving and hauling stuff, the GT has a bit more interior room and a lot more cargo room (sedan) in the trunk for things, the GT is definitely more usable for errand running when the extra 2 to 3 cu. feet of room is needed. Keefe[/QUOTE] ...ah I see. Sounds like (from seeing your other posts too with auto-x etc) that you can toss around the Legacy as well. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 I can possibly do more with the car if it had about another 50whp and 50 lbs torque or shave off 300 lbs off the car. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deer Killer Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 [quote name='Xenonk']I can possibly do more with the car if it had about another 50whp and 50 lbs torque or shave off 300 lbs off the car. Keefe[/QUOTE] GB on a set of JDM aluminum suspension parts :) Perhaps we can get the price down from insane to justifiable... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 I was hoping to lose weight later.. as tempting as control arms are, there are just way too many potholes to deal with. I'll opt to swap out the battery to lightweight one first (it's cheaper than $800 for control arms). Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IwantaLGTsti Posted November 29, 2004 Share Posted November 29, 2004 You will have a very difficult time spinning all four wheels simultaneously in a Legacy. Having a limited slip front and limited slip rear differential helps. The STi has both, the Legacy might have a rear LSD but not front. Incidentally, even in 1st gear, I did not get any tire spin on an STi (didn't try repeatedly though). I don't think you will without putting on some crappy worn out tires. The 6th gear allows the lower gear ratios to be spaced more closely for improved acceleration. As an example (fictitious), shifting from 1st at 7000rpm will only knock you down to 5000rpm into 2nd instead of 3500rpm. By keeping the rpms in the peak torque range, acceleration is improved. Personally, I don't think its worth all the extra shifting unless you insist on racing at every stoplight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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