a4avant Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 TLDR VERSION: Skip down to the ! As it's impossible to find legacy wagons around, looks like I'm (maybe) chosing between the outback and the legacy. Tempted to boost up to a Spec B - I don't plan on buying for a few more months and I'd imagine given the economy I'll be able to basically steal the car from the lot by then Right now I'm in a 2000 Audi A4 Avant 2.8. LOVE the car, love being able to toss my bike in the back (but not opposed to chucking a rack on the back - my roof rack is out of action since I park in an underground garage right now with no place to unload the bike first), but really dont' need the extra space. I wish I had the sport suspension package on my Audi - the body roll is ick. The reason I'm getting rid of it is because repairs are getting absurd - just replaced the driveshaft + center support bearing, fan clutch, rear dif seal, two cv boots, valve cover gasket, exhaust clamps... not to mention the 80k service (did it early since I was having other issues) - and that's just in the last 6 months! Judging by other A4s, I'm coming up on wheel bearings/control arms/cv's/struts pretty soon too. I'm easily putting $2-300/month into the car, when I could be putting it into a mostly-paid-off car payment on a warrantied, CPO'd car. (And yes, I have a full time, steady, not-going-to-go-away job, and could afford the car cash but would rather keep some buffer money assuming I can get a good interest rate loan). So, I'm looking for something sporty, snow-worthy, basically a less-maintenance-needed version of my A4. Willing to give up some of the creature comforts inside to get it, but want to keep things FUN to drive. It is a daily driver, so I probably won't modify it too much (maybe ECU, I/E once loan is paid off and warranty won't be a concern - possibly coilovers or at least nicer struts/springs). :spin:Ok, enough story, here's the questions. Is the Outback higher off the ground than the normal Legacy? Is suspension softer, transmission geared different (MT and AT, not sure which I'm going for yet - haven't driven stick in about 8 years and since it's a DD in DC trafic...), ride height different, weight significantly different (besides the normal wagon penalty), etc.? Anything weird I should know about with either? Spec B's limited slip dif and STI tranny really worth the extra money (changing shocks is easy), or is it no big deal? Or if I'm thinking Auto trans anyway, should I just get the 3.0R and be done with it? Any other cars you think I should compare? My very-partial list (all used) that's kind of all over the place: '07/'08 LGT 2.5GT L/Spec B / Outback 2.5XT L; '08 VW R32, '06 BMW 330xi, Thanks for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
05GT Guru Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 Well first decide if you want auto or not. Then decide whether you want/need the extra room of the outback. The outback is higher off the ground and the suspension is softer. Do you think the spec b is worth the extra money? A 6 speed which has proven to be stronger than any other subaru tranny, the torsen rear diff(nice feature imo) NAV, and of course suspension. Remember if you do get a spec b, you will need different tires for winter, the stock tires are for summer use only. Also do you mind paying for premium? The 3.0 h6 takes 87, the turbo subies take premium. If you do ever plan to add power to the car the 3.0 h6 is not a very moddable engine. As for weight, all 4 cars, the outback, lgt, spec b and 3.0r are pretty close. Somewhere between 3400-3600 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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