I was able to get to drive the Legacy GT turbo this past weekend...

[MPREZYA]

My story will be up shortly as soon as Nick gets the rest of the pictures. We had less than an hour with the car since they had to load it up but SOA west was kind enough to allow us time with it.

I will leave this up so that any questions I can possibly address can be answered after reading the story.

[SUBE555]

Sweetness, I'm anticipating an enthusiasts review.

[Hondaslayer]

Originally posted by MPREZYA
My story will be up shortly as soon as Nick gets the rest of the pictures. We had less than an hour with the car since they had to load it up but SOA west was kind enough to allow us time with it.

I will leave this up so that any questions I can possibly address can be answered after reading the story.

The silver wagon eh?

I assume you guys found a home for that other carpet?

Ben,

[MPREZYA]

Originally posted by SUBE555
Sweetness, I'm anticipating an enthusiasts review.

Believe me I was glad that SOA respected us enough to allow me to take it on NASIOC's behalf at ROTW. We were able to take about 4 trips around the Fairgrounds before we had to return it half way through our final drive with some of those with me.

[MPREZYA]

Originally posted by hondaslayer
The silver wagon eh?

I assume you guys found a home for that other carpet?

Ben,

Nope we got the black sedan. Not the almost green looking silver wagon.

[MPREZYA]

I've been having trouble getting Nick the pictures due to the size of them (@2-3meg each and about 10 of them) of what we had before we took it out. If anything I'll post my story here and then we'll get it on the front page tomorrow with the associated pictures.

[SUBE555]

Who cares about the pics, we want your words!

[MPREZYA]

Here you go:



Title: Legacy GT turbo is it "The poor mans M5"?



SOA western region was nice enough to let myself and some of our members drive/ride in the Legacy GT turbo for about an hour Saturday night for an NASIOC exclusive look into their new sedan. KEEP IN MIND THIS WAS MOSTLY A DRIVING IMPRESSION as we were forced to get the car back as they needed to load it up on the trailer before we could really spend a good amount of time with the car.

The car we took out was a Midnight Black Pearl GT sedan pre-production car. I'll break this down into sections to make it alittle easier to read as a whole.

Interior:
The interior was very classy and sophisticated compared to previous generations and looked to take alot of the quality of the LL Bean model as far as feel and fit. The dash and switch work was good quality plastic that was soft to the touch and very ergonomic with the multi display in the center of the dash under the center vents. The multi display shows various setting from temperature, gas level, gas milage, and milage remaining in tank. The guages do the STi's sweep but this time the guages are blacked out during the sweep up and light up a soft almost translucent blue/white when the sweep comes down.
There was an open pocket for what I would assume would be for optional Navigation though I don't know the specific details. This Legacy's Seats for being leather (perforated on the main seating surface) were quite grippy and comfortable but not as ultimately supportive as STi seats. For a Grant Touring car hence the GT designation I wouldn't expect the STi's race inspiried seating to carry over. Overall feel is similar to that of the 04 WRX front seats but redesigned look and bolstering. Lighting was not confirmed to be HID or not but were plenty bright.


Mechanical/Performance:
Starting off with the engine. The EJ255 gets a redesigned Intercooler that is taller than but thinner width wise than the WRX's. All of this covered with an engine cover reminisent of the current VW/Audi engine bay. But this cover actually acts as a director for the intercooler compared to the diverter under the hood on the WRX/STi. We unfortuneately didn't get a chance to look and see what turbo is on the GT wether or not it's the same as on the Forester XT or the STi's VF39.


The Brakes are great with an overall feel better than all past subaru products including STi though the STi's will probably perform better under repeated hard stopping. It was equipped with what appeared to be larger than stock WRX brakes but similar dual piston calipers with a larger surface area.

Shifter and tranny feel great supposedly the redesigned 5speed throws were short but comfortable enough to not require more shoulder effort. The knob was nice to touch and overall it felt like the right length and effort to get into gear.

Driving this car the engine felt like it should have been in the car from the begining like the H-6 but with that turbo rush that brings a smile to your face. The exhaust note is relatively subdued from it's dual tip exit but you will still get some of that character boxer sound once the revs start to climb and the boost starts to build albeit somewhat muted. Lag was almost unnoticable with a great surge of torque coming on around 3krpm as the turbo must have been at full chat by then.

Turning radius and steering were spot on and infact more rewarding in tactile feel and responsivness with the turning radius suprisingly small for a car this size. This brought the handling far beyond what I expected with former GT's being alittle soft when pushed hard. This one responded with milder understeer as well as with alittle left foot breaking or opposite flik of the wheel to set up the car for a hard 90 deg corner it would step the rear out enough before getting on the gas pulls it back into line. We had no specifications on wether or not this had the new quicker STi steering rack or the outgoing STi's or WRX.


Final Impression:

I have a good feeling this car could be pretty competitive at local autoXes at winning it's class (depending on it's classification) with some stickier rubber (R-comp). This car doesn't feel like any car similar in size it suprisingly comes across like the smaller WRX when your driving it .
Performance is said to be in the 5.5 0-60 range with what we're guesstimating a low 14 sec 1/4 mile clipping the high 90mph range. This car is much more stable at higher speeds compared to the WRX/STi due to the longer wheel base and it gets there with plenty of authority.
Overall this car really comes off as the ultimate GT car that you can tackle country back roads and impress any clients you may have to take somewhere for business/etc. If this car doesn't win car of the year from some US publication it will come as an utter shock to me.
This car is in my opinion the "Poor man's M5" .

[MPREZYA]

Also if anyone plans on using this anywhere I'd appreciate it if you gave me credit for it.

[Mike Wevrick]

Nice writeup; thanks!

[ANZAC_1915]

I think you almost ran me down in the parking lot Rich!

[Siper2]

Indeed, thanks for the writeup!!!

-Chris

[MPREZYA]

Originally posted by Glenn Wallace
I think you almost ran me down in the parking lot Rich!

Hehehehe it may have been Mario as we were the only ones allowed to drive it. I'm guessing you're going to the official release here in Vegas in a week or two?

[bobert486]

so where are the pics

[SUBE555]

Just as I expected and basically as it sounds like from Paul and Anton. I think this is going to be one hell of a bargain and one hell of a car. I'm rather excited about getting mine hopefully in about 2 months.

[ANZAC_1915]

Originally posted by MPREZYA
Hehehehe it may have been Mario as we were the only ones allowed to drive it. I'm guessing you're going to the official release here in Vegas in a week or two?

No.

[Rapid_Roo]

thanks for the write up. Makes me want to trade my WRX in. Guess I'll be hoping that the end of my payments for my WRX and the introduction of an STi or Spec-B version happen at the same time

RR

[gtguy]

Top-notch review, MYPREZA. Thanks for doing the work, and for weighing in on the car from an enthusiast's perspective, as opposed to from a general marketer's. The worldviews are quite different.

Too bad you couldn't drive the silver wagon, and what's up with the "green-looking silver wagon?" Sounds like Subaru is playing paint tricks with the pearlescent stuff again, like the black cars that look purplish in sunlight, etc. Very cool.

How did the silver wagon look in person? That's the color I've settled on.

Kevin

[kenzo]

Thanks, MPREZYA. The comparisons to WRX/STi are particularly helpful for those of us who have driven one or both.

[merlot]

Nice review. I gotta a bit of a laugh from this statement though:

The knob was nice to touch and overall it felt like the right length

[only1agam]

can you give us some feed back on how the room was compared to the legacies of now?? ive noticed a number of sources say the back seats arent noticeably bigger is it true?? could u possibly fit 3 adults in the back seat?? thanks

[MPREZYA]

Originally posted by only1agam
can you give us some feed back on how the room was compared to the legacies of now?? ive noticed a number of sources say the back seats arent noticeably bigger is it true?? could u possibly fit 3 adults in the back seat?? thanks

I noticed no real rear room problems compared to the out going model. We had 3 members in the back for one trip and I don't think anyone really complained about leg room though they were alittle tight back there (Two males over or around 6ft-6ft, 3in and one female about 5ft, 5in). The back seat in there is more of a 2 full sized adult and a kid kind of back seat. I'm sure if someone were over 6' 3" driving it that the rear room would have shrunk. Also the dual power adjustable seats were nice.


FYI it's MPREZYA not MYPREZA .

I'm glad you all enjoyed the review. Nick should have the pictures we got here soon including the ID plate for you all to decipher further .

[MPREZYA]

Originally posted by MSD
Nice review. I gotta a bit of a laugh from this statement though:

I didn't proof read for those with their minds on other things . I mean the car's sexy but I wouldn't want to attempt to have sex with it.

[jagcars26]

Nice writeup Rich,,,Im gonna take a ride to the dealer and see if they have any in stock..

Thanks
Rudy

ps.Im kinda hoping the wife is tired of her Forester

[MPREZYA]

Originally posted by jagcars26
Nice writeup Rich,,,Im gonna take a ride to the dealer and see if they have any in stock..

Thanks
Rudy

ps.Im kinda hoping the wife is tired of her Forester

I think they will be at dealers by the end of the month as they are doing a dealer event here next week in Vegas. That is supposedly the official release of it.