Well, the Legacy B4 will apparently be available end of the year/bginning of next with a performance option available (350bhp?.)

I currently own an RB5 (standard). Has anyone driven a Legacy? Howdo they compare?

 

They are smooth but fast. i had one for around 6 months to use at weekends.

4dr RSK B4 in lime gold.

With the twin turbos there isn't the kick of the single WRX so you don't feel like you are making progress but you are.

The Porsche tuned suspension is reassuring and progressively harder the more you throw it.

We cover 700km in 5 hrs once. You can cruise at 180kph for long periods with no overheating or complaints. Fuel economy suffers badly though. It was the manual so not as bad as an auto.

Not bad if you've got a family. The station wagon is just as usable.

 

I haven't driven the B4 but I own a '96 RS-B, which is its predecessor. Essentially, the running gear is the same although the B4 has a slightly modified exhaust and ECU to overcome a minor problem on the RS - a slight delay when the second turbo comes in - although running on Super Unleaded almost eliminates it anyway.

On paper, the Legacy is quicker. In practice, there's nothing between an Impreza and my RS in a straight line dash. The Legacy uses the WRX engine (redline at 7500) so the gearing is a little lower to get the most out of the extra revs - and it has a sequential twin turbo set-up rather than the single turbo of the Impreza. In practice, this makes the Legacy more driveable (IMHO - please don't throw bricks at me yet! ) and, certainly, when I drove a new 00MY Impreza last week, it felt slow in comparison to my Legacy.

 

Sounds good so far as long as there is driver involvement. Fuel is no problem (all praise to the company fuel card!)

Now auto - would help in London but would you lose alot of performance?

 

With 280PS, it's difficult not to be involved as a driver

Fuel consumption is better than I got in an Impreza - I generally get 28mpg on motorway runs, 25-26 generally and never less than 22 (haven't done a track day yet though).

The auto version has reduced power (260PS) but is still a flying machine. The B4 has a Tiptronic option mated to a full auto box and the words I've read say it's a good one - no experience of it myself.