Avi

I'm going to be changing my MY98 Sport shortly. I have been looking at UK Turbo Imprezas as a replacement, but I am concerned about an image problem the impreza seems to have at the moment, I am only 21 myself, but I know of a number of Under 20's who have Early/Cheap WRX's near me.. who still park them up on McD's with all the saxos etc...

There is also the High Risk that comes with driving an impreza in Manchester every day , anyway.. to the point...

What are the early legacy Turbo's like?.. opinions/prices .. What parts are common to imprezas, are spares easy to get hold of? I'm sure i saw some for sale for less than 2k.

I can insure one for peanuts compare to an impreza , so if i bought a 1993 Model, surely i can have a 250BHP Street Sleeper, Trackday Toy for very little cash.. or am i blindly missing something here? This would mean i could have a cheap runabout too

Any opinions greatly appreciated, any advice etc....


Cheers

Andy



[Edited by Avi - 1/30/2003 1:31:42 PM]

Squizz

They're great.

I've got an MY99 Impreza, and our MY95 Legacy Turbo Saloon is pretty much just as fast. Pick up and turbo spool is a little slower but the car is standard engine-wise.

Impreza parts that fit include wheels, 4-pot brakes, exhausts (sometimes), seats, etc.

Spend a little cash on some 2nd hand Impreza bits and you'll have a cheap, fast, comfy, street-sleeper!

Pi55es of Beemer drivers like you wouldn't believe.

Turbo_Steve

I have one. They are awesome, but the wheels let them down.
They are every bit as quick and as fun as an early UK turbo impreza. The steering rack is slower, the chassis is not quite so chuckable, and the 4 wheel drive is slightly biased to the rear. This means the car feels a lot more comfortable on longer journeys and (compared to my impreza) I think the legacy is a much better daily driver. It is also cheaper to insure.

They are a little harder to modify than the imprezas. First of all, you need to change the wheels for a nice set of Impreza wheels. This not only improves the look of the car by about 700%, but also massively improves the handling.

The car is 197bhp as standard. You can get more either with just a dawes (cheap n cheerful) or by fitting a www.scoobyecu.co.uk chip for less than £100. An exhaust will add power too, as will better induction. A downpipe will spool the turbo up at lower revs. If you are after serious horsepower, you will need to pick up a TD05 turbocharger off an impreza. These go second hand for about £200.

I bought mine, fitted Impreza wheels and a nice set of four-pot brakes. It has been an awesome car, and usually they go on for miles and miles (150,000 seems to be easy for Subarus) and it is still one of the best all-round cars I have owned. And it makes R5 GT Turbos look really REALLY stupid. It makes Porsche boxters look rather average as well, actually.

Looks: awful. Like a taxi. I love it.

Leg@cy

iTrader: (2)

I've got a 1992 model turbo saloon....

means I don't need to worry about catalytic converters and the like..

Hasn't the best looks..... but performance!! Phew!!

Bought it as an introduction to the Subaru world, with the intention to move on to the impreza......
Still impressed with the car so no need to move on.....

Got 290bhp quite easily, it's quite practical and a wolf in sheeps clothing....

As steve says... wheels

Bought some Gold Prodrive speedlines (I swore never to put Gold on the car) but the set it off just right.
Uni chip, HKS ind kit, Mongoose Exh and Collins DV Sweeeet


Would recommend one.......

Haven't had the need to replace any parts, but need to change brake disc's ASAP....

A forgotten car (by many people!!)

Cheers

Phil

edited to include bits and bobs

[Edited by Legacy4x4Turbo - 1/30/2003 1:53:19 PM]

Avi

Sounding good so far , how much are ther going for at the moment? 1992/93 Models?

Leg@cy

iTrader: (2)

Steve,

You say a 'downpipe' will allow the turbo to pick up that little bit quicker.

I have a monggose exhaust, which i Believe comes straight off the turbo?? is this in effect the same??

Would appreciate your response..

If not...... must get down pipe!!

Cheers

Squizz

Legacy4x4Turbo - to jump in and answer your question, the Mongoose system includes a de-cat downpipe off the turbo, I'm sure

Avi

BTTT

Leg@cy

iTrader: (2)

Cheers Squizz


Sorry to spoil the original Q


BTTT

Turbo_Steve

Mmmm....Q car....

Police let you off, you know. They stop you, tell you you are being naughty, ask you a hell of a lot of questions about the car and send you on your way.

If you buy a white one....remove the chrome strip. It makes it look about 5 years newer.

4x4...how much did the mongoose exhaust cost, and how loud is it?

kotaro

Legacy4x4turbo, you got 290bhp easily? :O

only with these mods?..."Uni chip, HKS ind kit, Mongoose Exh and Collins DV". I didn't know you could get that sort of power out of a legacy with those mods only...did you map the unichip yourself, it came already mapped or someone mapped it for you?

thanks,
kotaro

dfullerton

I got 273 @ power engine in the summer. with unichip and dawes , decat mrt sys itg panel plus TD05

S55DRJ

Legacy wise, the best to go for are the jap market RS`s (early type 89> not the 94>, a rare car, but worth searching for, i have had 3 of them, the start with 220bhp, so a big step from the uk one`s immediatly, and with climate, a choice of steering settings and some other quirky jap type things, make them a real interesting car. and as for a Q car, go for the RS typeR, looks just like a GL, but with RS power! Proper!

Dream Weaver

I dont think they look too bad really - as you say, great Q-car

Richard Curtis

Great cars - used to get a lot more looks (wondering what the hell it was - the mongoose exhaust sounded the dogs nuts ) with my old legacy than I do with my impreza.

Things to loook out out for when buying:

The brakes are weak for a powerful heavy car and definitely worth upgrading to a decent set, look out for warped discs.

Also they tend to rust above the rear window where the roof seals shrink back with age.

Lastly, the standard seats are crap, get hold of a set off an impreza, they'll fit straight in.

My modified legacy used to feel a lot faster than my impreza, mainly due to the increased lag and incredible on boost pull (hybrid turbo), but I don't think there is much in it, just the impreza delivers its power smoother (TD04 turbo).

On mine the mongoose exhaust (of an impreza) had to be lengthened by a few inches but I'm sure you can now get the longer legacy fitting if you shop around.

Oh - and don't worry too much about mileage - mine (92K) done 213K miles when I sold it, still going as strong as ever without ever having an engine rebuild.

Rich

CrisPDuk

Well recommended, I've had mine for 3 years/45k miles, the way the boost comes in, and sustains is more like a cossie, or even a V-tec than an impreza. My beastie has got 4 pots, a MY99 gearbox with an uprated clutch from Mark Aigin, std MY00 suspension (huge improvement), MY00 wheels & stainless backbox.

Unfortunately due to Mrs D putting pressure on to reduce the collection, she's reluctantly for sale, so if you're interested Avi drop me a mail

Avi

YHM

CrisPDuk

Avi, YHMB

ianc

AVI, you want a turbocharged 4wd Qcar that you can leave in manchester every day?

Do you even have to ask?

Shout if you want a test drive.

Leg@cy

iTrader: (2)

Steve,

The Exh came with the car when I bought it.... Bought it from Motorsport engineering - Ross on wye.

I've seen them in the Mags for about £450.

It's a nice deep note... not loud unless you use your right foot... and then it becomes a pleasure to hear.... maintaining the deep note throughout the rev range...

..... unlike some of the exhausts I've heard when on the back of an impreza, which tends to sound a bit 'tinny and wet' (sorry guys)...

It's a 3 inch bore straight through..... people do give 'double takes' when driving past (How can a heep of **** sound sooooo Gooooood) He He

Kotaro....

the only thing i've done since I bought it is HKS ind Kit and UNI chip...

It had a Superchip when bought (Don't know whether that would make the diff....
Had it fitted and mapped by Interpro along with the HKS ind Kit

To be Honest the Grahp reads 287 BHP and 289 lb

Agree with Ricahrd on the bits to look out for:

Brakes could be better - Change pads regular

I like the sound of the Impreza Seats... you say they fit straight in.......

.... where can I get some from???

Yep, mines a 92K also 144k miles and still a beast.

Cheers

Turbo_Steve

CrisPDuck....you have an MY99 gearbox in?
Did you have to change the rear diff as well, only I thought the Impreza had a different final drive to the legacy?

Is the actual gearshift better if you put an Impreza box in?

(The biggest let down on the legacy os the gearshift. It is feckkin HORRID! They improved it massively for the impreza..but I don't know what they changed. I really really want that nice impreza gearshift....-sigh-)

kotaro

Thanks for the reply legacy4x4turbo

Luke

Ive sold my UK turbo estate.. But as Q car it was fantastic. Will find a good one in japan and import it later.... mate has one over there paid £600.00 for a 94 that was mint!!

tallsteve

Just got a '93 UK Legacy Quadcam Turbo and am very impressed at the moment with the performance. Mine is completely standard (aside from 16" wheels) but think brakes will be the 1st thing to change..

Got mine from a chap on this site, and for the money don't think I could have done much better. Go get one, if you can find one!

Just as an aside, any of you guys who've had one know where to take it for servicing (oil, filters and other bits) and when to get the cam belt changed (which milage intervals?).

Cheers!

CrisPDuk

Turbo Steve, I had to put the Impreza 'box in, 3rd Gear let go on mine
According to the books all UK model Subaru's had the same rear diff ratio, I had to buy the two as a pair but have not fitted the diff because apparently the LSD is stiffer in the Legacy. If you are thinking of going this route, you must use a 99 on 'box, & you must get the rod that connects the lever to the selector on the casing.
The shift quality is a massive improvement.

tallsteve, change the oil every 5-6k, you will find the tappets in the left bank (when sat in the car) will rattle when cold when it's time to change, use good quality synthetic & only put 4.5 litres in or the excess oil affects the wastegate actuator. The camblet should be changed every 45k, I got mine done at my local dealer when I had the 90k service done.

tallsteve

Thanks for that, I've got Semi-Synth Magnatek 10W40 which I hope will be OK. I'll ask the people who end up doing the oil change not to overfill.

Noted on the Camchange, should have another year or so on current milage before this is due - gives me time to save up!!!

Wonder how long I'll be able to resist the modding, I think I'm already getting used to the Turbo rush and could end up wanting more!!

Avi, I'd go for one if I were you. No-one (OK, very few) knows what they are, from what the guys here say they are reliable and I can verify that a completely standard one goes like stink when you wind it up!! I'm in SE London, and driving around here it's perectly livable and not too thirsty (if you stay off the afterburners).. I got a '93 off of these very pages in the 2-3K range with low miles, SH and in decent condition. If you find one, go for it!

[Edited by tallsteve - 1/31/2003 11:28:55 PM]