1500 miles in a Subaru Diesel
24 August 2008, 06:02 PM
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1500 miles in a Subaru Diesel
OK, first off I know it's sacrilage but 2 months ago I chopped in the STi for a Legacy Touring Diesel.
Basically after 8 years of Impreza ownership I wanted something more suitable for my advancing age which would be able to cart the family around & not attract our local scumbags who have regularly attempted to obtain my previous cars without having to pay through the nose for it like we all have to. I liked the look of the Legacy, quite sharp styling & similarly to the Audi A4 I think it looks better as an estate.
After 3 months of the STi being for sale on here, pistonheads & ebay I got zero calls, despite it being reduced down to the cheapest I could find regardless of PPP (which it had) & low mileage (10k!!!).
A friend on here (thx Andy) pointed me in the direction of a deal to be had & I managed to better it locally so p/x'd the STi stripped back to basics for £900 more than I had been asking for it with £2k of extra bits on!!! (The dealer has since sold it for even more - go figure).
I drove the demonstrator & was impressed, so after checking insurance costs (£300 for a year), service costs (Pretty reasonable), Tax bracket (No horrors there) the deal was done.
I've since done 1500 miles in it (The STi did 300/month!) and I am loving it. The ride is super smooth & once warm the diesel sounds like a petrol (One guy approached me last week to say "Is it really a diesel - didn't sound like one when you went round the carpark"). It's got quite a bit of torque so once moving it's got half decent pace. The grip is superb & for a barge it handles really well (I'm really not missing the STi).
The interior is really quite nice with decent leather, electric everything, better quality plastics & tons of toys. The satnav is quite good too.
Then the best bit. Having read the report which claimed the fuel economy computer was way out I checked it by comparing petrol receipts with actual mileage, it was 99% accurate but on the low side! In the 1500 miles its averaging a real 46.3 mpg despite loads of local runs in traffic and a spirited motorway run with 5 up & crammed full of luggage.
The only niggle I can find is that it could do with a 6 speed gearbox for flexibility.
It won't be everyone's cup of tea but I think it's worth a serious look for anyone wanting a bigger more economical car with the bonus of the Subaru quirks like 4 wheel drive & flat 4 etc.
Basically after 8 years of Impreza ownership I wanted something more suitable for my advancing age which would be able to cart the family around & not attract our local scumbags who have regularly attempted to obtain my previous cars without having to pay through the nose for it like we all have to. I liked the look of the Legacy, quite sharp styling & similarly to the Audi A4 I think it looks better as an estate.
After 3 months of the STi being for sale on here, pistonheads & ebay I got zero calls, despite it being reduced down to the cheapest I could find regardless of PPP (which it had) & low mileage (10k!!!).
A friend on here (thx Andy) pointed me in the direction of a deal to be had & I managed to better it locally so p/x'd the STi stripped back to basics for £900 more than I had been asking for it with £2k of extra bits on!!! (The dealer has since sold it for even more - go figure).
I drove the demonstrator & was impressed, so after checking insurance costs (£300 for a year), service costs (Pretty reasonable), Tax bracket (No horrors there) the deal was done.
I've since done 1500 miles in it (The STi did 300/month!) and I am loving it. The ride is super smooth & once warm the diesel sounds like a petrol (One guy approached me last week to say "Is it really a diesel - didn't sound like one when you went round the carpark"). It's got quite a bit of torque so once moving it's got half decent pace. The grip is superb & for a barge it handles really well (I'm really not missing the STi).
The interior is really quite nice with decent leather, electric everything, better quality plastics & tons of toys. The satnav is quite good too.
Then the best bit. Having read the report which claimed the fuel economy computer was way out I checked it by comparing petrol receipts with actual mileage, it was 99% accurate but on the low side! In the 1500 miles its averaging a real 46.3 mpg despite loads of local runs in traffic and a spirited motorway run with 5 up & crammed full of luggage.
The only niggle I can find is that it could do with a 6 speed gearbox for flexibility.
It won't be everyone's cup of tea but I think it's worth a serious look for anyone wanting a bigger more economical car with the bonus of the Subaru quirks like 4 wheel drive & flat 4 etc.
those boxer diesels should be the biggest sellers when they are in all the range of cars 
24 August 2008, 10:01 PM
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Impressed you have taken such a shine to it from an sti Impreza. I feel this is the way to go for Subaru now. They'll have a premium sti Impreza and the rest will be low emission cars. The WRX range as it is now is a dead duck, in fact the next WRX will probably be a diesel!
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