drove 2005 Legacy GT sedan...
 

Drove the sedan 5MT. Pros: good power, good bump absorption, very nice interior. Cons: would be nearly impossible to change out the stock stereo, fair amount of tire noise, leans in the corners way more than I expected.

After looking at the cars a bit more, I think the GT wagon limited with the auto tranny looks pretty good as a potential family car. With the basic STi motor in there, it should be pretty easy to get the family wagon up to 350 HP. :-)))

BTW, when I was looking at the Legacy brochure, I noticed that Subaru has finally made a break from their standard basic chassis design. The rear suspension is substantially different than the classic Subaru modified MacPherson strut rear suspension.

Family car?? Family car?? You're not even married yet!:D :D
-Bill

Test drove the gt limited sedan, wagon, and an outback sedan 3.0.

I agree - they all lean too much. I expected the limited sedan to be stiffer, but was disappointed. It was better then the wagon for body roll, but still had too much and like you said the tires protest quite a bit. I actually remarked to the salesman that I was surprised such low profile tires howled at such a low speed. I have the same size tire on my svx and have only pushed them hard enough to hear a squeak twice.

Great interior on the limited.
Good power - but none of them felt any faster than the svx.
Bottom line on all of them was I expected to be pushed back in the seat with 250hp, but was disappointed.

Re: drove 2005 Legacy GT sedan...
 

Ouch. It's the cons like that which will cause Subaru to lose potential buyers... ;)

The young and active crowd will be upset about the stereo; the luxury minded will hate the tire noise; and the performance buyer will want a flatter cornering stance.

Mazda seems to have found the perfect blend of quality fit-n-finish, practicality mixed in with sporty performance and handling. Subaru isn't very far behind, and with a little R&D and tweaking of their final products, they could really capture more of the market share in the US. :)

-Chike

BTW: All the Legacys got the new rear suspension with the 3rd generation in 2000;)

Yeah, but I've got to think about the future. :-))

Hmm. Interesting, the brochure made a point of the rear suspension being redesigned. Must have been a change in the grade of bolts used. :-)

Yeah, at first, I thought the Legacy felt faster, but after getting back in my car, I could tell that it wasn't.

Re: Re: drove 2005 Legacy GT sedan...
 

And Mazda has MUCH better pricing too! I can't believe how much they are asking for the new Subarus!

Harry

Re: Re: Re: drove 2005 Legacy GT sedan...
 

Very, very true. The new Outbacks can top out at over 40K when all luxury options are checked, and a well optioned Legacy GT can approach the price of the BMW 325i...

Remember the old Subaru slogan? Didn't it go something like: "Inexpensive cars and built to stay that way..." :D

-Chike

Re: Re: Re: Re: drove 2005 Legacy GT sedan...
 

Which makes the $3450 I paid for my SVX seem like a sweet deal, indeed.

Close on that slogan: Subaru. Inexpensive... and built to stay that way.

My wife and I paid $11,400 for a new GL wagon in 1986. Options were air, cruise and "On-Demand" 4WD (with the white spoke steel wheels), and that's it; not even power steering. Hardly inexpensive for the time. Oh, but I still miss that car.


dcb

My youngest son just paid less than $18K for a Madza 3 with moon roof, upgraded stero (6 CD changer too) and auto (with bump gear changer). Great little car, especially for the money!!

He considered a Subaru, but couldn't come close to this deal!

Harry

Mazda 3
 

Test drove a Mazda 3 several months ago...an excellent car.
Usually with much better equipment for the same or lower price than a Civic...

Zoom Zoom!

Don

continued hijack
 

one of my friends was trying to talk me into a mazda 3. he's gonna be so upset that i committed to the scion tC without even checking it out. :rolleyes:

as for the new legacy gt, i desperately wanted one (or any other of the subaru turbos). couldn't justify the price right now.