Subaru Legacy B4 BL5 GT

T

taylor365

Sunday Drivers
Hey guys.

New to the forum but have been researching and studying all things Subaru for the last while as I'm interested in purchasing the above Legacy.

Everything I've heard so far points to problems with fuel and soft engines and its putting me off big time. If you remap the engine and use e5, should that be enough?

I've seen a lot of peeps say you can't drive Subaru's hard like you would a Civic or Celica (i had one, fun kicks in at 6200rpm - 8000rpm). What is the point in have 280bhp then if you can't put the foot down?

One last thing I'm curious about. In the model I'm looking for (Gen iv GT 280bhp) i've noticed the speedo only goes to 180km/h. Why is that? I got the Celica up to 230km/h.

In summary, I'm really picky about cars and I've narrowed it down to one of these or a c180. You can see which one I'd prefer :p

Any replies much appreciated! :D
 
E5 on its own will be enough for that car.

Soft engines is a load of bollox, like most stories you hear from civic drivers who have to rev the arse out of their car to get any power. Scoobys got a bad name because so many of them were imported, driven on 95 and revved like a civic so they were always going to blow. Anyone revving a standard scooby up post 6,500rpm hasn't got a clue, as all the power is already gone by that time.
 
I have one, they are not soft in standard form until you start taking them out of their comfort zone, as in putting bigger turbo's on them and upping the boost! d
Dont assume they are as strong a platform as an STI because they are not, you can easily use all 276bhp(on jap fuel) once you keep it on E5 minimum. \the twinscroll turbo is great for this, pokey from 2500rpm to about 5000, redlines at 7000 but no need to go near that as turbo has run out of puff at that point. Most fatalities are caused by lads driving them like they think they are driving a civic, no need to rev the nuts off it to make it go.


Why the hell would anyone want a car where the fun kicks in at 6000rpm , the race is already over at that point!

Do you have one in mind that you are looking at?
 
Thanks for the replies. It makes more sense alright that they get a bad name from people who don't know how to treat them.

Well with the Celica, once you got to 6k rpm you kept it there through each shift. Very fast for 1.8 non-turbo but as you say....it has to get their first :p

I've only seen one advertised on carzone so was looking at importing from japan (which seems to have an endless supply of them!) Has anyone gone this route on here?

And am i right on the speedo only going to 180km/h?(Thats only 110mph) I've seen seat ibiza's go faster :hammerhead:
 
most jap imports are restricted to 180kmh so a lot of the jap imports only go to 180 unless you get them remapped or a device installed to bypass this, same with most jap imports. legacy would piss all over a 1.8 non turbo celica, i thought you were referring to a 2.0 turbo GT4 celica or similar which is a different breed altogether. Where are you based? I can bring you for a spin in mine to wet your wick!

Only one i see is this:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4354637

not even broke in, never abused, look at the tires, looks like its been drifting around a farm! You will not get one of these cheap importing it your self from japan, probably work out about 10 grand on the road.

If your after balls out subaru performance get an impreza, looking for something a bit more comfortable and less noticeable then the BL5 is a good choice. No where near as tunable as a Impreza, i've been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, when it comes to these cars! Owned one since 2008 and many up's and downs!
 
Thats exactly it! I'm after the more sleeper type than loudmouth :lol: I just thought having all that power and only reaching 180 was pretty odd! If you were stuck at 180 though the measley celica would catch up :p

Ah the wick has been wet a long time. I was looking at getting a standard spec a few years ago. Think i was on uklegacy forum and all at one stage droolin over all the pics. Times change though and the GT seems like just the right fit - lower tax than the 3.0R and more oomph than standard spec. Are they harsh to insure? (5 years NCB but...wait for it.... 24 years old :icon_hang: )

That's why i'm thinking the Japan option - seems like they're not looked after here. Used for herding sheep every so often. The ones on here though look like a different class altogether.
 
Re the Insurance, you may struggle to get a straight quote on one, I'm the same age as you, same NCB and no one would quote me (even though I have a B4)

Best option is to buy it and just call the insurer up and change the car on the policy, can't say no then
 
I'm used to not getting quoted on cars even with the 5 year NCB.

Don't have a policy at the moment as i was in Australia so thinking of contacting First Ireland to try get a quote. Anything below 1k i'd be happy with, less than 700 i'd be singing :D

I'm tempted to contact the sheep farmer just to avoid the Japan route.

...but then again if it hasn't been looked after http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/4490348
 
[quote author=taylor365 link=topic=36930.msg423459#msg423459 date=1360595829]
I'm used to not getting quoted on cars even with the 5 year NCB.

Don't have a policy at the moment as i was in Australia so thinking of contacting First Ireland to try get a quote. Anything below 1k i'd be happy with, less than 700 i'd be singing :D

I'm tempted to contact the sheep farmer just to avoid the Japan route.

...but then again if it hasn't been looked after http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/4490348


[/quote]

you would get crippled with the YEN how it is..10% EU import tax...then 33% VRT...can't see how you could possible get one in for what you would pay for decent one in Irleand
 
[quote author=taylor365 link=topic=36930.msg423459#msg423459 date=1360595829]
I'm used to not getting quoted on cars even with the 5 year NCB.

Don't have a policy at the moment as i was in Australia so thinking of contacting First Ireland to try get a quote. Anything below 1k i'd be happy with, less than 700 i'd be singing :D

I'm tempted to contact the sheep farmer just to avoid the Japan route.

...but then again if it hasn't been looked after http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/4490348


[/quote]

Needs an engine. Never abused or trashed. Worst contradiction ever!
 
[quote author=Altezza-Dan link=topic=36930.msg423465#msg423465 date=1360598394]
[quote author=taylor365 link=topic=36930.msg423459#msg423459 date=1360595829]
I'm used to not getting quoted on cars even with the 5 year NCB.

Don't have a policy at the moment as i was in Australia so thinking of contacting First Ireland to try get a quote. Anything below 1k i'd be happy with, less than 700 i'd be singing :D

I'm tempted to contact the sheep farmer just to avoid the Japan route.

...but then again if it hasn't been looked after http://cars.donedeal.co.uk/for-sale/cars/4490348


[/quote]

Needs an engine. Never abused or trashed. Worst contradiction ever!
[/quote]

yeah but it's a "clean" car..never understand that logic when buying a car...
 
Yea the Japan option looks like the best part of 10k. :wall:

How much would you price the car with no engine and the work to be done on it? I assume GT engines aren't a dime a dozen?

Was in contact with the sheep herder. Sent a text - got jibberish (as if a 12 year old wrote back) but from what i gather he has people looking at it this week. I'm not around at all this week but i'll ring him over the weekend and if it still available i'll go check it out Monday or Tuesday. He's around the Clondalkin area.
 
Depends how bad it is engine wise. Those engines are not found in anything else, you could throw in and sti engine but you would need ecu and engine loom to go with all that and probably other stuff i would say its a might mare! I wouldnt be offering more than 2 grand if it needs an engine, could cost the guts of 2-4 grand to rebuild the engine if the block isnt gone to sh*t, no way you would find another engine like that outside Japan unless it was from another crashed one.
 
Trying to get some calculations together for importing one from Japan.


Car
Shipping + Ins
Customs 10% - Paid on 2 bove
VRT
VAT 23% - Paid on 4 above
TOTAL

2500
1500
400
1300
1300
7000

Would they be right? (with slight rounding)
 
I was offered 1 subaru for $4900 (3800 euro) including CIF. (mind you it had 90k miles on the clock)

CIF i make out at around 1500.
That car would be 2300.

Also offered a spec B WR limited Edition (blue with gold wheels) for $6600(5000 euro, has about 70k miles)

CIF at 1500
Car would be 3500.

Unless these cars have never been abused [size=8pt]and have no engine[/size] :wink:
 
go for it so, try get an 06 onwards if you can, they come with 6 speed sti box i think or tuned by sti one, revenue only lists BE5 turbo
 
Going to see the sheep herders car next week possibly. He still has it after he said he had about 3 or 4 coming to look at it.

This says either its in bad shape or....well it can only mean that really :dontknow:

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4354637

With such low mileage how can i tell if the service history is legit? Anything to look out for? How much would you offer? I was thinking around 5000 or 5500 if everything is legit.

Cheers!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top