1998 Subaru Legacy User Reviews

Love It This Car Goes On And On — ive had this car now for 3 years and it has covered 130000 miles without any hesitation ive only just had to do a repair of a rear wheel bearing it is a joy to drive with leather interior and climate control for hotter days what more can you ask of a car

Owner for 3 years, 0 months

Miles Driven per Year:10,000

Review Of A Jdm Twinturbo Legacy '98 (bh5) — Performance: So.. this is what happens, when some blokes from Subaru drink a bit too much sake one night and decide to swap in some STi class parts into a family wagon just for the heck of it? Well, I can tell you, that the combination is very nice. The weight to power ratio is equal to an STi so when pushed, this wagon hauls ass despite of its size. There is something of an issue regarding the operation of these TwinTurbo's, namely the oh so famous "Valley of Death", but that is more of an small nuisance rather than a really crippling thing. When driving normally, you almost never get past the 3000rpm mark which is below the VoD. This is due to very turbo-diesel'ish torque characteristics and the automatic transmissions eagerness to shift upwards very early. The first turbo comes into play as early as 1500rpm and therefore you have over 200nm to play with as low as 2000rpm. Going beyond the VoD to the high side of 4000rpm, the second turbo comes into play and the two turbos work in parallel mode. It pulls nicely and cleanly all the way to the red line. There is no old fashioned turbo-lag and the feeling of being shoved to the back with a two by four, but there is a lot of power and you can see this by having a eye on the speedometer! The trusty Subaru trademark AWD is present at all times meaning, that the car goes forward, in any weather, just in the direction that you want it to go. Be wary of the dual nature of the car though. Subaru's are prone to first understeer, but careless, or intentional, use of the excess power turns it into very tail-happy! This can be good or bad, depending on the situation. The Bilsten engineered suspension works very well. It is a bit soft at first but then firms up quickly. In other words, on everyday roads and situations, it eats up bumps and such veyr smoothly but then when going faster in corners, it is firm enough that the body movements are kept in check. Build Quality: The standard Subaru deal here; after a decade, everything works still with out an issue, there are no extra creaks or other noises. Very solid build for which the Subaru's are known for. Appearance: The car isn't striking to the eye. More like it is shaped to blend in but with a few characteristic differences. There are of course the Subaru trade marked frameless windows, but other than that, the car doesn't really stand out. Even the hood scoop used to pull some fresh cool air to the intercooler is very small. All in all, very stealthy. The interior is roomy with well chosen materials. You can get full blown leather interior if you wish, but that is an optional extra. Mine has the half-leather interior. The seats are modelled well and offer a fair bit of side-ways support also. You can get electric dual sunroofs, which would light up the interior nicely. Unfortunately, mine lacks those as well. There is the Momo leather steering well with leather also in the gear-lever and parking break handle. Nice touches. The plastic wood-imitation on the dash and center console though really look tacky and shouldn't be there. Perhaps some of that semi-carbon fiber looking material that is around the instrument panel would've worked well instead. The car comes equipped with McIntosh stereo with 6 speakers + subwoofer and separate amplifier. It has cassette as well as CD players. Take note though, that this being Japanese spec, the radio only covers frequencies from 76.0 to 90.0 MHz and therefore you'll probably need to either swap the unit or get a frequency converter to lsiten to radio in your own country. The entry level accessories list is very complete and doesn't leave you wanting much. Cost of Ownership: Well, this being the top-of-the- line model, it isn't cheap. However, due to the taxation scheme in Japan, if you're importing one of   these, you can get them for practically peanuts. So buying a used second-hand TwinTurbo Legacy is not as expensive as you'd think. Of course, you then need to be prepared for all of the additional fees (shipping, taxes etc). Regarding the owing one of these, they aren't that expensive. There hardly is anything to fix as long as you keep up with regular maintenance schedule. The engine being only 2 liter in displacement means fair insurance costs as well. The car isn't very fuel hungry either if you manage to keep that speed demon in check and drive nicely. If you're doing in highway at fair speed, you're likely to be in the first turbo range and you can get to under 10 liters / 100km which is not bad at all. Of course, these can gulp easily more than twice that on a track.. Fun Factor: The car is fun to drive certainly. The engine characteristics and suspension work well together. Not to mention the very stealthy appearance means you can have some fun teasing out others at traffic lights ;)

Primary Use: Commuting to work