Legacy No.2. TBSTI
Discussion
Sold my e91 330d last week as a big diesel wasn’t the right engine for out current situation. I predict we will do less than 6k miles a year in it. I didn’t want to kill the dpf as it wouldn’t get hot enough and the long journeys we used to do have got less frequent, so time to replace it with a petrol.
Criteria was as follows
Isofix, Estate, petrol, uncommon, not fwd, 250+hp and the same price as I sold the e91 for.
Didn’t leave a lot of choice. Mainly Audi s4 but don’t really like Audi. Plus the potential bork factor was off putting.
Browsing ebay, facebook etc for anything interesting when suddenly a bit of a unicorn car popped up on ebay, but it was a couple grand out of budget and 230 miles away. I saved it in my watch list. A couple weeks went by ans the price was dropped. A month went past and the add ran out.
I rang the seller expecting the car to have sold. Nope still available and open to negotiation on price.
Train ticket booked for the following day.
1/2 hour before getting to the train station my phone flashed and alert. Train cancelled, derailment in carlisle.
Hastily book another but this one doesn’t arrive until gone 5pm. Looks like I’m buying the car as I’ll struggle to make it home.
Seller picks me up from the station and within 5 minutes I’m sold on it. Seller was honest in his description and the car drove faultlessly.
Admin and funds transfer take an hour or so. Phone call to the bank asking them to release the funds they just blocked etc.
It’s 6:30pm, 230 miles till home and work in the morning… great. First thing is finding food as I’ve not eaten all day. A Pie, chocolate bar and coffee and a full tank of 99 octane later and were good to go.
I didn’t mention the speedo is in km/h good job waze has a speed reading in the corner. 120km/h is 70. All I need to know.
Finally get home at 2230 shattered but relieved that the car made it and without incident.
The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Here it is.
Yes that is quad pipes on a 4 cylinder, 6 years before vag.
The car is a 1 of 600 Subaru legacy tuned by sti.
The exterior is in very good condition for its age with only a couple small marks the size of a stone chip and all the expensive sti bits are original and present.
Interior is another story and why I think this car hung around. The dash is cracked (all the jdm seem to) and the tbsti only, half leather half alcantara seats need the bolsters re dyed. But importantly no rips or holes. The central alcantara is good.
|https://thumbsnap.com/YgCrxyob[/url]
|https://thumbsnap.com/1BFynR4i[/url]
Mechanicals are good. No knocks, bangs or untoward noises whilst driving. Power steering pump a little noisy, hopefully a 2p o-ring and a cheap hose fix that. In the last year its had a big service of cam belt, fluids, plugs ect. A new battery and a couple of bushes.
Plan going forward.
Service oil, filter and plugs.
New brakes all round. (This has the 4 pot brembo of the impreza sti, loads of choice)
Rear boot struts (need a helping hand to lift up the tailgate)
Straighten the 10 bent fins in the intercooler
Remap for uk fuel (incase 99 isn’t available and piece of mind)
underseal and rust inspection (don’t expect to find any. Imported 2021.
Polish headlights and new xenon lamps.
Figure out what I’m going to do with the japanese infotainment (I don’t speak/read Japanese and its all Japanese)
Criteria was as follows
Isofix, Estate, petrol, uncommon, not fwd, 250+hp and the same price as I sold the e91 for.
Didn’t leave a lot of choice. Mainly Audi s4 but don’t really like Audi. Plus the potential bork factor was off putting.
Browsing ebay, facebook etc for anything interesting when suddenly a bit of a unicorn car popped up on ebay, but it was a couple grand out of budget and 230 miles away. I saved it in my watch list. A couple weeks went by ans the price was dropped. A month went past and the add ran out.
I rang the seller expecting the car to have sold. Nope still available and open to negotiation on price.
Train ticket booked for the following day.
1/2 hour before getting to the train station my phone flashed and alert. Train cancelled, derailment in carlisle.
Hastily book another but this one doesn’t arrive until gone 5pm. Looks like I’m buying the car as I’ll struggle to make it home.
Seller picks me up from the station and within 5 minutes I’m sold on it. Seller was honest in his description and the car drove faultlessly.
Admin and funds transfer take an hour or so. Phone call to the bank asking them to release the funds they just blocked etc.
It’s 6:30pm, 230 miles till home and work in the morning… great. First thing is finding food as I’ve not eaten all day. A Pie, chocolate bar and coffee and a full tank of 99 octane later and were good to go.
I didn’t mention the speedo is in km/h good job waze has a speed reading in the corner. 120km/h is 70. All I need to know.
Finally get home at 2230 shattered but relieved that the car made it and without incident.
The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Here it is.
Yes that is quad pipes on a 4 cylinder, 6 years before vag.
The car is a 1 of 600 Subaru legacy tuned by sti.
The exterior is in very good condition for its age with only a couple small marks the size of a stone chip and all the expensive sti bits are original and present.
Interior is another story and why I think this car hung around. The dash is cracked (all the jdm seem to) and the tbsti only, half leather half alcantara seats need the bolsters re dyed. But importantly no rips or holes. The central alcantara is good.
|https://thumbsnap.com/YgCrxyob[/url]|https://thumbsnap.com/1BFynR4i[/url]Mechanicals are good. No knocks, bangs or untoward noises whilst driving. Power steering pump a little noisy, hopefully a 2p o-ring and a cheap hose fix that. In the last year its had a big service of cam belt, fluids, plugs ect. A new battery and a couple of bushes.
Plan going forward.
Service oil, filter and plugs.
New brakes all round. (This has the 4 pot brembo of the impreza sti, loads of choice)
Rear boot struts (need a helping hand to lift up the tailgate)
Straighten the 10 bent fins in the intercooler
Remap for uk fuel (incase 99 isn’t available and piece of mind)
underseal and rust inspection (don’t expect to find any. Imported 2021.
Polish headlights and new xenon lamps.
Figure out what I’m going to do with the japanese infotainment (I don’t speak/read Japanese and its all Japanese)
Edited by sam.rog on Monday 7th August 18:54
I had this in my watch list too as it was only a few miles alway. Wasn't sure about it personally, the price was too strong for me despite being a tbsti, and as you say, interior a bit tatty for the mileage. A few grand off then yea, could have been a good buy, didn't keep an eye on the price though.
Are the wheels the correct Enkies? Look a bit different.
Interesting car for sure.
Are the wheels the correct Enkies? Look a bit different.
Interesting car for sure.
Edited by 3GGy on Monday 7th August 23:16
3GGy said:
I had this in my watch list too as it was only a few miles alway. Wasn't sure about it personally, the price was too strong for me despite being a tbsti, and as you say, interior a bit tatty for the mileage. A few grand off then yea, could have been a good buy, didn't keep an eye on the price though.
Are the wheels the correct Enkies? Look a bit different.
Interesting car for sure.
I’ve been keeping an eye on legacy prices for a while. Lets just say I paid a fair price for a spec b import. Never mind a tbsti. Are the wheels the correct Enkies? Look a bit different.
Interesting car for sure.
Edited by 3GGy on Monday 7th August 23:16
Wheels are correct but have been powder coated in an anthracite colour, which I think goes well with the satin white paint.
It’s had over 1.4k of work done since 09/21. With only brakes being the only major expense left to do.
Edited by sam.rog on Tuesday 8th August 07:17
Edited by sam.rog on Tuesday 8th August 07:17
Take care...120kph is 75mph in my book! !!!
I'm not familiar with JDM Legacies...what engine is yours and what year?
I'm running a bit of a shed UKM 2.5 2003 run out model estate, 60k mileage, not rusty, bit clunky on lock, but runs really well. Took it to France on a whim last month, no troubles at all. Cruises all day at their Autoroute 130kmh limit, no stress.
I still miss the flat6' s I had "back in the day" when they were company funded☺☺
I'm not familiar with JDM Legacies...what engine is yours and what year?
I'm running a bit of a shed UKM 2.5 2003 run out model estate, 60k mileage, not rusty, bit clunky on lock, but runs really well. Took it to France on a whim last month, no troubles at all. Cruises all day at their Autoroute 130kmh limit, no stress.
I still miss the flat6' s I had "back in the day" when they were company funded☺☺
sam.rog said:
3GGy said:
I had this in my watch list too as it was only a few miles alway. Wasn't sure about it personally, the price was too strong for me despite being a tbsti, and as you say, interior a bit tatty for the mileage. A few grand off then yea, could have been a good buy, didn't keep an eye on the price though.
Are the wheels the correct Enkies? Look a bit different.
Interesting car for sure.
I’ve been keeping an eye on legacy prices for a while. Lets just say I paid a fair price for a spec b import. Never mind a tbsti. Are the wheels the correct Enkies? Look a bit different.
Interesting car for sure.
Edited by 3GGy on Monday 7th August 23:16
Wheels are correct but have been powder coated in an anthracite colour, which I think goes well with the satin white paint.
It’s had over 1.4k of work done since 09/21. With only brakes being the only major expense left to do.
Edited by sam.rog on Tuesday 8th August 07:17
Edited by sam.rog on Tuesday 8th August 07:17
Too early to say what kind of motorway, and combined MPG you're getting?
There's a lovely looking tbsti saloon on eBay at the moment in Scotland too.
Edited by 3GGy on Tuesday 8th August 10:00
trails said:
TBSti do look good, can you swap the dash with any old variant?
Yes, it's fairly common to get one from a uk car being broken for rust or a diesel that had an engine failure. That legacy looks fantastic. I'm on my second, a 3.0 uk spec car, having previously had a JDM twinscroll.
3GGy said:
Sounds like a good buy in that case. Few interior bits and you'll be sorted.
Too early to say what kind of motorway, and combined MPG you're getting?
There's a lovely looking tbsti saloon on eBay at the moment in Scotland too.
They all seem to be in Scotland. Too early to say what kind of motorway, and combined MPG you're getting?
There's a lovely looking tbsti saloon on eBay at the moment in Scotland too.
Edited by 3GGy on Tuesday 8th August 10:00
Hovering around the 120kmh range the fuel consumption was 10.8l/km. Which I think is around 30 ish. Considering the wether and occasional use of the power (for thorough testing obviously) I don’t think its too bad and comparable to my old 3.0. Around town I’d be happy if it was low 20s.
My milage in it is low enough that 20 or 40mpg makes no real difference.
This has so much more get up and go than the 3.0. Wether it’s actually any quicker I’m not sure, but the bum dyno it does feel it. Which is exactly what I was hoping for.
david.h said:
Take care...120kph is 75mph in my book! !!!
I'm not familiar with JDM Legacies...what engine is yours and what year?
I'm running a bit of a shed UKM 2.5 2003 run out model estate, 60k mileage, not rusty, bit clunky on lock, but runs really well. Took it to France on a whim last month, no troubles at all. Cruises all day at their Autoroute 130kmh limit, no stress.
I still miss the flat6' s I had "back in the day" when they were company funded??
120 on the clocks was 70 according to waze. Speedo must be a tad optimistic. I'm not familiar with JDM Legacies...what engine is yours and what year?
I'm running a bit of a shed UKM 2.5 2003 run out model estate, 60k mileage, not rusty, bit clunky on lock, but runs really well. Took it to France on a whim last month, no troubles at all. Cruises all day at their Autoroute 130kmh limit, no stress.
I still miss the flat6' s I had "back in the day" when they were company funded??
Marquezs Stabilisers said:
When you say remapped for UK fuel, do you mean super or 95 RON? I have an Impreza and would be interested if 95 RON is possible - one Easter pottering round Devon as no Super available was stressful.
I think you can go as low as 95 on a map but expect a 10% drop in power compared to stock jdm from my research. I’ll map mine to 97 as that seems to be the lowest super fuel. Jdm cars run 102 as premium and I think a drop to 97 is just too much for the high compression engine in this car without a remap as the car will knock like crazy and potentially cause damage to the engine.
The other option is a fuel additive to increase octane but im not sure this is the best way.
I have good access to 99octane fuel so its not super urgent but for peace of mind something I want to do.
sam.rog said:
3GGy said:
Sounds like a good buy in that case. Few interior bits and you'll be sorted.
Too early to say what kind of motorway, and combined MPG you're getting?
There's a lovely looking tbsti saloon on eBay at the moment in Scotland too.
They all seem to be in Scotland. Too early to say what kind of motorway, and combined MPG you're getting?
There's a lovely looking tbsti saloon on eBay at the moment in Scotland too.
Edited by 3GGy on Tuesday 8th August 10:00
Hovering around the 120kmh range the fuel consumption was 10.8l/km. Which I think is around 30 ish. Considering the wether and occasional use of the power (for thorough testing obviously) I don’t think its too bad and comparable to my old 3.0. Around town I’d be happy if it was low 20s.
My milage in it is low enough that 20 or 40mpg makes no real difference.
This has so much more get up and go than the 3.0. Wether it’s actually any quicker I’m not sure, but the bum dyno it does feel it. Which is exactly what I was hoping for.
Had a 98 GTB for a while, remember it liking a drink but I did more miles back then. Those MPG figures aren't too bad.
trails said:
TBSti do look good, can you swap the dash with any old variant?
As this has the Mcintosh stereo system it has a central speaker in the dash. Which is going to complicate finding a decent dash second hand. I believe you can still get them new from subaru (which I might end up doing).
3GGy said:
Cheers, good to know. Funny you should say that, I find all the ones I want to go see are in England! Ha. I try not to buy cars from up here to be honest, seen so many 'mint' absolute rot boxes I generally keep scrolling as soon as I see a Scottish town mentioned.
Had a 98 GTB for a while, remember it liking a drink but I did more miles back then. Those MPG figures aren't too bad.
According to the seller it's not seen salt during his ownership and looking underneath I’m inclined to believe him. The rear arms are still black and STI visible. The exhaust is the only rusty bit on the car. For a 15 year old car and what looks like an original y pipe is good going for one of these. Had a 98 GTB for a while, remember it liking a drink but I did more miles back then. Those MPG figures aren't too bad.
That saloon does look good. The colour is nice. Imo its about 2-3k too expensive.
The estates command a premium over the saloons.
Its an auto and its missing the back boxes and grill which are rare and expensive to replace.
The price being asked is probably right for a manual tbsti saloon with all the parts present.
But yes it does look good.
sam.rog said:
As this has the Mcintosh stereo system it has a central speaker in the dash. Which is going to complicate finding a decent dash second hand.
I believe you can still get them new from subaru (which I might end up doing).
Ahhh the 'premium' Mcintosh option, I had that in my Gen5 and removed the central speaker when I installed an Android head unit...sounds much better for it, so perhaps an option to make life easier I believe you can still get them new from subaru (which I might end up doing).
trails said:
Ahhh the 'premium' Mcintosh option, I had that in my Gen5 and removed the central speaker when I installed an Android head unit...sounds much better for it, so perhaps an option to make life easier
Honestly I’m half tempted to rip the whole audio system out and start again. Leave the Mcintosh stereo in place for oem looks, but have a double din unit where the current nav screen is. Apparently when working correctly the SQ on the mcintosh system is decent. But its a pain in the arse as the speaker foam disintegrates, they are 8ohm so impossible to replace and well its 15 years old, I’m sure technology has improved since then.
Edited by sam.rog on Tuesday 8th August 12:24
sam.rog said:
Honestly I’m half tempted to rip the whole audio system out and start again. Leave the Mcintosh stereo in place for oem looks, but have a double din unit where the current nav screen is.
Apparently when working correctly the SQ on the mcintosh system is decent. But its a pain in the arse as the speaker foam disintegrates, they are 8ohm so impossible to replace and well its 15 years old, I’m sure technology has improved since then.
I had to replace the passenger window regulator, so took a look at the OE speakers and they look like they are made of bog-roll...so I'll be replacing all mine before too long.Apparently when working correctly the SQ on the mcintosh system is decent. But its a pain in the arse as the speaker foam disintegrates, they are 8ohm so impossible to replace and well its 15 years old, I’m sure technology has improved since then.
Edited by sam.rog on Tuesday 8th August 12:24
This may be an interesting read if you are planning on swapping stuff out...
http://forum.liberty.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=22&...
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