2005 Legacy Wagon GT - Hidden Value or Overpriced Subaru
Written: Sep 15 '04 (Updated Sep 15 '04)
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Pros: Power, lots of power, new luxury touches
Cons: Wind noise, rough ride, price
The Bottom Line: This would be a great alternative to the SUV or jelly bean minivan.
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| mwc5446's Full Review: 2005 Subaru Legacy Station Wagon |
As a current owner of a 2003 Subaru Legacy Wagon, I was invited by Subaru to test drive the 2005 model. As an incentive, along with the invitation, they sent me a $25 Visa gift card. What they didn’t know was that I am a loyal Subaru fan that had been anticipating the release of the 2005 model for over a year and I didn’t need an incentive to drive the 2005 model.
When I arrived at the dealership I took the certificate to the sales manager and told him I wanted to redeem the certificate and drive a 2005 Subaru Legacy Wagon GT with an automatic transmission. He said that I was the first person to bring the certificate in for redemption. I found this very interesting since the certificate was sent out over a month ago and this is a very high volume dealer. Anyway, he grabbed a salesman and told him to pull a car around to the door for me.
He drove around in a Regal Blue Pearl wagon. It was very attractive. The one item that caught my attention most about the exterior was the low profile tires. This car had 45 series 17 inch Z rated tires. Such high performance tires are usually only found on very expensive exotics. The car is equipped with projector beam multi-reflector headlights that give it a squinty cat like appearance and a true working hood scoop to feed the turbocharged intercooler. The hood and rear hatch are both aluminum alloy which makes them very light and easy to use.
The interior of the car is very attractive. The seats are deeply molded and covered with black leather. The center console has a waterfall effect that looks as if it is brushed aluminum. The MOMO brand steering wheel has volume controls and SPORTSHIFT buttons. The dash is electroluminescent which is way cool and usually featured in upscale brands such as Lexus. The materials all seem to be of a high quality and all match very well. Subaru has redesigned the dual sunroof system on this model. It is now one solid piece of glass that stretches from the front to the back. It is a much cleaner and easier to use design. The interior features all the amenities that you would expect in a car of this cost. Those include, heated seats, lighted vanity mirrors, illuminated glove box, front and rear cup holders, 6 speaker audio with 6 disc in-dash changer, dual zone automatic climate control, keyless entry, and antitheft security system. This car is a five passenger car, however, the center passenger in the rear only has about 10 inches of seat room, and three adults in the rear seat would be cramped. By the same token, you would be lucky to get three car seats in the rear seat as well. As required, the car has the new LATCH car seat attachment system, but, only for two LATCH attached car seats at a time. You can either hook up the two outboard seats, or the one center seat. The center seat attachment shares its mount points with the outboard positions.
Subaru has included many safety features on this model. This includes standard side curtain air bags, seat mounted side airbags for front passengers, intelligent air bag systems that control air bag force, active front seat head restraints, and seatbelt pre-tensioners and force limiters. The last model achieved a 5 star crash rating, and I don’t see any reason why this car wouldn’t as well.
The biggest news for this model is the new redesigned turbo engine. Subaru took its proven 2.5 liter engine, strengthened it, added active valve control system, and then added a turbo to give it 250 horsepower and 250 lb.ft. of torque. This model has Subaru’s standard Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive system, a viscous-type limited slip rear differential and variable torque distribution. The suspension has been updated to include front antidive and rear antisquat geometry. The 4 wheel disc brakes are now all ventilated disc and include the standard 4 channel, 4 sensor ABS and electronic brake force distribution. Note that this brake setup is usually found in high performance, high cost, sedans and coupes.
The Drive:
When I started the car, I noticed that at idle it was very quiet. The electroluminescent gauges did a full sweep of their respective ranges, which was cool to watch. The seat, being deeply sculpted, seemed to hug you and hold you in place. I pulled out and stepped on the gas. There was a momentary ‘standard’ feeling to the cars momentum, and then once the tach reached the 3000 RPM mark, the turbo kicked in. All I can say about that punch was WOW. It was a joy to step on the gas from a red light and rocket above the speed limit in only a few seconds. Now I believe Subaru’s claims to being faster that a Porsche or BMW. I did notice a slight miss or stutter when the engine was under a slight load in 5th gear at 55 or 60MPH.
The automatic transmission shifted smoothly and seemed to have different shift points when under full acceleration. It was fun to watch the automatic keep the engine in its peak power band as it rocketed to 70+MPH. In SPORTSHIFT mode, the car seemed just as quick. The only benefit I could see of this system was to force downshifts when slowing down. Otherwise the intelligent automatic transmission does a fine job in determining the correct gear for the occasion.
The ride was definitely very sport, almost harsh. But, riding on 215/45 ZR17 tires, that would be expected. The car handled very good and seemed well planted to the road at any speed.
Also now gone is the Subaru engine ‘sound’ and the engine sucking noise of the previous model. If you’ve ever driven a Subaru, drove beside one with your window down, or owned one, you know what I’m talking about.
The wind noise was no improvement over the previous model, maybe even a little worse. Above 65 MPH, I noticed a high pitch squeal. It was alarming to me as it was so loud I thought something had broke or there was an alarm going off. I think I narrowed it down to the overhead luggage rack cross bar. I also noticed that when driving with the windows down that the rear view mirrors whistled in the wind.
Summary:
The sticker price of this car was $29,378, but the dealer had added $1,500 for ‘market demand’. There are a lot of cars in the $30k range. I have owned Subaru’s since the mid-eighties and I just couldn’t bring myself to pay $30k for a Subaru. Granted the car had lots of luxury and lots of power, but, at heart, it is still a Subaru. Remember the old slogan, “Inexpensive and Built To Stay That Way”. I guess that slogan should now be “Expensive and built to stay inexpensive”.
But, if you are tired of the jelly bean minivans (looked at a Quest?), tired of SUV’s, and need something with more room, and want it to be fast and sporty, you should definitely check out this car.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 29378
Condition: New
Model and Options: GT Wagon Automatic
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Epinions.com ID:
mwc5446
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Reviews written: 2
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