subaru b4 legacy

northdublin

looking at a year 2000 b4. has anyone had any experience with these cars and suggest anything that i should look for. took one for a test drive and it seemed to shudder slightly on aceleration, but after it warmed up a bit it seemed ok, the guy told me he would have it sorted and it was probably a lamda sensor?????? he said he would have it sorted by the time im its ready to collect it. has anyone ever heard of this or is this car to be avoided.

bitemybanger

A friend of mine had one and he loved it, only thing he said was running costs like parts and service cost alot and fuel consumption,.. well its a twin turbo Subaru,:D
other than that, i drove it a few times and loved it too, can pick up a 2000 reg one in mint condition for very little, a lotta car for not alotta money.

Atomic Pineapple

My cousin got one and within 2 months he had blown the engine, the B4 RSK needs 104 ron to run on properly or it will detonate, re maps are expensive too, around £1000 - £1500 i believe. if they dont get 104 ron petrol the power decreases to about 250bhp on 99 ron petrol, there big heavy cruisers with loads of power, straight line there great and you can put down the power but on a track I'd say it would be useless, the VOD is extremely annoying too, this is where the first turbo disengages and you have to wait for the second one to engage

some pics of his....





they used to be rare here but because insurance companies dont know what they are, yet there getting really common as anyone can get insured on them, was thinking about one myself but after 12 months researching cars i plumped for the ITR as the B4 just has too many drawbacks

northdublin

thanks for the replies lads. allways wanted a subaru and now that i HAVE to get a family sized car for various reasons i thought ied go for one. the impreza doesnt appeal to me cause its hard to find one thats not been rallied, and ied probably get a pain in my arse with everthing trying to race me at lights. test drove a few legacys and found them very smooth and comfortable and i dont think they have the stigma that other cars have gathered. do you know of anyone who could do a remapping in the dublin area...ie a subaru garage maybe? my intention is to keep one for a year or two and then buy something newer.

Atomic Pineapple

northdublin wrote: »

test drove a few legacys and found them very smooth and comfortable

Yeh they have loads of extras loads of comfort, there big great cruisers.

northdublin wrote: »

i dont think they have the stigma that other cars have gathered.

The "Scooby" stigma that plagues the impreza doesnt affect the legacy as much but be aware that it will, the insurance companies aren't aware of what they are yet and anyone can get insured on them, my cousin is 22 with a provisional licence and he is insured on one :eek: the importers have a fair few of them now and younger people are realising they can get insuance on them, i started looking for a performance car a year ago and was looking into them, there was none on the road then, now i meet a different one every second day.

northdublin wrote: »

do you know of anyone who could do a remapping in the dublin area...ie a subaru garage maybe?

you'll have to get a specialist in from england to do it, the irish subaru owners club get a specialist in every so often to re map and tune there cars on a dyno so its worth checking that out, it can be expensive, €1000 to €1500 i think, until you get it mapped you'll need to use maxol e5 and octane booster.

http://www.isdc.ie - Irish Subaru Owners Club

northdublin

i rang the insurence crowd today and they wont put my missus on it cause of her provisional. spent a lot of time modifying my cars in the past but i dont think ill need to do much to legacy. one thing i would like to do is get it onto a dyno to see exactly what it is pushing out, and then get it tuned up without any major mods......just enough to keep it running smooth. thanks for yer advice.

Gumbo

northdublin wrote: »

i rang the insurence crowd today and they wont put my missus on it cause of her provisional. spent a lot of time modifying my cars in the past but i dont think ill need to do much to legacy. one thing i would like to do is get it onto a dyno to see exactly what it is pushing out, and then get it tuned up without any major mods......just enough to keep it running smooth. thanks for yer advice.

you wont get any power without a full stainless steel exhaust in cluding downpipe, decat and cat back.
you will then need decent induction, uprated sparkplugs and an uprated fuel pump.
then you will need the all important remap. AMF in dublin are subaru specialists and they can remap the car for you.

one things for certain, you will need to spend some money to tune it up and will need some decent mods.

northdublin

when i say tune i mean get up to 100 % like it left the factory and so it copes with our fuel. from what ive experienced with the car it has plenty of power standard. ill upgrade important things like the suspension and brakes. even though the sound of a good boxer makes my ears prick up i dont think ill be de catting anything at best ill go for a hks silent system(child on the way and i dont want to deafen it:p)

bitemybanger

the estate versions look great too, plenty of room for the pram;)

philipnel

I have my Subaru b4 legacy about 12 mounts now; it’s an auto with power shift on steering wheel, like a paddle shift, I wanted a auto cause getting on a bit and can’t stand sitting in traffic clutching all the time. It’s my first Subaru and got Legacy cause of its size, always thought the Impreza was too small. The b4 legacy is a big heavy family cruiser with loads of power and comfort, the VOD as put here explains a lot, there is defo a lag between the two turbo I thought there was something wrong with mine, feel better now knowing is common in B4. Its ok on fuel I never tried it out but its up around 25 to 30 mpg. I’m living in cork and enjoy trips to Kinsale, Killarney, ect where you can have fun on a dally basses with out going to a track, I paid 13k for it.

JimmyCrackCorn!

Post 97 (please check before you take as fact) had a remappale ecu and are cheaper to remap.

Ireland has 100 ron fuel its E85 but it requires a remap and larger injectors. It is a very good escuse for a remap anyway and you wont loose the power or your engine. In fact youll probably gain power.

philipnel

Do you think a Remap will sort the VOD, as put here lag between the two turbines?

northdublin

from what lads in the isdc have told me a remap helps alot with the vod. they also found a noticable differance in the performance of their cars. weather you think the 900 euro or so to get it done is worth it is up to you.
other lads swear that if you stick to using e5 and booster you should have troublefree motoring. ive had mine since i first posted this in febuary and ive had trouble free motoring so far. i couldnt recomend these cars enough, there fun, fast and comfortable. they are as hard on the juice as you are heavy with your foot and i drive around dublin only really using the first turbo and ocasionally the second when i need to.

Atomic Pineapple

there lovely in blue!! very nice car!!

philipnel

northdublin,
She is lovely in blue, blue is my favourite colour, my one is Silver, What year is yours, mine is 99 with power shift. Did you have it remaped? How long have you had her?

philipnel

How do you up load pictures.

Atomic Pineapple

philipnel wrote: »

How do you up load pictures.

you can attach file by using the manage attachment button under the attach files heading underneath the submit reply and preview post buttons.

just to clear up the pre 01 cars are harder to remap than ones after 01 which had a more friendly ecu and are more friendly to a remap and so less likely to suffer from knocking and detonation

northdublin

i used photobucket for the pics and ive had the car since the middle of february. its a 2000 and ive not had it mapped, i just dont have a spare 900 euro sitting in my sky rocket. ive takin good care of it and serviced it myself. the only thing that has gone wrong on the car since i got it was the steering rack gator was ripped but ive since replaced that and ive done some essential maintenance like front discs and new pads all round. unfortunitly ive had to replace the drivers window after it was smashed and ive put a good alarm into it since.

miss enzo

nice car! my dad has the 06 b spec one! some animal of a car! and comfy too!!!

heard good things about the b4.... a guard in toen had one and sold it for an Audi A4 and misses the b4 now!

northdublin

i havent seen many spec b legacys at all. there not the type of car ppl think about when buying, usually volvos, mercs or the usual suspects in that range of car. its a pity more ppl dont consider them or test drive them im sure they would be impressed but a lot of ppl are usually looking for a badge istead of a decent car.ive not met or spoke to anyone who hasnt gotten out of a legacy and said they didnt like it

Dolph Starbeam

How does it run on the petrol over here, has it been tweaked or is it still as it was in Japan? I've heard a few things about it needing to be adapted a bit???

looks great in blue though, nice car and a bonus that you won't get noticed as much as the Impreza lads!

copeyhagen

as most people on here know mine died after a few days of gettin it.

would love another one but i dont trust subarus anymore.

good luck with her hope u done get any trouble from her

northdublin

you can be luckey and get a car, any car from japan and not have trouble. it doesnt matter a damn if you get it maped or drive like miss daisy if its been hockeyed here or over there then the damage has been done. also every japanese car dealer over here takes second hand parts from donor cars to put on sales cars instead of buying new parts. this also could contribute to a car failing in all manor of ways. ive a saxo out there also that ive had from new and its never givin me serious trouble cause everything that has had to be done to it ive fixed or replaced myself. when i sell that car i know exactly what condition its in cause ive kept it but most dealers dont have a clue what condition there cars are in and we have to take there word for it.

miss enzo

northdublin wrote: »

i havent seen many spec b legacys at all. there not the type of car ppl think about when buying, usually volvos, mercs or the usual suspects in that range of car. its a pity more ppl dont consider them or test drive them im sure they would be impressed but a lot of ppl are usually looking for a badge istead of a decent car.ive not met or spoke to anyone who hasnt gotten out of a legacy and said they didnt like it

i sgtill havent seen another b spec one!!! they are mint!!!
heres my dads one!



pity the engine is all covered up though!

J4mie

Buy it, but be prepared for the engine rebuild when it runs its crankshaft, they all do it.

Change the Air Flow Meter and Knock sensor, if it is a recent model these are cheap (do not buy a secondhand one!!), the fall out of range after a while and cause pinking (Bang). Do not fit a pod filter (F%^&s AFM's).

Get the exhaust manifold, up pipe, Turbo (+ intake pipes) and ECU from an STI WRX and convert it to single turbo, lots more power and no VOD!

By the way, NONE OF THEM HAVE 280BHP or more (even tuned it does not make much difference on the Twin Turbos)

Manuals have 260hp
Autos have 250hp