Subaru Legacy test drive 2003 - 2006 sedan
Subaru Legacy car overview
General STI (Subaru Technica International) is a subsidiary of Subaru, whose activities are related to the preparation of IMPREZA series cars to participate in international rally (WRC) and the development and improvement of sports modifications of this car. The President of the company STI, Mr. Katsurada Masaru, who once headed the working group to create the first generation of Legacy series machines, and is currently engaged in final grinding of all the developments of cars performed by Subaru. This person can rightfully be called Mr. Subar.
The name of the STI company is associated with the emergence of a very famous Impreza STI VERSION on the market. But now the company has published the Legacy S401 STI Version model and, starting on November 12 of this year, has already collected applications for all 400 cars planned for the production of this series, which in turn claims to be the most perfect sports city sedan. This car was created on the basis of the Legacy B4 RSK, however, its engine is designed by a large inlet collector with an intermediate cooler and duct, as well as an active catalyst of low -pressure exhaust gases. In addition, thanks to the electronic control unit, the power indicators of the engine are brought to 239 hp. for developed power and 35.0 kg/m in the torque. The brake system includes Brembo supplements and brake hoses in steel braid. In the suspension, 18-inch forged disks of the BBS brand and reinforced springs were used, lowered by 10 mm (while the coefficient of fading of the oscillations remained the same). In addition, an additional strengthening was made on the front crossbar, the engine mount on the body has become more rigid, a specially adjusted transverse stability stabilizer and spherical supporting pillows began to be used in the rear suspension.
The changes also affected the appearance of the machine and the interior of its salon. From the elements of external design, the front bumper and the radiator grill should be mentioned, in the interior design of the cabin, the seats upholstery consisting of a combination of skin and fabric, a indicator of a speedometer, having a gradation up to 240 km/h, sports species, aluminum medallions, and even automobile Tool (!) Made by Snap-on. The coloring of the body can be as follows: a bluish color specially designed for this model, a specially designed gray opal and black topaz found in the base model, only three options.
Disbalance reduced to zero
All that I talked above can be considered as a result of the usual process of improving a particular model of cars produced for the modern company. Nevertheless, there is something that makes us admit: yes, STI is STI, and everything is different here!. In this regard, I would single out three characteristic points.
First, pay attention to the transmission. Instead of the B4 RSK 5-step hand gearbox used in the base model, on the model under consideration is a box with 6 speeds. It is clear that this gearbox is borrowed from the Impreza model. Nevertheless, is it often that the manufacturer would have to replace such a significant component for several hundred cars for several hundred cars? I am sure not. Another point is tires. The car in the p-zero-neero brand tires produced by Pirelli. Subaru is working closely with this company as part of the WRC, which, in fact, made it possible to agree on the production of these tires specifically for the S401 car. If we were talking about a mass series of cars, then this kind of specialization would not surprise anyone. But in this case, to start all this fuss for the sake of all the same four hundred cars - this is simply the rarest, if not the only case! And finally, the third. In relation to the pleasure that you receive by driving the S401 machine, this item seems to be the most important. I mean engine balancing. First of all, from a large number of pistons and connecting rods, the most balanced pairs are selected manually. As for the crankshaft and flywheel, in order to bring the balancing of this node to the ideal, a couple is taken, which is already prepared for installation on a regular engine and is once again more meticulously tested by a specialist who, if necessary, makes high -precision balancing. I was told that Subaru for the sake of this additional balancing, I organized a special line on its production site for the assembly of engines exclusively for the S401 model. This is precisely the merger of the technological achievements of the company and the highly qualified of its specialists. The production process organized in this way leads to such, highly, positive results.
Judge not by specification, but by fact!
Drive in such a perfect machine, which is presented to me by the S401 model, gives the impression that the suspension of driven wheels works 20-30 percent more precisely compared to the Legacy B4 base machine. It does not have that excessive sharpness that would immediately make it clear that the car is specifically tuned to the race with obstacles. Such a setting is almost invariably present in such exemplary models with additional adjustment. But in this case, everything is not so, since the concept of this car, as the developers themselves formulate it, try to keep up with the BMW M3 machine. You can probably put it differently. So,
there is a base model Legacy B4, which is really revealed only at super-high speeds. To this we add the coordinated operation of the suspension and steering, which allows you to enter a car into a steep turn exactly like a thread into a needle ear. This is what the new S401 model is. Now, no matter what situations arise while driving along high-speed roads, the driver can always feel truly confident. Let's look at the engine. According to the specification, the motor added power only a little. But at the same time, he throts smoothly and without strangle, in any speed range, it is felt almost not changing its value to torque, the noise of a working motor is deprived of any tension - all this in total causes very positive emotions. In short, all the advantages of the Legacy B4 RSK car are not only not lost, but also raised to a higher level.
The engine power, thus, increased by ten horsepower, the car added in a qualitative and functional plan, which, of course, could not but affect the price. Yes, the car has become more expensive by 1 million 700 thousand yen (~ $ 16,000) compared to the previous RSK model. And, judging only by the very modest appearance and interior of the cabin, the total price of a car of 4 million 350 thousand yen (~ $ 41000) may seem too high to someone. However, if you start sorting out all its advantages one after another, then nothing but words is yes! It doesn’t come to my head. Well, as for the restraint of external forms, it is specially conceived by STI. After all, no one leads there, but Mr. Katsurada himself! In a word, only 400 units will be produced by the LEGACY S401 STI VERSION models. But, it seems, not everything is still lost. So, if someone is preoccupied with the search for a car, what is there to think, immediately by the end of this week, contact the dealer!
Source: CarView.co.jp
