It was my second Subaru Legacy which was a Spec.B. The car came stock with about 250 hp/ft-lbs but after some minor exhaust modifications and a COBB accessport, those numbers climb up another 60 hp and 80 ft-lbs. So at just at around 310 hp/330 ft-lbs, that car felt very fast. But it wasn’t just the added power that made the car fast, it was how well the car was able to put power to the ground, partly because of Subaru’s excellent AWD system and also because of the suspension mods performed.
The first time I took the car to the track after stiffening sway bars, endlinks, adding adjustable camber bolts, and modifying the alignment, the car was telegraphic in how it responded to my inputs and it put down the power in a heroic manner. Too much speed through a 180 degree turn? Just gently roll onto the throttle in 3rd and the front will start pulling straight as the rear shifts from oversteer to neutral. Turn-in was so quick and predictable as was its at-limit handling and extremely neutral cornering with a manageable throttle-induced oversteer.
I, a weekend track warrior with only half a dozen track days under my belt, was able to keep up with veterans in their 911s, C5 Vettes, and M3s, at least around the curves and the chassis made me feel like a superhero at the track. That car made track driving effortless and road driving even better and made it feel easy.
That was the last car I owned before the switch to the electrical and computer-controlled rolling smartphones we have today and it was more fun to drive than any of the 500HP+ V8 BMWs I drove at a marketing event last month.
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
