Well, it finally happened. I am the owner of a 2006 Subaru 3.0R Spec B. They don't sell the 3.0R in the US with the Spec B package, so it's not a typo.

Here are the only pics I have, from the auction house in Tokyo. I won't get the car until next week, and I promise more photos and specs.

The color is gunmetal grey. The tires are 225/45-18 (those are factory wheels) 3.0L Boxer 6, 245 HP. A/T with paddle shifters, and DVD/Navigation. 18K kilometers (a tad over 11K miles). And the best part is I still have factory warranty.

Comments and hate mail are OK. More to follow.....

 

Wow, congrats! But I don't see the pics... I just see red X's. I noticed that some pictures of cars from Japan look like they're in a garage exactly like the one in your avatar.... is that how they do it in the auctions?

I didn't know they had Spec B 3.0R's either, nice. Sounds like a rare car, can't wait for the pics. The 08+ bodystyle has been growing on me ever since it came out.

 

My bad..... This should work:





If this does not work, I blame Imageshack.

 

Very nice, the images work now! I like the Spec B front end on the 08s a lot more than the standard Legacy front....

 

Nice!

A windshield wiper on the rear of a sedan?!

 

Subaru has done that for a long time. I know, I know.....But it looks OK. I could take it out and put a hand there (then have it wave).... (I see that a lot here, its :ghey: )

 

I see. I just looked that you live in Japan.

 

i think all cars in japan have rear wipers.

 

Congrats!!! But now there is one less Japanese TL on the forum, unless you kept it?

 

Oh man thats so nice!!!

 

 

congrats!

spec b's are

 

very nice. Congrats!

there is a member of LGT.com that has a 3.0R specB with a Rotrex supercharger. I think his username is Tomcat.

 

nice ride!

 

Not bad! I like!

 

congrats.

 

Well, I could and pay what a normal Japanese citizen pays, but it would be a fortune. I'm a US Gov guy, so I get a much reduced price but can only register one car per drivers license (the wife owns a 2001 Odyssey). So I have to sell the Saber.

 

I'll look him up. I'm not going to register with them until I actually have the car and I'm driving it. Another forum is OZLiberty.com. It's an Australian board about the Legacy, but they call it a Liberty because the Legacy name is for a group of war veterans.

 

should've gotten the Legacy STi S402!!

282 horsepower at 5,600 rpm
289 pound-feet of torque between 2,000 and 4,800 rpm

 

The S402 is a sweet ride, but it's a 2.0 GT with a lot of goodies on board, and there is not much of a HP difference. Those start at $50K. Not for a Subaru, my friend. No way.

And the bottom picture is not the 402, it's a "tuned by STI" model. The previous 2 are 402's. Look closely and there's no front quarter panel vent on the bottom pic. The STI model is sweet too, but it's a $40K car..... No way.

 

you mean 2008?




any reason you didn't go for the 2.0GT?

 

Nice pickup. I was just looking at subies the other day

 

Congratulations mrmako! The Spec B looks very good. Give us some interior pics when you can! I'm also in the minority with this one but I like the rear window wiper.

 

Can't wait to see the interior pics and more of the exterior! Congrats! Really can't stand the rear wiper though...it looks massive -- my eye goes right to it.

 

The car is a 2006, with 18K kilometers. It's a used car. Not new. My bad.

I was trying to get a six speed 2.0GT Spec B, but the price would have been a little bit higher than I wanted to pay (think about $20 - 25K then all of the other fees that have to be paid because Japan sucks like that). I lost out on a GT Spec B last Saturday by about $300, but that's how it goes at auction.

I paid $16,800 (approx) for the car itself. The other fees will get up to about $18,500. I made out pretty good, as a brand new one would have been about $32,000 plus more fees.

 

I went to my dealer and watched it get off the truck. Here's the good stuff:









The interior is still a bit dirty, and there is some glue residue around the air vents and side trim (left side). There was an aftermarket screen in the dash, so that item is being mailed. The car will look new once I pay for it in full (end of the week or early next week).









And finally, in the driveway (I had to take it our for a test drive, next to the wife's Odyssey:

 

Cliffs: I love the car, nice interior/exterior. Fit and finish are excellent. The power delivery is linear, and paddle shifters work as advertised. A much better drive than my Saber.


Now, I know that going from a 2G TL circa 1999 to a 2006 is a big leap, but the cars are really not the same, so my comparison is for reference and not a knock at all on my Saber. The Saber is more of a entry level luxury ride, whereas the Subaru really involves the driver.

Interior: The fit and finish is above what I expected. There are no rattles or shakes. The pieces fit well together, and all knobs/buttons have a good feel. Things that rotate (headlights on the stalk) turn and click into their place, not loose. Very high quality. The silver pieces on either side of the center stack look good, not out of place. They are a matte finish, so it does not blind you in the sun. The sun visors look good, the headliner is a nice light colored gray, and the interior light is not too big. Overall a nice place to be. I notice things like the A pillar to headliner fit, and I do not see anything that appears to be cheap, or ill-fitting. The rear seats are comfortable, have headrests for three, and a nice pass through that would seem to be useful. I really didn't spend much time back there, but I'll say this: 3 adults there might complain a bit.

Seats: The driver has a power seat that adjust in the 4 normal directions, and an additional adjustment for recline angle. There is a lumbar adjustment on the inside of the seat near the console, but it is a manual adjustment. Very comfortable seating position, and the sides have very good support, but are not like a deep set of Recaros. Almost as good as Volvo seats, which are the best in the industry for comfort.

Steering wheel and gauges: Yes, it is a Momo wheel, and boy does it feel goos. The leather is thickly bolstered, yet is very comfortable. You grab this wheel and it fees good in your hands. The buttons on the wheel lay out like this: the left side set on top control the audio functions (volume, mute, skip track/song, mode change). Underneath that, those buttons work the trip computer/dash computer. The area underneath the tach has a display that is changed with these buttons. liters per kilometer, length of trip, odometer, time of trip function, etc... On the right side is the sport # (sport sharp) button. this functions with the SI drive that Subaru has. More later. It is a full tilt/telescopic wheel, and I love that. And those are paddle shifters behind the column. They work and more on that under driving. The gauges are electroluminescent, as the glow more than just "light up". All of the gauges and needles fly to their maximum position before returning to rest after start up. Kind of a cool feature.

Interior and Exterior Trim pieces: I noticed that the previous owner added a metal trim piece to the door jamb, where your foot goes. It's silver (stainless I think) and it has B4 stenciled in. Looks classy. And then on the sideskirt, there's a shiny aluminum trim piece that runs the length of the doors. it denotes that this is a luxury car with sporting intentions, IMHO. I'll post pics once I get the car. The gear shift knob is not there, and it is shipped with the rest of the documentation by mail.

Exterior: Really nice to look at. The tires are Bridgestone Potenza RE050a. I think these are a summer tire, I'll look on the Tire Rack. 225/45-18 on stock wheels. They really look sharp on the car. The front is nice, especially the mesh look grill, and the headlights having a mean look to them. The headlights are Bi-Xenon, and they are bright. I'll tell more once I get it on the road. The doors close with a nice solid "thud". The windows are frameless, and go down nice and slow. No wobble in the motors. There is a factory rain gutter on there, if you can see it. It's barely noticeable.

Driving: I took it out for a quick jaunt. The brakes were OK, but obviously the previous owner had done some high speed stops and cooled the brakes too quickly. There's some warping, but nothing a quick turn couldn't remedy until I can get some new rotors. I'll have my dealer fix it.

I got out on to a good stretch where I could play with the manumatic paddle shifters. they works as advertised, but it seemed to me that it took a touch too long for it to hit the gear (maybe .5 to 1 second) from a standstill. Once on the juice, the power keeps coming. The car has no problem holding the gear until redline (I saw the tach hit 7000 before I shifted). The car has 6800 marked as redline, so I think that is about where I hit.

Fast, well, I'd have to say it was in the mid 6 second range. I do know that on a stretch of road that I could hit about 100 Kmh with the Saber, I was doing 150Kmh and could go more. I backed down as I could go to jail for speeding like that (FWIW, there was no traffic around, and I would only hurt myself if something happened). It was surreal going that fast, that quick. Plus, with this being my first AWD vehicle, It felt absolutely planted on the road. Going pretty fast felt secure, not unsettling. No real twities to speak of yet, but I'll give it a go eventually.

Engine: I said most of it above, but the power delivery was very smooth. Like some people on the Legacy GT forums, it's a matter of preference. The 3.0 has a very flat torque band, and is available from 1500 through 6000 rpm (my judgment). The GT has the issue of heat soak, having the top mounted intercooler. So there are times that the power delivery, once the turbo spools up, is immediate, there are plenty of times where it just isn't there. My friends have the turbo, so I feel the difference. Personally, I like the 3.0 for the nice even delivery of power. And no torque steer. Once you drive without it, you don't want it back.


Just my

Let me know if this is useful to anyone. I will have much better pics and other info as I go. I'll be splitting time on here and LGT.com. But you guys are a good group, regardless of your car choices.

 

I think the last gen Evo MR had a rear wiper.

Nice ride Mako!!!

 

She's beautiful! Now I really want one.... damn it

 

excellent pick up! enjoy your new ride and b safe out there

 

so are you keeping the dvd screen?

 

Nice...

 

We'll see. What it is, well, it's a TV tuner and some other things, but its not a DVD screen. Once I get the car. I'll play with it some more and find out what it does.

 

congrats on the new whip...i see i need to step up my JDM car game once my checks level off. i'll have to try to slide by and take a look when we come out to oki ( i'll hit you on the pm for better dates). i guess i'll putt around in the R33 till i graduate to spec b status

 

Congrats. Nice looking car.

 

Awesome car

 

Looks great. Enjoy.

 

Good to hear from you JZ. Yeah, if you guys are down here, shoot me a PM a few days before so we can hook up.

And nothing wrong with an R33.


I'll keep everyone posted and more pics to follow.