GravelBen

To be honest I find the majority of horror stories you hear about any of them are just a load of crap spouted by people who have never owned one anyway... "my mate said his mate met some guy down the pub who had one and it blew up" On my 4th Subaru of ages varying from 1986 - 2002 (current one is '02 GTB), no major problems with any of them.

The most reliable way to tell is checking the model code - should start with BE5D...

Levels 1:19.6 Ruapuna GP+Dipper 1:54-55 (estimate based on cars I was quicker and slower than as didn't get a proper time). Ruapuna GP 1:49 while gooning around sideways. MX5 turbo, plenty of room for improvement in those times but I wasn't taking things too seriously.

Nah I left early afternoon after realising the turbo had come loose on manifold and blown the gasket to bits, and then when I tried to tighten it a stud snapped off. Heard aboutthe Jag though, ouch!

Just noticed this and your fb profile... did I meet you at Teretonga today? (I was the ginga with turbo MX5)

Plenty of good ones already been mentioned - Chaslands highway through the Catlins, Haast Pass and West Coast, Milford Road, Lindis Pass etc... Highcliff used to be fun but seems a lot bumpier these days and always full of cyclists and tourist buses... come to think of it the buses are probably the reason the road is rougher. For Dunedinites George King Memorial Drive (out near Outram) is really nice. Moa Flat road (Heriot to Ettrick) is pretty sweet but shhh keep it quiet. Gravel-wise there is always Taieri Beach, Backline Rd and more others than I can count. But I think the single most entertaining road I've ever driven, is this one:

Do you know what CR the Rev A-C motor is? If its 8.5 then the Rev-D is 9, if its 9 the Rev-D is 9.5 - I can't remember which, pretty sure is was listed in a manual somewhere - there was a thread on here where Boostin said they were the same, then checked again and corrected himself. Sorry I'm not more help, I just can't remember where I got it from. If you can search old threads I might have mentioned a source previously? ETA: Just checked my old posts where I said 9:1 so I'll go with that again! Rev-D tech article here: http://autospeed.com/cms/title_Subaru-Liberty-B4-Tech-Overload/A_1242/article.html

On earlier cars yes, but I haven't heard that about BH5s - especially given that the Rev-D has different turbos etc.

Pretty sure its 9.5 (or maybe even 9.0) rather than 10.5:1, I forget the exact number. My bog standard Rev-D will average around the 9L/100km mark easily enough on the open road while passing the majority of traffic - best on 98, it runs ok on 95 (has to as you can't get 98 in Southland!) but feels noticeably sluggish and 10-15% thirstier.

Only thing to go wrong with my EJ208 (BH5 GTB) in the couple of years I've owned it has been a dodgy MAP sensor which cut boost back to 7psi until I replaced it for $40.

Weight reduction is all about the little details...

My old '97 TSR was certainly much happier on 95/98, though not as fuel-sensitive as a turbo. More economical on the better fuel too. Resetting the ECU just helps it adjust to the higher octane fuel more quickly.

Fuel light in my BH seems to be around 12L remaining.

Did the Blitzens get the front LSD that was optional in some RSK/GTBs? Easy enough to tell from gearbox code if it does.

If its got proper Subaru-engineered suspension then it should be great fun on the gravel anyway!

Ah yes, autoexpress renderings = we don't have a clue what it looks like so we're making sh!t up again to try and attract sales. The only guarantee is that it won't look like that Good news that they're finally making it though! It wouldn't surprise me to see a 4wd STI version somewhere down the track.

Interesting, very similar to my BH5 GTB.

I have the same wheels on my BH5, can't remember exactly but I think the offset is 55 or thereabouts if you still need to know that. 225/45R17 will make your speedo read 1.4% slower than 215/45R17 so shouldn't be a problem as far as that goes - swap all 4 though, I wouldn't run a mixture of 215 and 225 as your centre diff won't like that.

What wagon is that?

They're probably using a lot of diesel for heating in the northern hemisphere at the moment, guess that would drive demand up. Suppliers will be rubbing their hands together thinking "how much more can I get away with charging when people really need it..."

Might just be something to do with supply and demand

Official figures 1500kg manual, 1520kg auto according to: http://english.auto.vl.ru/catalog/subaru/legacy_wagon/2001_5/28496/ Which is usually pretty accurate.

On the bright side its extra motivation to get off my ass and bike to work instead of driving.

BD/BG have 60L tanks, BE/BH have 64L.

I thought 90s WRX were 50L tank... or was that just the Type-RA? Indicated empty isn't usually very accurate anyway, my BH5 GTB has a 64L tank and the fuel light comes on at about 52L gone (12L remaining), fuel light with 5-10L left is pretty common too I think.