Need some advice on a BL5!

[smoothsubie]

Hey everybody,

I'm kinda new here (had my BH5 GTB for a while and browsed the forum but haven't posted much) and just went and drove a BL5 the other day. The car is a 2005 Legacy GT with 100 thousand on the clock, 5MT, and seems in really good nick. Exterior and interior both really well looked after and doesn't seem to be thrashed at all which is always good! Only thing thats putting me off is the boost controller that is already installed....

Its a tap (as opposed to electronic)and the chap isn't really sure what it had been running on. Initially said to me 1.5bar but he wasn't too sure, to which i thought was ridiculously high, but when i expressed my surprise he just became more unsure. When I drove it, it was boosting just under 1 bar (much more normal??). So i guess after my mini essay, I'm just after what you guys think about this situation and also how well the BL5s handle a bit more boost? By a bit more I mean ~15psi - AFAIK 13.5 is std? If i do buy the car, I'd be looking to take out the tap straight away.

Also, what kind of fuel consumption do you all get from your BL5 LGTs? Im hoping its a bit better than my BH5 which is decidedly average..

I've loved my BH5 for the last 3 years or so that I've had her, but the BL5 just seems a heap more refined!

Cheers guys!

Mike

[tebbyj]

These turbos are known for letting go if pushed, is saying that 1.5psi over stock isn't a great deal more, But you have to think why it was put on there in the 1st place?

Fuel economy on this model is an improvement over the older but at the end of that day its still a 4 pot turbo, I get about 8-8.5 km/l mainly city driving and can go up to about 9-10km/l on the highway thats a 5eat BP GTB.

[DacerX]

To me it all would be how much is he wanting?

[smoothsubie]

 tebbyj said:

But you have to think why it was put on there in the 1st place?

My thoughts exactly!

Also has an STi Genome oil psi gauge in it. Flickers heaps at idle/cruising, is this normal?

[smoothsubie]

Oh and 14k but needs cambelt + brake pads so will barter a bit

Also, I wouldve thought it wouldve fuel cut/boost cut if its just tapped up without anything else done to it?

Edited June 3, 2014 by smoothsubie

[syphe]

fuel cut is around 1.3bar I think, but it shouldn't be able to hit that unless the downpipe has been opened up, I only know as one of my vac hoses was split causing fuel cut as soon as I had my downpipe installed.

I've found fuel consumption to be really good on mine, and even better with a tune, my gauge sits about 10km/L for most of the time, can't complain about that for mostly city driving.

[tebbyj]

 syphe said:

I've found fuel consumption to be really good on mine, and even better with a tune, my gauge sits about 10km/L for most of the time, can't complain about that for mostly city driving.

10km/l average is awesome for one of these. Who did your tune??

14k id say is quite high, look at what it needs thats 1k there plus the seedy boost tap, id be closer to 10-11k but thats just me.

[syphe]

 tebbyj said:

10km/l average is awesome for one of these. Who did your tune??

14k id say is quite high, look at what it needs thats 1k there plus the seedy boost tap, id be closer to 10-11k but thats just me.

got mine tuned by Cryotune from the legacygt.com forums, he's got a really good reputation their, really cheap and he has very good customer service. It was an e-tune though, so didn't just drive in drive out.

Agree about the price, when I bought mine it was hard to find in manual, but they're all over the market now, trademe is full of them.

[smoothsubie]

Where are all these well priced BL5s then haha, this car is one of 2 manual BL's that I can find that is around this price level and kms. Others are 180-200ks+ for $8-10kish or 2007+ ones that are like $16k+!

[syphe]

heh, probably location then. There's a few dealers around here that seem to have a constant supply, I'm on the lookout for an older legacy as a project and all I see are 2005+ ones

So I assume you haven't found any facelift's with the 6-speed and SI-drive? I've not ridden in one but hear good things about them.

[knockoutgiant]

I've had my BL for roughly a year now and loving it! (First subie I've owned ) Got mine for $12.200 with 126km on the clock (manual turbo blah blah blah) So I guess that one does seem a little overpriced. Had it on for a dyno inspection run at speedtech and saw in stock for the boost was 15.5psi tapering off to about 13psi at redline, I'd say a little more than that wouldn't be too hard for these cars and if you're just going to take the controller off anyway then you shouldn't have a problem!

I also have a set of brand new front pads you can have for reasonably cheap if you were to buy it aswell.

Goodluck with the purchase man!

[tebbyj]

 smoothsubie said:

Where are all these well priced BL5s then haha, this car is one of 2 manual BL's that I can find that is around this price level and kms. Others are 180-200ks+ for $8-10kish or 2007+ ones that are like $16k+!

No you are right, the market is in a bit of a slump at the moment. I would wait tbh. They seem to come up in waves, I can remember seeing BL GTBs on trademe with 100-140ks for 10-12k a few months back but market seems dead at the moment.

[smoothsubie]

 syphe said:

heh, probably location then. There's a few dealers around here that seem to have a constant supply, I'm on the lookout for an older legacy as a project and all I see are 2005+ ones

So I assume you haven't found any facelift's with the 6-speed and SI-drive? I've not ridden in one but hear good things about them.

By older do you mean a manual twin-tubby 98 BH5? You can buy mine hehe

Bit out of the price range for an 6MT SI-Drive at the moment. Hard to tell when the market will pick up again though!

[Andy_Mac]

https://touch.trademe.co.nz/motors/listing/view/729222701

Pretty good price for a fecelift spec b

Shame its all the way down in chch

[smoothsubie]

Yeah thats nice as! Good excuse for a road trip haha!

Probably a newbie question, but is there much difference in the NZDM to JDM?

By the way thanks for all the responses its been great!

[syphe]

 smoothsubie said:

Yeah thats nice as! Good excuse for a road trip haha!

Probably a newbie question, but is there much difference in the NZDM to JDM?

By the way thanks for all the responses its been great!

They are pretty much the same, only difference being the NZDM models were all Spec.B trim.

From 2008 onwards NZDM models were the same 2.5L that the Aussies got, however you don't see many around of them. These were single scroll and the engines are prone to failure

[gotasuby]

Jdm pros:tinted Windows, alloy suspension arms. Hid lights. Spring loaded cubby. Reclining rear seats in wagon and electronic seat folding. More engine covers. Keyless entry and beep on un lock and lock

Nzdm/adm pros. 260km speedo. No speed cut. Better service history. Full size spare. English stickers and labels. Easier to reflash as there are more roms around. Obd2 compliant. Better looking rear bumper in my opinion. McIntosh is standard in turbo and 3.0r. Steering wheel controls in manuals. Cruise control in manual models

Edited June 4, 2014 by gotasuby

[smoothsubie]

Just been reading about the 5MTs being unreliable on LegactGT.com. Many Kiwi chaps had problems with their 5MTs?

[ADIKT]

 smoothsubie said:

Just been reading about the 5MTs being unreliable on LegactGT.com. Many Kiwi chaps had problems with their 5MTs?

No - seen more problems with the 5spd autos though (the 4spd autos of that era are even worse)

[syphe]

THey don't seem to have the same 'glass' reputation that the early 2000 WRX's get.

[smoothsubie]

So the 6MT is a bit more sound?

Also keen on hearing if people think its a better drive or not!

[ADIKT]

The 6speed would be the best option yes

[gotasuby]

6 speeds are very nice in them. but the 5 speeds are not as weak as the early ones

[knockoutgiant]

My 5 speed grinds a little from 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th ONLY when changing at high revs, this could be due to needing a new clutch or I hear on legacygt that changing the fluid to redline stuff fixes it so I'll be giving that a try shortly!

[GC8E2DD]

 tebbyj said:

10km/l average is awesome for one of these.

Actually, that seems pretty much normal for a factory tune and sensible city driving. Unless you are talking about the autos which I have no experience with.