A heads up for the Bay Area peeps: A new GT sedan came into the press fleet, and arrived at our offices yesterday. Ran around quickly, if interested in some initial impressions, check out the Turbo Legacy Countdown forum...

pete

 

I'll just paste in what I posted:

SO the Legacy GT press car just showed up today, black/black Limited (or a base car with leather, heated seats, and moonroof). Took it out for our quick loop on our usual test route and am pretty impressed. First, interior seems a big step forward -- esp. interior door panel design, center console, and dash materials.

Ride is VERY well done. Well damped at all times, and handles mid-corner bumps without fuss or changing the chosen line. Steering feel and ratio is FAR better than my 2003 WRX on 18-inch P1s, and is really sweet. Best Subie steering I've felt -- though still not quite Evo-good.

Power is a bit disappointing. When we had the Forester XT, that felt fast to the point of being socially irresponsible (musta been the suspension/tires?), but maybe it's also expectations at work. Our Art Director thought it felt fast, though.

Sadly, my "Honda Accord" fears are slightly confirmed. There is no comparison in terms of sporting appeal, but there is a step towards mainstream here that the WRX somehow manages to avoid completely. Where the WRX feels like the new E30 M3, the new Legacy mixes in a (very) little bit of Camry. Nothing a set of 18-inch Prodrives, a new shift ****, and a few other details wouldn't fix...

DEFINITELY get the short shift, as the standard one is lame.

Of course, all this in a short time, I'm supposed to get it for a week in two weeks, then maybe I'll have a better understanding of the car.

Overall, I won't trade up to a sedan, but I may still consider going for a wagon...

pete