Hi fellow Subaru lovers. I am 65, married for 30 something years with 6 children and 3 wonderful grandchildren, 3 dogs and live in a beautiful rural area north west of Brisbane. I am retired computer tech. I am one of Subarus biggest fans...the cars, not the company... I am thinking I would like to get a Liberty for a bit more comfort and safety. I have been searching for a while now. I just missed out on one in Dubbo last week.. It had a mountain of goodies and had been tastefully done. It was making 285kwatw with all the matching suspension, brakes etc as well as all the receipts etc etc. It was an 07 Spec b sti .. We have a few Rexs and an sti and they are all moded and I am used to 13 second cars so I don't want to go backwards in performance and handling. I believe the Libs are 300kg heavier so I imagine that is going to take a fair bit of power to make it feel like what I am used to. Most of the Libs for sale seem to be 'Stock" .. I am not sure why people make such a fuss about their car being stock. I guess they think if they say it is moded folks will think that means it is thrashed within an inch of it's life. Personally I think the more mods the better , as long as they are well done and the car is serviced and well looked after. I love my daily drive wrx. It is a GC8 with a 2.5lt with all the usual goodies. VF22, 3" TBE with ceramic lined divorced downpipe, CAI, all silicon intake, Y pipe, bigger injectors , Walbro, alloy radiator, IC water spray kit, full whiteline upgrade to all bars, links, ALK, King lows etc etc 4 Pot cals, slotted rotors . I have purposely kept it quiet and it is a LOT of fun. My eldest son has a Ver6 sti that also has a built 2.5lt engine ..They are very similar in power and handling but I prefer mine as it is not as raw as the sti. My wife has a bugeye WRX hatch with similar goodies but with only 2 ltr so it's a bit of a slug. Two of my daughters have had wrxs till recently but they both now have children so the rexs have been traded for SUVs full of prams and baby seat, LOL.. They both miss their rexs. My youngest daughter has an 09 Impreza (non turbo) ..
The main reason I wanted to replace my rex is it has no airbags and with spirited driving and track days at Lakeside, I am thinking airbags would be a nice upgrade.
I am not in a hurry as I wont bother unless it is as quick or quicker than what I am used to. I have a good relationship with Rus at Subievolution. I think my family are his best customers. I have spoken to Russell and Steve about various models of the liberties and as a result I am only looking for the 07 onwards 2.5ltr models and I am not fussed but I think I would be more likely to find what I am after in a Spec B Sti but a GT with 240kwts would probably be ok but they don't have the brembos, 6 speed etc. There is a black one that lives near us and it goes hard but still no real comparison in performance. I can't be bothered buying one and putting all the goodies into it , because of the hassle of rounding up all the gear and having it all installed and then the expense off the tuning cost..I am too old to mess around with that anymore.. I just want a quick one out of the box...Here are a couple of photos of our cars.. The red one is now gone and so is the Silver GF8 we still have the rest plus the EVO but we keep that hidden in the basement.
Please forgive me if I seem a bit fussy about what I am after but I have always liked high performance cars. I did my first drag race at Surfers Paridise International Raceway in my V8 Monaro almost 50 years ago. I have drag raced against my children at Willowbank as well as track work there and dirt track racing, and a go at drifting but I was not a fan. I also did a lot of go-carting. I have done Gymkhanas at the LVMA at Mt Cotton as well as several track days at Lakeside. I have also done a couple of defensive driving courses at Lakeside. In total I have driven over 1.2m klm so far and I am hoping to find the right Liberty in which to continue my enjoyment of driving..
My sons and I also have a few 4x4s