It was almost 3 months ago that Motor Image, the official Malaysian Subaru importer and distributor called in the Hypertune office to inform of the possible dates for a test drive on their newest road roaring turbocharged machine. And since the test drive had been just recent, I'd wondered why they'd book us a drive so far in advance.

The problem was that they only had one test sample and that everyone and their uncles wanted to give it a go. Such is the reputation of Subaru's Legacy GT and the promise of the well-perfected symmetrical all wheel drive chassis-powertrain setup and of course, 245hp of forced fed boxer propulsion. An undeniably exciting package wrapped in a big sedan body that should appeal to a wider audience than the bewinged Scooby WRX.

Except that I was a bit stumped when first told of the price. Slightly north of RM270,000 for the total on the road price puts it squarely against the junior Mercs, Beemers and even the new Audi A4 which boasts 200hp but without the 4 wheel drive system. The question beckons; is generous power and refined handling enough to overcome the brand-name deficit the Subaru faces against the traditional Q-car names that this price range demands?

Judging from the looks, there's still some way to go till the Legacy might grab some of the limelight away from the aforementioned names. Understated, discreet and plain – though not unattractive, the Legacy will appeal to those types who went for Audi cars in the late 80s and early 90s. A perfect example of the mildness of its presence was when we brought this test car to our Miss Hypertune event and showcased it amongst other show-style mobiles where on-lookers regularly overlook the Legacy.

I personally dig it's aesthetics, but if I'm paying that sort of money, some splashes of chrome or fine touches of luxury inside would go a long way to convince my bank manager. Kumz, our contributor who is a committed audiophile loved it to bits for the extravagant McIntosh audio system with 6-disc CD changer. He guesstimated that this system would be easily worth over RM10K in the open market and consulting with the Motor Image crew revealed a figure closer to RM 20K. And if you need to ask how good it sounds, than you don't deserve a McIntosh.

(The rest of the article can be found in Hypertune Vol. 45)

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