Going from a Legacy to a Falcon

ryanstev · 02-04-2016, 08:06 PM

For the last few weeks I've been thinking about selling my 1999 Subaru Legacy B4, which is a JDM import, 265hp, AWD.

I love the car so much, it's twin turbo, the primary turbo gives you full boost at around 2,500 rpm, so it's an absolute rocket.
With AWD I've never spun the wheels, I can be stopped up hill, turning hard right onto another road in the rain and I can floor it and just go.
The car only weighs 1450kg, light compared to a Falcon.

Although the Falcon has a big torquey straight 6, it was down 21hp and weighs about 170kg extra.
I worked out the power to weight ratio at the wheel 2 weeks ago, 0.102 for the Falcon, 0.126 for the Legacy and decided that I loved my Legacy too much, so would keep it.

Well, last Thursday I left home at 7:30pm to go to the supermarket, I came home at 8:00pm turned onto my road and thunked straight into a trench that Fulton Hogan dug into the road.
A 30cm drop at 10-15kph or so and damn near wrote my Legacy off.

Today I bought a BA Futura, MkII and wow, it just goes to show that paper stats don't compare to the real world.

It suits my driving style perfectly, which is not revving the crap everywhere, just letting the low down power/torque handle it, obviously I've floored it and although my Legacy is supposed to do 0-60mph in 5.8s and the Falcon does 0-100kph in 7.1s, I couldn't tell the difference.
The ESC is awesome, I can floor it, without spinning the real wheels. I won't test that in the rain and going around a corner though.

But most surprising is the handling. I'm sure it won't handle anywhere near as well as my Legacy on a race track, but I remember when I upgraded from my old 1994 Skyline to my Legacy and I was honestly blown away by the handling difference.
Well even with an extra 170kg of weight, my Falcon seems to handle as well as my Legacy around corners and roundabouts, etc.

2005 Ford Falcon Futura Mk2, dark blue.
331k on the clock (my Legacy had 238k, maybe it was tired, especially being turbo) cost me $3,600, which is cheap for NZ.

EDIT: Oh and half the insurance!

Express · 02-04-2016, 09:05 PM

That B4 would have been nice to hold onto.

ryanstev · 02-04-2016, 09:23 PM

It was the tiptronic version, so not as valued as the manual.

Plus it had transmission issues, you'd shift into Drive when you started it and sometimes it wouldn't move, you'd have to blip the throttle a few times. $1,600 to fix.

Apart from that, there were dings and scratches here and there, a bit of grey smoke when backing up the drive so either valve stem seals or turbos were leaking.

There was a constant bubbling sound from the heater box from a small leak somewhere.

I loved her, but some of those things would add up.

prydey · 02-04-2016, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryanstev

I bought a BA Futura,......

......But most surprising is the handling.

hmmm, not sure too many other people have put those 2 phrases together in a positive way. definitely not with a futura in standard trim anyway.

either way, as long as you are happy and hope it gives you a good few years happy motoring.

malazn mafia · 03-04-2016, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prydey

hmmm, not sure too many other people have put those 2 phrases together in a positive way. definitely not with a futura in standard trim anyway.

either way, as long as you are happy and hope it gives you a good few years happy motoring.

They aren't bad at all. When I upgraded from an EL Fairmont to a BA XT, it was a world apart. EL was like steering a yacht, while BA felt like a speedboat in comparison. Both did feel like boats though

. Did the futura have low profile tyres/alloy rims? These make a huge difference in handling going from stock 16" steelies to 18" alloys.

mechanic · 03-04-2016, 07:50 AM

" Today I bought a BA Futura, MkII and wow, it just goes to show that paper stats don't compare to the real world."
That's for sure.
Subaru for the little town car, Falcon for everything else.
When Subaru produce a big 6 or V8 RWD then there may be some comparison.

roddy1960 · 03-04-2016, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryanstev

For the last few weeks I've been thinking about selling my 1999 Subaru Legacy B4, which is a JDM import, 265hp, AWD.

I love the car so much, it's twin turbo, the primary turbo gives you full boost at around 2,500 rpm, so it's an absolute rocket.
With AWD I've never spun the wheels, I can be stopped up hill, turning hard right onto another road in the rain and I can floor it and just go.
The car only weighs 1450kg, light compared to a Falcon.

Although the Falcon has a big torquey straight 6, it was down 21hp and weighs about 170kg extra.
I worked out the power to weight ratio at the wheel 2 weeks ago, 0.102 for the Falcon, 0.126 for the Legacy and decided that I loved my Legacy too much, so would keep it.

Well, last Thursday I left home at 7:30pm to go to the supermarket, I came home at 8:00pm turned onto my road and thunked straight into a trench that Fulton Hogan dug into the road.
A 30cm drop at 10-15kph or so and damn near wrote my Legacy off.

Today I bought a BA Futura, MkII and wow, it just goes to show that paper stats don't compare to the real world.

It suits my driving style perfectly, which is not revving the crap everywhere, just letting the low down power/torque handle it, obviously I've floored it and although my Legacy is supposed to do 0-60mph in 5.8s and the Falcon does 0-100kph in 7.1s, I couldn't tell the difference.
The ESC is awesome, I can floor it, without spinning the real wheels. I won't test that in the rain and going around a corner though.

But most surprising is the handling. I'm sure it won't handle anywhere near as well as my Legacy on a race track, but I remember when I upgraded from my old 1994 Skyline to my Legacy and I was honestly blown away by the handling difference.
Well even with an extra 170kg of weight, my Falcon seems to handle as well as my Legacy around corners and roundabouts, etc.

2005 Ford Falcon Futura Mk2, dark blue.
331k on the clock (my Legacy had 238k, maybe it was tired, especially being turbo) cost me $3,600, which is cheap for NZ.

EDIT: Oh and half the insurance!

G'day..My boss has an Impreza ..To be honest if I was to buy a Japanese car it'd be Subara..Way back one of the guys at the golf club had a Subaru station wagon..It had a speedo and another dial in a quadrant if memory serves...It was a beaut car and i travelled with him a couple of times.The engine sounded great would have been 1984/85 .Then there was the Brumby..great little utility..One brand that seems to do really well here especially Forester/ Outback ...Glad you like the BA Mkll..one of Ford's best sellers..If you pick up a real tidy FG sometime , they're just that bit better again perhaps because Ford's R&D was still happening in the mid noughties..I had a BA Fairmont Ghia , but the FG XR6 I bought to replace it is just that little bit better for responsiveness , handling and economy..Insurance the same..At 331 k ..if it's been well looked after like it sounds like it has , you should get another 150,000 at least without too many issues..Bloody oath they're reliable..Cheers..Rod..

ryanstev · 03-04-2016, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roddy1960

If you pick up a real tidy FG sometime , they're just that bit better again perhaps because Ford's R&D was still happening in the mid noughties..I had a BA Fairmont Ghia , but the FG XR6 I bought to replace it is just that little bit better for responsiveness , handling and economy

There was an FG E-gas for $4,800, I was tempted, because it was much newer, but I couldn't bring myself to lose that much power.

I'll do some light mods on my BA, such as the snorkel mod and exhaust, which will bring the car closer in HP to my Legacy, but nothing major.
I have my project Fairmont for big HP fun.

nstg8a · 03-04-2016, 11:28 AM

I've gone kinda the opposite way, I got rid of my au fair lane 5.0, and got a late model Subaru xv, even the cvt version for maximum boringness, but it's really surprised.

Ok, it's only got 110kw so it's as slow as a slow thing but it handles amazing, and the build quality is light years ahead of any ford I've owned.

Having said that, I miss having a boat to play with so I've done a deal on a fairlane Concorde lol.

superfly · 03-04-2016, 07:16 PM

Nice choice. I drove a Liberty B4 but couldn't handle the power drop between the staging of the 2 turbo's. The single turbo was much nicer.

I went from a modified WRX to my FG and whilst the car is slower and doesn't handle as good, I've been happy with my upgrade. Love the room and effortless cruising. Plus no attention either.

But I think for my next car, I'll get back into AWD. After 4 years of RWD, I still don't feel comfortable going fast in the wet whereas with AWD, it was no problems. But I most likely will keep my FG for another 6 years or so. With a growing family, the big size is most welcome.

Enjoy your new purchase.

Matty4 · 03-04-2016, 07:28 PM

That's a shame about the B4.
I had a JDM Legacy B4 RSK that I bought back in 2004 off a dentist who imported it new from NZ before they were officially released onto the Australian market. Sold it in 2012 and to this day I kind of regret it. It was a hell of a car, never was able to loose traction, handled rather well, didn't use much fuel (around 10lt/100) without babying it.
Mine was a manual too.
Damn.............i miss it....