
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, 4-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door sedan
PRICE AS TESTED: $35,274 (base price: $32,120)
ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve flat-4, aluminum block and heads, port fuel injection
Displacement: 150 cu in, 2457 cc
Power (SAE net): 265 bhp @ 5600 rpm
Torque (SAE net): 258 lb-ft @ 2000 rpm
TRANSMISSION: 6-speed manual
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 108.3 in Length: 186.4 in
Width: 71.7 in Height: 59.3 in
Curb weight: 3500 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS:
Zero to 60 mph: 5.4 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 14.1 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 27.2 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 6.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.1 sec @ 100 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 150 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 162 ft
FUEL ECONOMY:Zero to 60 mph: 5.4 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 14.1 sec
Zero to 130 mph: 27.2 sec
Street start, 5–60 mph: 6.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 14.1 sec @ 100 mph
Top speed (governor limited): 150 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 162 ft
EPA city/highway driving: 18/25 mpg
C/D observed: 21 mpg
BY JOHN PHILLIPS, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARC URBANO
February 2011
Testing Subaru’s Legacy 2.5GT Limited has proven frustrating. And expensive. In its initial acceleration runs, our first GT sheared a half-shaft. Once repaired, the car made a second appearance, and a second half-shaft was bifurcated.

The 2.5GT Limited, starting at $32,120, represents the sportiest of Legacy sedans. Its turbocharged 2.5-liter four produces 265 horsepower—95 horses beyond what the base 2.5i can muster, and nine more than the 3.6R’s 3.6-liter flat-six.
With half-shafts finally spinning instead of flailing, the 2.5GT tackled 60 mph in an aggressive 5.4 seconds, and the quarter-mile was dispatched in 14.1 seconds at 100 mph. By contrast, the base Legacy, fitted with a CVT, required 8.7 seconds to attain 60 mph. And the flat-six, with standard five-speed automatic, performed the task in 6.4.



Unfortunately, peaky powerplants also have the habit of snapping heads. The 2.5GT is fun, but it’s a car that proves tricky to drive smoothly. Which had us yearning for the refinement and more-than-adequate performance of the 3.6R, which fetches $6400 less than the 2.5GT Limited and thus earns our nomination as the Legacy for discriminating adults.
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