[Yangster]

Well, I love my "dog." And, what the Hell, it's the year of the dog anyway!

[beldredge]

Originally Posted by StewtheBassman

Legacy turbos SUCK gas, if driven the way they are meant to be driven.
Legacy turbos are fast, but jerky..that's a 2.5 litre 4 cylinder engine doing all that work.
The Legacy is mostly a fixed AWD with a LSD (which works nicely), but it's not xDrive.
The Legacy engine is loud.
The Legacy ACC is poor, I'm not making that up.
THere is no telescoping wheel in the Legacy.


Need I go on? For a couple thousand more the Bimmer is a much better car.
5.1 seconds is fun, but if that's what you NEED in a family sedan then maybe there are other anatomical issues which need tending to.....

My comment on considering the Legacy was tongue-in-cheek. Just that the 5.1 sec stat is pretty impressive, regardless of how they got it. I had an older Legacy, and have thoroughly researched and test-driven the current turbo models, and agree with most everything you said.

[StewtheBassman]

Originally Posted by beldredge

My comment on considering the Legacy was tongue-in-cheek. Just that the 5.1 sec stat is pretty impressive, regardless of how they got it. I had an older Legacy, and have thoroughly researched and test-driven the current turbo models, and agree with most everything you said.

I had one for three months over the summer and ditched it 'cause of the seat.



I would still love to see how it would have handled our miserable 'effin winter....that turbo in winter's cold would have been SICKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lux.sh]

Originally Posted by acd483

My family's been back and forth over the 325xi touring and the Audi A4 2.0TQ Avant.

I had reservations about the A4, having driven the 1.8T Quattro and found it sluggish. I ended up driving an S-Line 2.0T sedan. It handled beautifully, looked great and had decent get-up-and-go. Bottom line? Very surprising and pretty impressive.

On the other hand, I was very eager to test the xi because I feel the 330i to be dreamy and the 325i more than adequate. Well, an already fat car put on ~500lbs with the electronic awd and felt like the 1.8T Audi. I was dismayed; with no available sport suspension it had little of the spirit that makes BMWs fun to drive.

Sorry boys, but the Audi wins this time. If only BMW made a RWD Touring or a 330xiT...

Has anyone else found the 325xi unbearable? Because I see a lot driving around and can't figure it out.

So uh.. Lets see. You liked the Audi more. And you find 325xi to be "unbearable". What is that you need us to inform you about?
You've driven the car. You didn't like it. Story ends.
BMW is not a perfect car, and is not going to satisfy everyone. There is one simple answer though, why don't you just get a 330xi then?
Excuse my communication level, I didn't quite get that "dreamy" comment.

[DerekS]

Originally Posted by beldredge

I haven't seen this R&T article in its entirety yet, but I'm not sure I understand why ACD feels "vindicated"? I just saw an excerpt from the results, and saw that R&T got a 0-60 time in the 325xi of 6.5 seconds.

Granted, that's not the fastest of the bunch they tested, but I personally wouldn't consider anything under 7.0 secs a dog. But, it's all personal preference. I'm not thinking of running out and buying a Legacy just for its raw acceleration (then again - 5.1 secs? that's pretty darn fast).

How interesting that R and T confirms the 325 Xi is no dog with a 6.5 sec. time for 0-60. The 325XiT would be 1/10 or 2/10's slower with the additional weight for the wagon. In comparison, a recent test done by Edmunds.com on the Audi Avant A4/3.2 yielded a 0-60 time of 7.9; this was slower than Audi's claim. Similar results have been found in other tests of Audis by Car and Driver, etc. Bimmer fans know that BMW's acceleration claims are always understated. Nice to know that the 325XiT will blow off any A4 wagon with either the 2.0T or the 3.2 V6.
Then there is the 50/50 weight distribution that BMW offers compared to Audi's 58.5/41.5 ratio for the A4 wagon. It's little wonder that the BMW's handling dynamics are superior to Audis.