Sleeping Beauty – Staci Towne’s 2014 Legacy 3.6R

What do you classify as a “Sleeper”? What does it have to do with? Looks? Reputation? Style? We all have our own definitions of what a sleeper is, but to most, it’s a car that doesn’t look like it would be fast or perform well, but does. I’ve seen my fair share of sleepers, but the ones that really get me are always the ones that look most unexpecting. For example, let’s take the Subaru Legacy. For the bulk of the population, most people would point out that the Impreza WRX and STi are the “fast cars” of the brand bunch, not the Legacy. The Legacy is just a family car to most. You see them just about as much as you do Toyota Camrys, and according to many vehicle comparisons, they are in the same class – except for this particular Legacy.

In the N/A Subaru world, turbochargers are the go-to option of the forced induction category. Only the few and brave have decided to dabble in supercharging a Subaru. “There are plenty of turbocharged Subarus out there. If you want to have a fast Subaru, just snag a WRX or STi! Why would you even bother supercharging?” Why? It goes against the grain, the norm, the typical! From my perspective, there isn’t anything wrong with a little bit of supercharger whine, especially coming out of a car you’d least expect.

In 2014, Miss Staci Towne was in the market for some new wheels. Driving an Acura Integra that had been on it’s last leg for quite some time, she figured it was time for something more “grown-up“. Exploring her options and with the help of her niece, they looked between a couple different sedans. After doing research into her picks; the Legacy 3.6R was the winning car. Packing Subaru’s signature Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and a beefy 3.6L Flat 6-Cylinder, Staci was sure to have a car ready for any weather the Pacific Northwest would throw at her, along with having the power of a WRX without all the hassles that came with a turbocharged Subaru. However, it was only a matter of time before the Legacy started receiving modifications.

Like I mentioned earlier, Subarus are no stranger to turbochargers. On the contrary, with superchargers, they are. Very few owners have dabbled with them – and Staci is one of those owners. Up until the past few months, the Legacy had some very mild mods throughout her ownership. 19″ x 8″ TSW Nurburgrings on some 225/40R19 Bridgestone tires fill the wheel wells while the car sits on some nicely seated lowering springs, along with a set of classic UR Rally Armor flaps to help protect the paint. Local wrap & vinyl specialists, Wu Wraps, added on some well-placed carbon fiber wrap & clear smoked tint on various trim pieces throughout the Legacy. These include window trim, grille, tail lights and fog light bezels. The exhaust had been modified as well with Kooks high-flow racing cats, a Magnaflow 30″ resonator and Nameless axle-back muffler deletes to give the Legacy some grunt. For a long time, that is how the car rolled. Then Staci was bitten with the mod bug once again, this time in search for more power.

Comparing all the options, she noticed many had traveled down the turbocharger road. This was a very doable option, but Staci was not ready to settle just yet. She had come across a built 5th gen Legacy packing the same 3.6L Flat 6-Cylinder engine her car has – this build in particular was different from the rest. This Legacy was gripping onto a supercharger system specifically designed for the 5th gen Legacies (also know as Liberties in Australia & New Zealand) by Australian-based company, Raptor Superchargers. This is what the car had been missing, but it would not be an easy road to getting the system in the car and running properly. It was now on to finding a local shop that would take on this special project.

Running into the obstacle of convincing a performance shop to shove a supercharger system into a car that looks like only your parents would drive was a feat in itself. Staci was now accustomed to being questioned as to why she was even wanting to do this project in the first place. Being told countless times to go buy a WRX or STi if she was wanting to make power, she trudged through the Negative Nellies and had found success with teaming up with Xtreme Racing Tuning to get the forced induction project underway. Starting out, the Legacy ran the Raptor supercharger with upgraded STi 565cc injectors, a Takeda air intake and Raptor H6 headers. Several tunes were done on the Legacy to dial in all the power just right, however the car was running just a tad too hot for their liking. a fully custom front-mount intercooler system was built for the Legacy and resides right behind the front bumper lower opening. A Greddy blow-off valve was added onto the intercooler piping to allow any extra boost to exit from the system, in turn also adding the sweet chirp when you let off the throttle. Through various setbacks ranging from small tweaks to necessary modifications to ensure the car’s longevity (like adding an external transmission cooler along with a real-time data logger in the form of a tablet to keep an eye on the engine management) the Legacy is now running better than ever, thanks to the continuous support of Xtreme Racing Tuning and Raptor Superchargers. While making small improvements over time, Staci is able to enjoy the sweet and instantaneous power that the supercharger has to offer, while remaining low-key to any others passing by; unless you’re sitting still at idle listening to the car’s noticeable whine.

The Legacy has not set tire on a dyno just yet, but given the countless bits of information given by data logging and multiple tuning adjustments, along with the classic butt dyno, the car has a projected power output of somewhere around 310-320 horsepower running on only a mere 3lbs of boost. Very true does it stand that you could make that number, if not more, in horsepower with a turbocharger system, or even the highly suggested WRX & STi route. Ultimately, those options held no weight for Staci. She told me: “I could have went down any of those routes. My only complaint I had with those ideas was the fact that it was the typical thing to do, but I wanted something different, even if it was gonna be a ton of work!” This build wasn’t about making a ton of power or going the easy way. It was taking an interesting twist on a car that is too often overlooked. Nowadays, it’s hard not to take a peek if you get the chance. The supercharger isn’t the only thing that draws people’s attention. Raptor Superchargers has only sold two 5th gen Legacy 3.6R kits in the world. Staci is one of two in the world to own a supercharged 5th gen Legacy 3.6R. As if that title alone wasn’t enough; Staci drives the only lady-driven and owned supercharged Legacy 3.6R in the world. An honorable title to hold that has been well earned and fought for. The Legacy continues to be daily driven everyday, bringing a smile to Staci’s face and utter confusion to the drivers that are politely shocked as this sleeper sedan pulls away and continually solidifies the car’s nickname The Lead-foot Legacy: Supercharged.

By Anthony Yastrum – @stiish_tony

Staci’s Full Build List:

Engine/Performance

C-Mod grill
Anzo headlights
RallyArmor mud flaps
Chrome delete w/CF wrap
TSW Nurburgring wheels in 19″ x 8″
Quad Hella horns; Super and Sharptones

Interior

Wood trim wrapped to graphite grey
Brushed aluminum trim wrapped to CF
Tablet to run gauges