I Owned a BMW 330ci Coupe for THREE YEARS

For three long and happy years, I owned a 2002 BMW 330ci Coupe with Sports Package (larger tires, M-Series suspension, sport seats) and 5-speed. I put 84,000 miles on the 330ci over a 3-year lease. I drove it every day on a twisty New England highway at an average speed of almost 60 mph. I KNOW that car. So hear me when I tell you about the 2005 Subaru Legacy GT Limited Sedan which I just bought after turning in my 330ci (it's 3-year lease ended).

Flat out, the Legacy is a CLEARLY superior car to the 330ci Coupe, and if anybody out there spends the money on a 330ci (that I did) without thoroughly evaluating the Legacy GT, you are nuts. The 330ci is a supremely refined sport coupe with a great suspension and telepathic steering geared to a silky smooth inline-6 engine. The Legacy is a punchy, responsive, solid handling car that is stuck to the road like rails and is an absolute blast to drive. The 330ci, optioned out like the one I had, sells for about $44K. The Legacy I bought went for $31K plus tax. Hands down, the Legacy wins, whether you take price into account or not.

ENGINE: The BMW's inline-6, generating 225 HP and 217 FT-LBS of torque, is a super smooth engine that keeps you on the cam from about 2000 RPM almost up to 5000 RPM. It makes the most out of its 3.0 liters and is turbine-like in its smoothness. But the Legacy Boxer engine is something special. Mated to the manual 5-speed, there is little or no turbo lag. The power advantage (250 HP vs 225 HP; 250 FT-lbs vs 217 FT LBS) is clear and obvious once you get over 3000 RPM on the Legacy. It is simply more engine than the BMW. But more importantly (I say this as a past owner of a highly modified and tweaked Porsche 944 Turbo), I was blown away at how quiet and refined the Legacy's Boxer engine is. It is (and this will shake up those BMW owners who read this) a more refined engine than the inline-6 stuck inside of the 330ci. WINNER: Legacy.

STEERING: Steering is something that the BMW is renowned for. The BMW steering is superb -- it attaches you directly to the road and offers a tactile feedback that few cars in the world can offer. I rate it a "9.5". The Legacy has the same crispness but differs in two key respects. First, the Legacy's turning ratio is slightly higher. Those of you used to driving a BMW will find yourself "not turning the wheel enough" when you get behind the wheel of a Legacy. Second, and perhaps most important, the Legacy has a much lighter steering feel than the BMW. If you like power enhancement, you will like this; if you prefer the visceral feel of a Porsche 911, you will prefer the BMW. WINNER: BMW

SUSPENSION/HANDLING: On dry roads, it's a draw; on wet roads, the Legacy wins going away. I live in Fairfield County, CT and have the luxury of being able to drive northward onto any of a hundred twisty (and lightly patrolled) New England roads. It was always a supreme pleasure to take the 330ci on to those roads and just let the suspension dance up the road as I hung on for a roller coaster ride. Both cars exhibit superb sports car-like characteristics on these kinds of roads. The BMW's sport suspension, with the big 245-Series 17-inch Continental Sport Contacts on the back, propels you down roads with a minimum of understeer and the ability to jump into straightaways as you grab the immediate response that the inline-6 is able to give you. The Subie, on the other hand, "glues" you to the road with its superb balance. Both achieve the same result but for different reasons: the BMW because of its perfect weight balance and great rear tires; the Legacy because of its great AWD technology. But, take a hose and sprinkle some water on the road and the Legacy GT takes command. And set the temperature below 32-degrees, and it's no contest. The AWD capabilities of the Subaru win out hands-down. DRY ROAD WINNER: Draw. WET/ICY ROAD WINNER: Legacy [But for you BMW owners, if you worry about your car's ability to handle frozen roads, put on a set of Bridgestone Blizzaks and prepare to be pleasantly suprised]

EXTERIOR DESIGN: Draw. The BMW's styling is timeless though probably in need of an update (which will come in late 2005). The 2005 Subaru Legacy GT styling represents a terrific step forward for Subaru. Right now, it's a draw, but I suspect that when BMW comes out with its revamped 3-Series, it will forge ahead in this category. [By the way, as you can see from the brevity of my comments in this category, I don't put too much weight on how "pretty" a car is...I just want it to drive well]

INTERIOR DESIGN: BMW has had literally 25 years to hone and refine the interior layout and ergonomics of its 3-Series cars and the interior layout of a early 21st Bimmer 3-Series demonstrates that. I have NEVER driven a car that is more intuitive in its ergonomic layout than a BMW and nothing in the Legacy (or any of the other cars I drove, such as the G35, the GTO or the S4) changes my mind on that count. However, BMW's margin of victory in this category is suprisingly small because the Legacy's interior (with its top-notch driver position, great peripheral view and truly beautiful dash with "gee-wiz" lighting when you start the engine up) is really terrific. But I hand this one to the Bimmer. WINNER: BMW. [To all you Legacy shoppers who are reading elsewhere how subpar the Legacy audio system is: GET THE SUBWOOFER OPTION! It goes 80% of the way toward eliminating the shortcomings in the Limted versions' stereo]

TRANSMISSION: Here is perhaps the shocker of this entire review. Everybody who has ever read a review of a 3-Series has read the Car And Driver or Motor Trend raves about about how great the BWM manual shifters are. And, to be honest, the 5-Speed in my 2002 version of the 330ci was terrific. But it had two problems. First, it was an inherently "long throw" shifter in an environment where driving enthusiasts have recognized the advantage of having a "short throw". In going from a long-through 5-Speed to a short-throw MOMO shifter (GET THE MOMO short-throw option if you buy the Legacy GT!!), I view it as significant step up in performance. Second, the manual shifter in the Legacy meaningfully adds to the performance characteristics and capabilities of the Legacy because it allows you to stay in the meat of what is admittedly a somewhat more peaky Boxer Engine, torque-wise. On the other hand, with the super flat torque curve of the 330ci's inline-6, you just don't get the feeling that having a manual shifter on the Bimmer is worth the effort. WINNER: Legacy

CONCLUSION: The Legacy is, measured purely on the basis of pleasing the hedonist in you and providing maximum responsiveness and performance to the aggressive driver, the superior car. Throw in Subaru's legendary reliability (NOTE TO BMW BUYERS: If you read the most recent reliabilty ratings of new cars, you will see BMW sliding down toward the bottom f the barrel....) and the huge cost advantage that the Legacy GT offers and it's no contest. WINNER: Legacy

Finally, let me take one potshot at a car that everybody always has in the back of their mind when they are considering a performance coupe in this price range: the Infiniti G35 Coupe. Try as I did to get myself to "like" it, I just couldn't get past three fundamental defects in the car: (1) the substantially inferior peripheral view, compared to that of the BMW or the Legacy; (2) the notchy manual shifter (though Infiniti claims this is fixed in the 2005 version...I test drove a 2003 model); and (3) the "hard-to-figure out" gearing ratios of the manual shifter compared to the torque curve of its admittedly great engine. When I threw in the fact that the G35 came in about $5,000 to $6,000 more than the Legacy, well...you know what I decided.