The Short Version
- 5×100 with a 56 mm hub bore, on every Legacy from 1989 to 2003. RS, RSK, GT-B, Lancaster, sedan and wagon alike.
- 5×114.3 does not appear anywhere in this period. We scanned roughly two hundred grade rows looking for it.
- Offset is +55 almost everywhere. The Lancaster steps down to +48.
- Nothing is staggered. Front and rear match on every grade we saw.
The Claim We Went to Test
You will see it asserted that a Legacy variant — usually the GT-B, sometimes an STi — used 5×114.3 in this era. We wanted to know whether that was true.
It is not. We opened the PCD line on six separate grade pages spanning every body style and both emission-code eras: the BD5 RS, the BE5 RSK, the BF5 GT, the BH5 GT-B E-tune and the BH9 Lancaster. Every one returned 100 mm, 5 holes, 56 mm bore.
We then scanned the complete wheel-size list for both the sedan (1989–1998) and the wagon (1989 onward) — roughly two hundred grade rows — and no chassis code in the period switches to a different pattern.
So: if a source tells you a 1989–2003 Legacy is 5×114.3, the factory tables disagree. The Subaru move to 5×114.3 happened much later, and we cover where it landed on the Forester in a separate guide.
Factory Specification
| Generation | Chassis | Period | Grade | Wheel | PCD / Holes / Bore |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st, sedan | E-BC5 | 1989–1993 | RS | 15×6J then 16×6.5J, +55 | 100 / 5 / 56 (inferred) |
| 1st, wagon | E-BF5 | 1991–1993 | GT | 15×6J +55, 205/60R15 | 100 / 5 / 56 |
| 2nd, sedan | E-BD5 | 1996–1998 | RS, final | 17×7J +55, 215/45R17 | 100 / 5 / 56 |
| 2nd, wagon | E-BG5 | 1996–1998 | GT-B | 17×7J +55 | 100 / 5 / 56 (inferred) |
| 3rd, B4 sedan | GF-BE5 | 1998–1999 | RSK | 17×7J +55, 215/45R17 | 100 / 5 / 56 |
| 3rd, wagon | GF-BH5 | 1998–1999 | GT-B E-tune | 17×7J +55, 215/45R17 | 100 / 5 / 56 |
| 3rd, Lancaster | GF / TA-BH9 | 1999–2003 | Lancaster and Lancaster 6 | 16×6.5J +48 | 100 / 5 / 56 |
The RS Progression
Worth laying out because it is the clean way to date a sedan by its wheels. The RS grade went 15×6J +55 (BC5, 1989–93), then 16×6.5J +55 (BD5, 1994–96), then 17×7J +55 (BD5 final, 1996–98).
The wagon’s GT-B held 17×7J at +55 unchanged from 1996 to 2003, right through the BG-to-BH generation change. Seven years on one specification.
The Lancaster — the raised wagon, sold abroad as the Outback — is the outlier. It runs narrower wheels at a lower offset: 6×15J at +55 in 1997–98, then 16×6.5J at +48 from 1999. Seven millimetres shallower than everything else, to suit the wider track and the raised suspension.
Sizing
+55 on a 7J is deep, and it is why a standard Legacy sits tucked. The usual window is 17×8J to 18×8J in the +40 to +50 range.
Note that 5×100 with a 56 mm bore is the Subaru standard of the whole era — shared with the GC8 Impreza, the SF and SG Forester and the Alcyone SVX. Wheels cross freely between them on pattern and bore; only offset differs.
56 mm hub rings are needed with most aftermarket 5×100 wheels, which are typically bored 57.1 mm for the Volkswagen market.
Importing
The BC, BF, BD and BG generations are fully past the US 25-year mark. The BE and BH ran to 2003, so cars built through August 2001 are eligible now with the rest following to 2028.
North America got the Legacy and the Outback throughout, but never the RS, RSK or GT-B twin-turbo grades, which are the ones worth importing.
What We Could Not Verify
- PCD and bore pages for the BC5 sedan and the BF5 STi wagon individually. Every chassis either side returned identical figures.
- The TA-BH5 GT-B E-tune II and the 1997–98 BG9 Lancaster, whose wheel data we read from the aggregate list.
- The BL, BP, BM and BR generations from 2003 onward, which are outside this guide.