Spain's Dani Sordo took another solid third for Citroen with Norwegian PetterSolberg once again impressing by taking fourth place in his dated 2006 model Citroen Xsara.
Loeb had no need to push himself on the final day and started with a pair of second-place finishes behind the Subaru of 2003 world champion PetterSolberg.
PetterSolberg, chasing his fourth consecutive win in Wales, did not win a single stage on Friday but finds himself in second after staying with the pace of Loeb.
The Citroen driver, bidding for his sixth win in a row, will begin the leg in fourth, 74 seconds behind the leader but just two seconds behind the Citroen of third-placed PetterSolberg.
Henning Solberg, elder brother of Petter, saw his hopes of a top-three finish dashed when he was forced to stop on stage nine with mechanical problems.