mattm Posted December 17, 2004 Share Posted December 17, 2004 (Sorry for the formal title, but I wanted to make sure people would find this in doing web searches) === Good === - Handling is very good, even compared to my previous sporty cars (2 RX-7s, Nissan 240SX, Integra GS-R). I haven't driven it to the limit yet, but in standard, slightly-agressive driving it's great. Nice and light on the steering, but not too light. Good road grip. - Engine power is very good, much better acceleration, especially at lower RPM, compared to my VTEC Integra - Electroluminescent gauges look nice and are very clear and easy to read - With the manual transmission, the short-throw shifter has excellent action and is easily worth the extra ~$275 in my opinion. - Nice little touches: trip elapsed time display, outside air temp display, 2 trip odometers, button to set the dashboard illumination to daytime level (not dimmed) if you have to turn the headlights on during the day, very convenient storage tray on top of the spare tire - Nice big sunroof - Auto-dimming mirror with compass and Homelink option. Auto-dimming feature dims exactly the right amount at night with headlights behind me, and the Homelink works great with our garage door. - Get the rear cargo tray mat to protect the carpet in the back, it works very nicely - Extra power connector in the center armrest is perfect for powering my Sirius radio, and the groove for running the wire so you can completely shut the top cover is a nice touch - We fit a large rear-facing car seat (Britax Marathon) in the center seat in the back with no major problems. Used the seat belt (since there's no latch attachment for the center position) and attached the tether to the floor using a strap around the front passenger's seat rail. Took a bit of work to get the tether strap around the rail, and the strap prevents the front passenger's seat from moving back quite all the way, but, it works, and the car seat is very rigidly (safely) installed. - I like having knobs to turn, rather than having to press up/down buttons, to adjust stereo volume and climate control temperatures. Would be nice if tuning the radio was also a knob, but, nothing's perfect. - Seems like a very well-made car overall, no problems so far. - Had a very reasonable, even pleasant experience driving buying the car from Ron Price Subaru in South San Francisco, and them to match a good price quote from another dealership. === So-so === - Would like a tad more leg room in both the front and back seats - Climate control is a little on the warm side in manual mode sometimes -- not too bad, but a little quirky to get it just right. Also would be nice to have a "slave" mode, when I'm the only person in the car, so I could dial one knob to set both temps. - Mileage. I've been averaging about 21 MPG. Not a surprise, I expected it, but it's still not too good. (By the way, so far the MPG indicator in the car has been about 1 MPG below my calculations when I gas the car -- that's pretty accurate, I would say.) - Emissions rating isn't too good, around average for all new cars. Competitors (including non-GT Legacy) are much better than that. - Stereo has non-standard antenna connectors making it difficult (impossible?) to wire in an in-line FM modulator for my Sirius radio (Audiovox PNP3). Right now I'm using the broadcast signal from the unit, but here in the San Francisco bay area there are so many radio stations that sometimes there's no frequency over the 88.1 to 94.9 FM range that doesn't give me some static. - Buttons on the keyless entry seem to get pressed easily in my pocket. Because the range is so long (>50 feet), I'm a little concerned that the car might unlock while I'm inside a building nearby. - Glove compartment is small - Wish all 4 windows had auto up/down like my wife's BMW... oh well - Roof side rails are solid, so you can't tie anything down to them, you have to get the cross-bars in order to conveniently tie something to the roof (of course you shouldn't tie anything down without the cross-bars anyway, becuase if you sit something directly on the roof it might scratch the roof paint or dent the roof or interfere with the sunroof) -- so get the cross bars if you want to carry anything up there - As others have complained, in the Limited wagon the dome light is so far toward the rear that it barely illuminates the front seats, so you have to use the map lights (which don't turn on when opening a door) to see anything at night - Why no memory settings for the driver's power seat? === Bad === - Nothing so far! === Overall === Great car! Pricier than some competitors, but worth the extra money for the quality and handling/performance in my opinion. -Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forestir Posted December 18, 2004 Share Posted December 18, 2004 Great post. Thanks for the review and the details. I'm glad you said there was nothing bad so far. Not even rattles or squeaks? Awesome. Is yours 5EAT or 5MT? Not that it matters much, mileage should be comparable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattm Posted December 19, 2004 Author Share Posted December 19, 2004 [quote name='forestir']Great post. Thanks for the review and the details. I'm glad you said there was nothing bad so far. Not even rattles or squeaks? Awesome. Is yours 5EAT or 5MT? Not that it matters much, mileage should be comparable.[/QUOTE] 5MT, with the short-throw shifter. 5EAT would be nice sometimes when stuck in traffic, but I had a feeling I would never, ever use the manual shift option, so I decided to save some money and have a little more fun with the 5MT. Nope, I haven't noticed any squeaks or rattles yet. One other thing I like about this car that I forgot to mention is that the interior noise level is significantly quieter than my Integra at freeway speeds. Not sure if it's road, wind, or engine noise, but overall the Legacy is quieter. -Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattm Posted December 22, 2004 Author Share Posted December 22, 2004 One other thing I thought of since my first post... a "so-so" to "bad" thing is that the brake pedal takes so much force to apply a reasonable deceleration level to the car. Before I sold my old Integra, I went back and forth driving both cars several times over a few days and the difference was incredible -- the Integra took a LOT less force on the pedal to slow down. Obviously the Legacy is a much bigger and heavier car, but I'm sure they could have compensated for that in the assist. So the first few weeks I had the Legacy I kept rolling past stopping lines by a few feet, until I got used to it. -Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
forestir Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Hmmm, you might wanna get the brakes looked at. When test driving the Legacy GT and Outback XT, I noticed a slight sponginess, but didn't require a lot of force. I did find the 2nd generation Integra to have very touchy brakes, but the 3rd generation was "normal." I am somewhat concerned over braking performance and feel. That's one of the major dissatisfiers I had with a previous Honda Accord (rear drums). But the feel improved dramatically with new Hawk brake pads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legandrex Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Good review. I agree on most things. I would put glove box in the bad dept however. Our wagon and sedan rattles. The left side anchor is loose. Pretty weak design in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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