Rattlhed Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 This weekend I got to go on a 500 mile round trip road trip to visit family. I was really looking forward to this to see how my new '08 Legacy GT handled on a long freeway trip, since I've only been able to drive it back and forth to work (about 10 miles a day) since I got it 2 weeks ago. Comfort - This car is so comfortable. My back isn't in the greatest of conditions, and road fatigue can really get to me. 5 hours each way on my road trip and zero (yes, zero) fatigue from driving. The seats are just incredible. They hug every curve in the back, and the lumbar support is a huge plus. Also, power seats are great for a manual transmission...once you get up to freeway speed and put on the cruise, it's easy to just slide the seat back and drive away. When you need to get ready to start shifting gears, a quick push on the power seat gets you back into position. Much easier than manual seats. My wife was with me and sat in the passenger seat the whole trip. She also agreed that the seat was very comfortable on the long road trip. Dual climate control is also a great luxury addition to this car. I like it cool, she likes it toasty warm, and now we can have both. This is a great plus! Interior of this car is wonderful. Driving in the dark is so easy. Every gauge lights up in a nice red color, even the controls on the steering wheel lights up to make it easy to find and control the radio and cruise. And the speedometer and tachometer are gorgeous at night. Performance - Wow! This car has muscle. I wasn't sure the SI drive on a MT car would do much, but you can really tell the difference between Intelligent drive and S# drive. Click it over to S# when you want to pass someone, and you get go from 75 to 90 mph in a light touch of the gas pedal. At one point I had this car up to 100mph and the drive was smooth and nimble. The car had no problems holding that speed and delivering a great ride. Love it! The steering feedback in this car is also outstanding. The stiffness of the wheel is absolutely perfect. Not too lose, but it doesn't take too much muscle to get around tight turns at high speeds. I kept a close eye on gas mileage too. The car got an average of 23.5 MPG on the freeway based on my calculations (miles driven / gallons purchased). The car's MPG calculator gauge was about 1 MPG less than what I calculated, giving me a result of 22.3 MPG. And this was going an average speed of 80 the whole trip. I'm very happy with this outcome, given the stated MPG as 24 per highway. Looks - Yes, I got second glances from people looking at my car as I zipped by. This car is like the giant that no one knows about. Nothing strokes the ego like people admiring you car All in all I love this car, and it's definitely the most fun I've ever had in a car. Luxury and outstanding performance all in one for under $30k. It blows me away that there aren't more of these on the roadways, given the popularity of Subaru in the pacific northwest. I see Foresters and Outbacks all the time, but almost no Legacys. BMW 3 series and Lexus IS are a dime a dozen around here, but I think you get just as much if not more car for $5k -$10k less with the Suby. Then again, I'd rather have a car that no one else has, so I'm not complaining!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmiller5 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 ^^ Similar to my thoughts. The LGT is definitely an excellent trip car (besides the gas mileage). It can handle just about anything you throw at it. This reminds me of a quote from Jeremy Clarkson: "It has bingo wings, a great suit, the right moustache and a silly hat in the shape of a mad sunroof. If it could talk, you know it would sound like Edward Fox. It’s a brilliant all-rounder." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_sharp Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 The seats in these cars really are amazing. I actually drove 10 hours with a single stop one day. After the 10 hours I stopped to give the car a break, i could have gone 10 more! And just an observation that i've made: the difference between 80mph and 70mph cruising is about 3-4 mpg... well worth it for the mileage concious individual. I'm not sure how to extrapolate that to the 5spd but I do know that air at STP transitions from laminar to turbulent flow around 70mph... maybe thats a stretch but something i've always wondered. Back on topic yes this car is great in comparison to the 3series and lexus is. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rouar Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 And just an observation that i've made: the difference between 80mph and 70mph cruising is about 3-4 mpg... well worth it for the mileage concious individual. There was one time I drove back home using all 45-50mph back roads. It was also the first time I saw 32+ average MPG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pillboy Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 The seats in these cars really are amazing. I actually drove 10 hours with a single stop one day. After the 10 hours I stopped to give the car a break, i could have gone 10 more! Catheter? It is still ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
underscore Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Looks - Yes, I got second glances from people looking at my car as I zipped by. This car is like the giant that no one knows about. Nothing strokes the ego like people admiring you car I think it's you "zipping by" at 100mph that gets their attention... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tito_b0y Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Hmm, my friend says my seats are hard compared to his tC's. Then again it's probably because I don't have the leather seats or because it's the passenger seat. Overall, great review. 2006 SWP 3.0R 5EAT VDC BBQ 2008 OBP 2.5i 4EAT BBQ [RIP] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_sharp Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Catheter? nah i made one stop after 5 hours to fill the car and empty me lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOE_1985 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 my 1st road trip i got 420 miles out of a tank of gas doing 75 most of my trip, i was getting about 30mpg my last trips were 26-28mpg highway i think my car is strange but in a good way but do the 08 have differnt gearing than the 05? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmiller5 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 ^^ I can get 29mpg consistently on the highway at 70mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picture_Shooter Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Congrats on the new car purchase. I enjoy owning subaru for its AWD. My wrx probably was one of the most uncomfortable vehicles for long distance drives (Austin, TX to Denver, CO) due to the narrow seats. Even though I traded it in for a Mazda6 (wife's hoot-ride) I just missed the AWD! So I sold my old Nissan Pathfinder and found myself an older Legacy (2000) and my GOD, this ride was so comfortable. I have no idea how the new 08's feel in the cockpit, which I am sure its probably better though. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schneiks Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 ^^ I can get 29mpg consistently on the highway at 70mph. same here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neurodancer Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 ... Click it over to S# when you want to pass someone, and you get go from 75 to 90 mph in a light touch of the gas pedal. At one point I had this car up to 100mph and the drive was smooth and nimble. The car had no problems holding that speed and delivering a great ride. Love it! ... I kept a close eye on gas mileage too. The car got an average of 23.5 MPG on the freeway based on my calculations (miles driven / gallons purchased). The car's MPG calculator gauge was about 1 MPG less than what I calculated, giving me a result of 22.3 MPG. And this was going an average speed of 80 the whole trip. I'm very happy with this outcome, given the stated MPG as 24 per highway. Glad to see you were able to get a road trip to Montana in, right??? Be careful what you post here as breaking the law is a no-no... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zed 2.0 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Glad to see you were able to get a road trip to Montana in, right??? Be careful what you post here as breaking the law is a no-no... For all the illegal mods that people do to their cars (HID without auto-leveling, tampering with catalytic converters, noisy exhausts, non-DOT intakes) it cracks me up that people get up in arms when somebody starts talking about speeding. To the OP--glad you're enjoying your 08. I had the pleasure of driving mine from Denver to Chicago with about 2500 miles on it. Was a great experience--my last car didn't even have working cruise control! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gasaraki Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 My complaints are that the seats are too hard and they could hold you in just a little bit more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowImg Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 My complaints are that the seats are too hard and they could hold you in just a little bit more. Firmness/material/etc I think is great, but I definitely agree they don't hold onto you at all. Any hard cornering and I'm sliding out of them. I guess I need to gain 60-100lbs? My biggest complaint with my LGT is the sun visors! They're horribly awkward and the mechanism is so heavy in motion that every time I try to flip mine down, I end up pulling it out of the clip. That, and the weird hesitation down in 1-2 that even with my AP is still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlingXShot Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 The best seats I ever sat in were from my older 1993 Camry. The seats were so much used up and in addition very soft, you could make it your bed :-) I am not sure if anything comes close to those seats :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeTrout Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Firmness/material/etc I think is great, but I definitely agree they don't hold onto you at all. Any hard cornering and I'm sliding out of them. I guess I need to gain 60-100lbs? My biggest complaint with my LGT is the sun visors! They're horribly awkward and the mechanism is so heavy in motion that every time I try to flip mine down, I end up pulling it out of the clip. That, and the weird hesitation down in 1-2 that even with my AP is still there. And people diss the alcantara in the spec.Bs. That stuff holds your butt like friction tape! Ich bin echt viel netter, wenn ich nuechtern bin. Echt! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throttlejockey Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 And people diss the alcantara in the spec.Bs. That stuff holds your butt like friction tape! I agree. I swear the 3.0R seats are shaped different from the SpecB also. The SpecB seats seem to wrap around you more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siper2 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 My wrx probably was one of the most uncomfortable vehicles for long distance drives (Austin, TX to Denver, CO) due to the narrow seats. What year WRX? Most aren't very narrow, they just aren't particularly good. Lateral support-wise, the best were the 02-03 seats. Mostly it's not the width of the OE seats, it's the overall quality, which isn't very good for the Imprezas. Pick a nice Recaro that may even be more narrow, yet I can just about guarantee that you won't have the same complaints about comfort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_sharp Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 And people diss the alcantara in the spec.Bs. That stuff holds your butt like friction tape! That was the first thing my buddy with an 06GT with leather commented on when he rode with me... not sliding lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowImg Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 And people diss the alcantara in the spec.Bs. That stuff holds your butt like friction tape! It's not so much the material, the material would be fine -- it's just the large space between the bolsters to accommodate the more.. mature driver.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_sharp Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 It's not so much the material, the material would be fine -- it's just the large space between the bolsters to accommodate the more.. mature driver.. you can adjust it lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOE_1985 Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 The best seats I ever sat in were from my older 1993 Camry i had a 93 camry, friend is still driving it with over 400k, how, i have no idea toyota seats> subaru seats the legacy seats would be 100% better to me if it had more bolster to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowImg Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 you can adjust it You can adjust the horizontal space between the side bolsters? I need to do more manual reading I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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