cohenfive Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 ok, we've had the car for a few weeks now and i've driven it both around town as well as on the highway and have gotten to know it's idiocyncracies a bit better. the more i drive the car the more impressed i am at the value this car represents. here are the highlights: 1. performance--this car is sneaky fast, smooth and pretty quiet under acceleration. gas mileage (according to obc) is about 20mpg so far although i have no idea why the calculated mileage varies so widely as we haven't reset the thing. i don't expect fantastic mileage out of this car given the performance level. haven't needed the awd feature at all (sf bay area). this will come in handy in the winter with all the rain we get as well as taking the car to the sierra. 2. handling/steering--i'm pretty impressed with the handling of the car in a stock setup. granted the tires aren't the best but overall it's a decent handling/ride compromise. my major beef with the car continues to be the very light steering with not enough feedback. i'm spoiled by the heavy but precise feel of the steering in my bmw. 3. exterior--the car is really attractive, the atlantic blue is a terrific color and we get some nice compliments on the car. attractive wheels too. the best feature of the car (for us) continues to be the gargantuan sunroof. 4. interior--nicely laid out guages and pretty (but not luxurious) interior appointments. obviously good utility--i love being able to put my mountain bike in the back without taking a wheel off. it's a lot more fun driving this to the ride than our beat up sienna minivan!! my biggest beefs are the lack of volume controls on the steering wheel (subi should've taken one set of auto shift controls and made it audio volume--dumb!!!) and the ongoing saga of my wife's discomfort in the driver's seat. we will be trying to address the latter very soon. the stock stereo is nothing special but we're having the subwoofer installed today and i expect this to make a decent difference. so overall i like the car quite a bit and think subi's done a good job here. as long as we can get my wife more comfy we're both happy with the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slickvic Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 (subi should've taken one set of auto shift controls and made it audio volume--dumb!!!) Yeah but then some of us would accidentally hit "station seek" instead of "shift up" and bounce off the rev limiter. DOH! Not worth it to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacbreak gt Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 Cohenfive, glad you like the wagon. I came to further appreciate the LGT after picking my daughter up from school in Santa Barbara. We fit all of her stuff into the back of the wagon with both seats folded down, and still had room for more. Very comfy 5 hour ride, averaged 75 mph and got 25 mpg. Hope you find a solution to your wife's comfort issues. I also had trouble finding the optimal seat position, but I finally got it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cohenfive Posted June 13, 2005 Author Share Posted June 13, 2005 only other thing i can think of offhand would be seat memory for driver....if we ever find a comfy position for my wife it would be great to keep it saved!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racerdave Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 I think the center sections of the seats are overfilled with padding, IMHO. (I have a non-LTD, so for me it's the patterned cloth section) It makes the right thigh/rear end area somewhat not comfy, as it seems like there's a ridge there. And the back section seems overfilled as well, for the knee-in-the-back feeling goes away somewhat when I reach behind me and mash the padding down, then rapidly sit back again. I have an ok seating position now, however I'll likely take it to the dealer at the next service and get them to have it modded by a car opholstery shop (sorry the "yoo" on my keyboard died ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cohenfive Posted June 14, 2005 Author Share Posted June 14, 2005 Cohenfive, glad you like the wagon. I came to further appreciate the LGT after picking my daughter up from school in Santa Barbara. We fit all of her stuff into the back of the wagon with both seats folded down, and still had room for more. Very comfy 5 hour ride, averaged 75 mph and got 25 mpg. only 75 mpg average...wimp!! i went down to cal poly slo with my daughter (in my car) and made it down in 3 hrs 5 minutes.....i like cars that 'eat' miles....the subi is really great at speed as well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmurph Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Nice review...I pretty much agree with you on everything. The biggest beef with me is also feedback from the suspension and the brakes - they're not too firm...I'm going to eventually swap the pads for something aftermarket, flush the fluid and maybe install SS lines and see if that helps. My wife even commented on the brakes...she's not too confident with them. The ride is also a little too floaty...I'm surprised the Subaru engineers didn't notice this when they were tuning the suspension...it needs a little more rebound, IMO. My wife, 7 month old son and I just took a 1500 mile roundtrip last week...We also don't find the seats too comfy. I think the seat bottoms are a little too firm. I like firm seats but these are just a little too much for longer trips...but they do have nice lateral support. They also should of used Left and Right paddle shifters for the tranny and put radio/cruise controls on the wheel...the current controls don't seem natural or intuitive to me for shifting...you should have use one hand for upshift and the other for down shift....and the console shifter should be the opposite with regards to the direction when shifting in sport shift mode...it's more natural for me to pull back for an upshift and push forward for a downshift. The interior is very attractive and is made of good quality materials..I like the guages a lot and the controls seem to be logically laid out. The stereo also is nice...I like having the disc changer in the dash. Overall...like you said...the car is a great value and I enjoy it everytime I get behind the wheel. The power is nice..and so is the low end torque...my wife even commented on that...and it takes a lot for her to notice anything with regards to a car's performance... BTW, I averaged 24.6 mpg from Pittsburgh to Hilton Head Island (750 miles) and 23.7 on the way back. I was hoping for better mpg since I recently got 25.5 from Philly ot Pittsburgh (~300 miles). Does anyone know if a Perrin or K&N filter will help with gas mileage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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