This week's Meh Car Monday is bullshit

"Justin Young" (jus1029)
04/03/2018 at 10:14 • Filed to: None

I’ve driven my dad’s 2015 Legacy 2.5i-S for a couple of times, and it has been a hoot to drive. 175 horsepower is not much, but that FB25 is quick with that CVT, pulls slightly better than the K24W4-powered 2013 Accord.

Keep in mind, we get our Legacies from Japan. It may be different from the one assembled in Indiana.

My decent attempt at light painting (feat. said Legacy) for attention

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DISCUSSION (30)

Milky > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 10:27

So its less meh than an Accord? Shocking news.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 10:29

Yeah, I agree. The legacy is a weak choice for MCM. What about, I dunno, the Dodge Journey or something else.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 10:31

I will agree that the Legacy is far from meh. That said the current Legacy is a far cry from the 4th generation and earlier Legacies.

Noah - Now with more boost. > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 10:32

Dumping on new Subarus is really trendy right now. All of the highly opinionated teenagers who can’t even drive are adding that to their repertoire of bullshit to parrot. Did Clarkson say something about this? I haven’t been watching Grand Tour. CVT aside modern subarus are way more interesting than most of the cars in their segment, and the midsized stuff, as you pointed out, is actually really nice.

Justin Young > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
04/03/2018 at 10:32

True.

Kinja'd!!!

I’m waiting for the day they finally bring the Blitzen to production.

Justin Young > Noah - Now with more boost.
04/03/2018 at 10:37

I’m guessing it’s the “they don’t make ‘em like they used to” crowd, all glittery-eyed over nostalgia.

Also, their Lineartronic changed my perspective of CVTs, and that’s coming from a former manual “purist”!

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Noah - Now with more boost.
04/03/2018 at 10:38

Subaru’s CVT is honestly a damn good automatic transmission.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 10:38

The car reviews say the 2013 accord 4 cylinder is quicker to 60 by 1.2 seconds comparing cvt to cvt.

*Shrug*

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 10:47

He never said it was a bad car. It’s just boring and doesn’t make an attempt to stand out from the rest of the segment.

jminer > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 10:51

That’s what MEH Monday is about, not shitty cars but cars that didn’t match their potential. The legacy is the symbol of that Subaru used to do (in the US) changing for mass market appeal.

You can’t argue with the results for the company, they sell a bazillion more cars here than they used to, but most of them are far less interesting than they used to be.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 10:54

Most of the new cars are really, really good compared to anything on the street 10 years ago. IMO the big failing of the legacy is poor marketings and the lack of a higher output engine. Driving dynamics are very good. I have an outback myself and it would be a bad financial decision to buy the Legacy over the Outback even with the cost being $4-5k more for an Outback. You can resell the outback all day long while the Legacy depreciates like a Kia Spectra. I think the 3.6R is a myth, I’ve never seen one. Give me a 2.5L turbo 6 speed Legacy sedan and I would buy it in a heart beat.

Dasupersprint - base trim is enough > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 10:54

That’s all your argument?

I drove my mom’s 2016 quite a bit and the poor engine is screaming with pain when you push the gas pedal. Interior is nice, MPG is great for what it is and the car feels solid, probably like all midsize sedans right now.

BeaterGT > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
04/03/2018 at 10:57

Really? I find it a failing attempt at an automatic tranmission. Between the lag physically shifting gears and the very vague power delivery, I would much rather have a traditional automatic than the Subaru CVT. This is my experience from a 2017 Outback.

3 Jeeps and a Mazda wants a Fiata > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 11:00

Ppersonally I’ve never cared for Subaru (Being a mechanic gives me a bias against a lot of cars especially VW) and after moving to Colorado where everyone has a WRX or STI just makes owning one way less appealing to me. They’re nothing special.

KingT- 60% of the time, it works every time > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 11:01

Oh shit that looks nice. Put the 2.0FADIT in it right now and I’m sold!.

Noah - Now with more boost. > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
04/03/2018 at 11:02

I believe it, but it still makes me sad. The H6 legacy would be so cool...

BeaterGT > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 11:02

I mean...they literally don’t make them like they used to and they are perfectly able to. I could not think about my replacing my Legacy GT with a new one and hope to extract the same or similar driving experience. Driving a new Subaru has turned me off from buying another Subaru. It’s a shame (for me) because I like the look still, even if it is a little more corporate.

Noah - Now with more boost. > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 11:03

Yeah I mean I learned to drive on a 2001 Outback and that shift knob is currently on my stage 2+ rice rocket. Nothing can replace that stupid 2.5 liter H4. But they still make good cars!

BeaterGT > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
04/03/2018 at 11:19

I second this motion. Let’s draft a letter to Subaru from Oppo!

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > BeaterGT
04/03/2018 at 11:35

My Mom owns a 2017 Outback 2.5 and my sister has a 2012 Impreza. From my experience both are super smooth and responsive in day to day driving. The CVT does a great job of giving you the ratio you want without the pausing and jerkyness of a traditional automatic gear change. I haven’t tried manual mode in the 17 but the 12 can change ratios faster than I can shift a manual while continuing to deliver power to the wheels during the change.

The CVT in the Impreza sits slightly higher in my book than the one in the Outback. The Outback made the small step back of trying to emulate having fixed ratios while the Impreza will quietly go about doing its own thing in the background. This is most evident when you floor it. When floored the Outback will allow itself to rev out to 5,750-6,000 rpm and then increase the ratio (while still maintaining power delivery to the wheels) to drop back to around 5k, and then repeat until you lift. It’s still doing CVT things in the background but it is trying to make it look like it has gears.

The Impreza on the other hand will park itself at 5,500 rpm and use the CVT ratios to accelerate until you eventually lift. Take away the noise and the tachometer and the Impreza could do a damn good job of convincing you that it is actually an electric car.

It’s that smoothness when changing ratios combined with how good Subaru’s CVT is at choosing an engine rpm for a throttle input that puts it above a traditional automatic in my book.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Noah - Now with more boost.
04/03/2018 at 11:39

Subaru has never paired an H6 with a manual and the 5-speed auto they used to pair with it was the worst transmission I have ever driven. It also doesn’t help that the fly by wire throttle on the 3.6 doesn’t have the slightest clue what “throttle response” is.

Noah - Now with more boost. > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
04/03/2018 at 11:41

hahah oh man... I won’t meet my heros then! Though I still want to battlewagon an H6 sedan from 2000ish and put a hater pipe out the driver’s side fender. It’s a Porsche rally car!

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Noah - Now with more boost.
04/03/2018 at 11:47

The old 3.0 makes some really good noises with a straight pipe. It also has a cable throttle so it doesn’t have the lag issues of a 3.6.

BeaterGT > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
04/03/2018 at 11:49

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Well said, this is the part I can’t get on board with. It feels so irregular, as if I need to constantly adjust my foot on the gas. Combined with the weight of the Outback, it offers a poor driving experience.

Do you get what I mean about the lag shifting gears? Say from Park to Drive, or Reverse to Drive? For a brief moment, you’re just rolling in neutral until it ‘decides’ to change gear.

My mom is numb to the transmission, except the shifting lag, so it definitely is a matter of preference. Clearly, I demand more feedback from my vehicles. Interesting that the Impreza setup works a little differently, albeit more in line with expectations from a CVT.

Also strange, my sister has a 2010 Impreza. Our family stables are eerily similar, especially if you owned an LGT in the past.

Noah - Now with more boost. > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
04/03/2018 at 12:06

WOW that was great hahah

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > BeaterGT
04/03/2018 at 12:06

My family has quite the Subaru history. 2003 Impreza wagon, 2005 Legacy 2.5GT wagon, 1995 Impreza L sedan, 2001 Outback, 2010 Legacy 3.6R, 2013 BRZ, 2017 Outback, 2017 BRZ Series.Yellow, 2012 Impreza sport. I honestly can’t remember a time when there hasn’t been at least 1 Subaru in the family.

You and I have the same issue with a lot of CVT implementations. Trying to make a CVT behave like a traditional auto takes away the CVTs big advantage. The problem is that your average person thinks their car is broken when a CVT acts like a CVT.

I have not noticed either of our CVTs taking extra time to shift between park, reverse, and drive. They seem to change just as fast as every other auto I have driven.

BeaterGT > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
04/03/2018 at 12:13

Hah, only a few more than us. Last time there wasn’t a Subaru in the family was probably the year 2000. Unfortunately, I can’t bring myself to buy another. The Legacy GTs are all high miles and rusted out now, even my own is getting there!

Long-Voyager > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
04/03/2018 at 12:38

Counterpoint: Most new cars are really really horrible to drive due to their added weight, excessively large wheels, and horribly confused tuning.

After driving quite a few new vehicles from many different makes, new cars feel extremely cheap, ride horribly, and seem to have more issues.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Long-Voyager
04/03/2018 at 13:06

I actually couldn’t remember what kind of car I had for my last rental, on March 7. That’s how generic the cars was. I just remembered that it was a Jeep Compass, very forgettable.

wafflesnfalafel > Justin Young
04/03/2018 at 20:31

Maybe hold out for the next gen when Subie drops the new 2.4 turbo motor in there, but even still the current rig is a solid, nice car. If somebody wants weird looking and new, they can get a Camry..