I want to love this car. My wife loves her Outback. I think whoever designed the CVT should take a long walk off a short pier.
In a stop and go world, it's a pain. But it kills me to say so, but on the open road it's great, better than the 8-speed auto in the same-price Camry I reviewed prior (of course, the Camry had the milquetoast 2.5...).
Highway travel is not bad....I don't drive it much outside of town because I can't find a comfortable seating position...but around town, it's so so bad. Maybe it's improved a little since 2015, but ours is horrific. My dad borrowed it recently and afterwards asked me why two gainfully employed adults with good incomes would continue to drive such a shitty car.
Seating position - maybe that's one of the improvements of the current generation. Front seats are fabulous, and this week's Wilderness has basically the same seats with more butch fabrics - they're just as comfy. I drove 4 hrs straight with the Legacy and not a single sore muscle. Refinement is improved too with this gen, Legacy appeared more soundproofed than the same-engined Wilderness.
From the photos, the seats in that Legacy look amazing.
For me, the issue is not really the seat shape or materials or anything, it's the position. I'm used to being kind of perched in a high position in the Pilot, but when I switch to the Subaru, it's so much lower but at the same time doesn't feel like any car I've driven. And the lack of arm rest is annoying. It's very possible I'm just fussy, but I have zero issue with most sedans. So the Legacy would hopefully be fine. But then we go back to that transmission....
