Decision Making - Auto LGT.

Good day everyone,

 

I have been looking into buying a LGT (somewhere between 2005-2008). I'm having trouble finding the "perfect" one because it is extremely difficult to find a manual in my area.

 

-- Is a Auto LGT exciting to drive? Thoughts from auto tranny owners?

 

This is the one I was eying at. What do you think?: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/cto/3194985094.html

 

Any insights and opinions would be great. Thanks.

wait for a manual one

 

be patient

I just realized I put this in the wrong section. Mods, could you move this to "Pre-purchase questions"

With zero knowledge of you, your commute, desires and whatnot any suggestion is not only meaningless, its not a suggestion, its an opinion based on personal experience, not your wants and needs.

 

Maybe you should figure out what you are really asking and tell us more about you and your car history/what you want out of a current purchase.

 

Whats that? Want to slug though traffic and stay reliable? STOCK, AT.

This will be a all around car and my first car. I will be using this for school, work, and occasional mountains.

 

I am located in the Bay Area, California if that makes a difference.

I have an Outback XT Limited with the 5EAT. It is effectively a lifted LGT with a few other differences. My shift knob looks and feels like a manual shift knob, and I only ever drive the car in electronic manual ("SportShift") mode. I like it. To be fair, I have never driven a manual vehicle.

 

The shift knob on the vehicle you linked to is not like what I have. Since mine's the "Limited" version, it came stock with the MOMO shift knob, which is much better. The one in the attached image is not mine, but it's very similar. In the '05 5EAT, you also get the steering wheel mounted shift buttons (the plus and minus buttons).

 

I also understand that boost pressure is maintained during shifting with the automatic transmission. If you throw Hex Mods' transmission valve body mod into the mix ($500; he's on the forums here), you can get some really quick shifts from an automatic transmission.

 

The biggest thing is personal preference. If you have the opportunity to drive both, then do so. If you know you like manual transmissions better, then just be patient, as previously suggested.

 

Since that's an '05, you should find out how good the previous owner was about the OCI (oil change interval).

Thanks for your input silen7guardian.

 

I've been researching a bit on the valve body mod. Seems like the best mod to overcome the shift lag and torque converter.

Search.. this has been discussed literally to death.

 

That said...the 5EAT is decent, though does not at all give you the direct control feeling a manual will give you. A valve body mod on the 5EAT will help a lot with gear change speed being pretty lazy as it is stock but will not remove the delay between gear selection and the trans actually receiving that signal and doing it's thing.

http://portland.craigslist.org/clc/cto/3217643781.html

buy mine

I'm in the same boat man. I decided that the only way I'm going to figure out what I want is to test drive both. I have an auto 96 Impreza L right now and there really is no point to trying to shift that thing manually. The lag on it is horrid. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that learning how to drive manual is not what will hold me back, but finding the right one will. I just need to take my time to find the right one. The majority of my "commute" is from Hayward to SoCal and back so it shouldn't be too bad of an issue there. I figure I need to own a manual at some point in my life so I can tell my kids that's how people used to drive cars.

 

My recommendation: Don't just look in the bay area. It's worth the $150 plane ticket to fly somewhere along the west coast to find the right one. Check Portland and especially Seattle. That place is crawling with Subarus.

^I could have been happy with an AT in the OBXT. The wife demanded the stick () I could never have been happy with an AT in the LGT. The OBXT is a DD, traffic slug and occasionally fun for goosing it onto an onramp. THE LGT is for fun, show and occasional track use.

 

I prefer my 1999 Dodge Durango to almost anything else for DD. Its comfortable. It drives itself. Its simple to work on. It drives itself. I don't worry about people bumping their doors ito it. It drives itself. Is it fast? Well, it can tow a 5000lb airstream up a hill faster than any LGT on the forum. Is it fun? It is when I go camping with 3 dogs, 2 friends, a generator, 70gal of water, a trailer, a wife, etc, etc.

 

Again its all what you are into. It sounds like OP wants some performance and I think the MT is easier at early power levels. OEM drivetrain fine for stage2 power or basically, for what it costs to mod an AT, you can have what will satisfy 90% of owners on the forum. Stage2 in a MT. Again, its all what you are into and want.

I have a 05 lgt auto and the car is fun to drive i would prefer to have a manual (thats what i have always drive) but the sport mode and sport shift is ok there is a lag in the shift but with a little driving you just get used to it and barley notice. I use mine for a daily driver and plan on taking it to the track. The car is fun to drive i would prefer to have a manual but i would buy another one if i had the chance. Hope this helps :]

Exactly. DD, lots of traffic, wife that tears through clutches. It made sense for my situation.

 

Interesting. Now there IS something I had not considered. If you keep the car for 5 years need a clutch swap end of year 1 and one at end of year 4-5 it might be better in long run to go AT.

 

By tear though clutches you mean 70k miles? 50k miles? 30k miles?

MOMO knob FTW

microphone check, microphone checka...

Thanks for all your input guys. I'm going to test drive both of them to make a final decision. With that said, I prefer to deal with this locally. All the nice looking LGT's are in the west coast.

If you get the '05 or '06 A/T GT you get push buttons on the steering wheel for up-shifting and down-shifting. If you get the '07 - '09 you get paddles behind the wheel. No matter what you do the 5EAT isn't going to shift like a dual clutch Ralliart but for what it is I was impressed. Its really tight, but not very smart. Shifts pretty quick and pretty smooth on its own but when you're the one flipping through the gears the changes (Even when perfectly timed with perfect amount of throttle) still feel rough sometimes.

 

Can't speak about the 5MT or 6MT but I can tell you that if you want to go anywhere close to Stage 2 with this car you should save yourself the hassle and go with a manual. From what I've gathered here on the forums the 5EAT can only handle about 300 horses or 300 torque (Whichever comes first depending on mods) before it starts to slip. Even if it doesn't slip its still not going to last as long once you start throwing more power into it.

 

Its all personal preference. Auto for convenience, ease of use, practicality, or manual for power, performance, better economy, more excitement, and more upgrade potential. I went with an automatic, but that's because I have big enough balls that I don't need to drive a stick shift everyday to impress the ladies.

I tested out a 2006 LGT 5EAT today and HOLY CRAP. Having never driven anything this fast before I was blown away. The shifting on the automatic was definitely a lot better than my 4EAT 96 Impreza, and way better than my parents 2005 V8 VW Touareg as well. I could definitely live with the Automatic version. It's still plenty fun to drive.

if you buy the 05-07' 5EAT and plan on stage 2+ power

get the Hexmods F1 valvebody upgrade. worth it in every way

all who own one will testify

Just wait and find a 5mt/6mt

Thanks for the feedback once again ya'll. I calculated my expenses and other spending; came out that I have a limited budget of $10k. Is it possible to find a nice one at this price or should I move on?

Thanks for the feedback once again ya'll. I calculated my expenses and other spending; came out that I have a limited budget of $10k. Is it possible to find a nice one at this price or should I move on?

 

Greetings,

 

Where are you from the bay area?

wait for a manual one

 

be patient

 

This. Get one you WANT, not one you'll SETTLE for!