A week in and a road trip

[Sequoia225]

Last night I got back from my trip from LA to the Bay Area. I got the car on the 24th.
I am well past the 1000 mile break in period mark

My car is the 2013 Limited with SAP.
My last was a 2003 Limited.

So I EXPECT to love this car of course - but it is different in many ways.

All in all - I LOVE it. The drive was SO smooth and comfortable. So many nice little features the 2003 didnt have. Even just the visor extenders!
Its def a heavier car - I can certainly feel it. But it is what it is.

I am very impressed with the CVT. I came into this still wanting a manual and really NOT wanting an automatic - esp after many rental cars this past year with my 2003's problems. Hated all the 5 or 6 AT's I drove. (except a Nissan that stuck out as fairly smooth.
As everyone told me here - the CVT is really smooth - I am thoroughly impressed. It IS noisy - esp climbing back up the north side of the Grapevine last night. Its a little unnerving when the revving is noisy - but I was warned about that. Ill get used to it I guess. The paddle shifter thing (whatever its called) will NEVER replace the MT when I finally take it up into the mountains, but, its not like I was going to buy another car for a MT. I will appreciate it in LA traffic - I have lived here my whole adult life with MT's and it will be a nice change in that situation.

I do have a couple issues I am taking it in for tomorrow - the main annoying one is my drivers window doesnt roll back up when I roll it down - noticed this about 4 days later when I finally rolled it down. Something is catching and it gets halfway up and comes back down. I can force it up by pushing with my hand while its moving. Im going in tomorrow to get this looked at - and the window rubber trim is sticking out on one door. Also hopefully getting them to turn off that annoying lock beep. Sorry but its completely stupid that a dealer needs to do that - and if they want to charge me - Im stuck.

My biggest complaints:

The Audio system. Used it quite a bit more this week. The ipod interface is pretty good - I used a handful of these on my rental cars recently and they all were horrible (cheaper cars of course). This one is good but still scrolling through all my artists could be faster - but Im pleased as its WORLDS better than the ones in the cheaper cars I rented.
But the sound is just awful. I am still investigating it - Im even to the point of thinking some speakers may be wired out of phase (I have had this happen and the audio installer couldnt hear it till I pointed it out to him - he put them "in phase" and it sounded worlds better. In his defense, the complicated acoustics of a car interior make it trickier to hear than a pair of speakers on a shelf or whatever. But there is something really not good with this system. Considering I had a limited with a fairly similar speaker layout before (sub in rear right and others in nearly the same position), it shouldnt sound as it does. The front door speakers are more low end then it seems they should be. When I isolate the rear door speakers - there is NO low end - which should be coming from the Sub. The Sub IS playing - but very low - and when I am on the front speakers (highs and mid divided to 4 speakers) - all the low end is from them.
A good indicator is that if I have the speakers centered, and I drop ALL the low end out of the EQ given - it is STILL too boomy on my music for MOST of the music. That shouldnt be. I shouldnt hear the real low end (50H -100Hz) still blasting out of the FRONT door speakers. I will continue to investigate - tomorrow going to sit in another OB limited SAP at the dealer and compare.
Now that some are saying there is a hidden loudness setting in some of the head units - while I think this ISNT the case - I am curious to see if it got turned on on my unit. Among other issues - its just TOO boomy and considering the sub is really low (separate vol would be nice) its not right.

I DO notice a hiss sometimes even when the volume is down - havent figured out what is feeding it. Also noticed once the cell phone noise present in the speakers when the volume was down - so something is amplifying SOMETHING even with the volume down.

My other complaint is the Nav unit - but I expected this. I havent used it a TON yet - but man is it SLOW to react sometimes. I mean REALLY slow. Just pushing the zoom in or out gets a big delay sometimes. I will be using my Garmin for a while before I am going to fully switch over to this unit. I have a nice Garmin (the really thin ones they made). Its fast and easy - and touch screen using thing like pinch zoom and such. It makes this brand new 2013 OB Nav look like a dinosaur.

Apart from those two issues though - I am loving this car. I even got to deal with it being iced over up in Petaluma in the morning. Was very impressed how quickly it dealt with it on the windows. Keep in mind I have HAD an OB limited with weather package - and I am still impressed with this new one.

[subiesailor]

Originally Posted by Sequoia225

Last night I got back from my trip from LA to the Bay Area. I got the car on the 24th.
I am well past the 1000 mile break in period mark

My car is the 2013 Limited with SAP.
My last was a 2003 Limited.

So I EXPECT to love this car of course - but it is different in many ways.

All in all - I LOVE it. The drive was SO smooth and comfortable. So many nice little features the 2003 didnt have. Even just the visor extenders!
Its def a heavier car - I can certainly feel it. But it is what it is.

I am very impressed with the CVT. I came into this still wanting a manual and really NOT wanting an automatic - esp after many rental cars this past year with my 2003's problems. Hated all the 5 or 6 AT's I drove. (except a Nissan that stuck out as fairly smooth.
As everyone told me here - the CVT is really smooth - I am thoroughly impressed. It IS noisy - esp climbing back up the north side of the Grapevine last night. Its a little unnerving when the revving is noisy - but I was warned about that. Ill get used to it I guess. The paddle shifter thing (whatever its called) will NEVER replace the MT when I finally take it up into the mountains, but, its not like I was going to buy another car for a MT. I will appreciate it in LA traffic - I have lived here my whole adult life with MT's and it will be a nice change in that situation.

I do have a couple issues I am taking it in for tomorrow - the main annoying one is my drivers window doesnt roll back up when I roll it down - noticed this about 4 days later when I finally rolled it down. Something is catching and it gets halfway up and comes back down. I can force it up by pushing with my hand while its moving. Im going in tomorrow to get this looked at - and the window rubber trim is sticking out on one door. Also hopefully getting them to turn off that annoying lock beep. Sorry but its completely stupid that a dealer needs to do that - and if they want to charge me - Im stuck.

My biggest complaints:

The Audio system. Used it quite a bit more this week. The ipod interface is pretty good - I used a handful of these on my rental cars recently and they all were horrible (cheaper cars of course). This one is good but still scrolling through all my artists could be faster - but Im pleased as its WORLDS better than the ones in the cheaper cars I rented.
But the sound is just awful. I am still investigating it - Im even to the point of thinking some speakers may be wired out of phase (I have had this happen and the audio installer couldnt hear it till I pointed it out to him - he put them "in phase" and it sounded worlds better. In his defense, the complicated acoustics of a car interior make it trickier to hear than a pair of speakers on a shelf or whatever. But there is something really not good with this system. Considering I had a limited with a fairly similar speaker layout before (sub in rear right and others in nearly the same position), it shouldnt sound as it does. The front door speakers are more low end then it seems they should be. When I isolate the rear door speakers - there is NO low end - which should be coming from the Sub. The Sub IS playing - but very low - and when I am on the front speakers (highs and mid divided to 4 speakers) - all the low end is from them.
A good indicator is that if I have the speakers centered, and I drop ALL the low end out of the EQ given - it is STILL too boomy on my music for MOST of the music. That shouldnt be. I shouldnt hear the real low end (50H -100Hz) still blasting out of the FRONT door speakers. I will continue to investigate - tomorrow going to sit in another OB limited SAP at the dealer and compare.
Now that some are saying there is a hidden loudness setting in some of the head units - while I think this ISNT the case - I am curious to see if it got turned on on my unit. Among other issues - its just TOO boomy and considering the sub is really low (separate vol would be nice) its not right.

I DO notice a hiss sometimes even when the volume is down - havent figured out what is feeding it. Also noticed once the cell phone noise present in the speakers when the volume was down - so something is amplifying SOMETHING even with the volume down.

My other complaint is the Nav unit - but I expected this. I havent used it a TON yet - but man is it SLOW to react sometimes. I mean REALLY slow. Just pushing the zoom in or out gets a big delay sometimes. I will be using my Garmin for a while before I am going to fully switch over to this unit. I have a nice Garmin (the really thin ones they made). Its fast and easy - and touch screen using thing like pinch zoom and such. It makes this brand new 2013 OB Nav look like a dinosaur.

Apart from those two issues though - I am loving this car. I even got to deal with it being iced over up in Petaluma in the morning. Was very impressed how quickly it dealt with it on the windows. Keep in mind I have HAD an OB limited with weather package - and I am still impressed with this new one.

It will quiet down a little once you get a few miles on it. Don't expect that SF to LA I5 trip to start posting really great mileage till you have say 10,000 or 15,000 miles on it. My 01 was the same way and your old 03 was that way too.

Tip on the vine crossing either way - you do not need to put the shifter into MT mode to use the paddle shifters. I use the shifters on the down hill runs on the Vine to keep speed checked given the CVT will just keep building speed if you let it. Dropping down into LA going south I simply drop it to 5th and 4th in AT mode and will coast nearly the full length of the Vine your mileage will bump about 4-6mpg during that coasting stretch down the South side. Same thing for the North trip dropping down into the Valley. We do that trip a couple of times a year and I have hauled our trailer through there a few times. 1400lbs from Burbank to SF the 2.5 with CVT in cool temps easily crossed the Vine running 60-65mph in the 3000-3200rpm range on the climb. Once on the flat we were running 70-72mph getting about 23-25mpg pending the traffic and truck situation. No trailer no roof box Thanks Giving run to Sherman Oaks we posted 31mpg to Socal and 29mpg back. Traffic was stop and go miserable 10hr trip both ways but the trip back we ran 70-75mph for the last 40 miles or so which dropped the mileage down. Surprisingly I was able to keep the car in the 30mpg range in the stop and go mess. Speed kills mileage!! 70+ seems to be the point you start dropping it on the classic I5 trip. Best mileage ever was back way into Big Bear to the cabin via the desert running 55mph in mild temps we arrived at Big Bear with a hand calculated tank Average of 32mpg!

Prior to hitting the 15K mark those trips were in the 26-27mpg range.

[subiesailor]

By the way the window thing was related to the glass not having the right shape there were a few cases reported on the forums here and there the past couple of years. The dealers simply replaced the glass with one that was properly shaped. Not a big deal.

[Sequoia225]

Originally Posted by subiesailor

It will quiet down a little once you get a few miles on it. Don't expect that SF to LA I5 trip to start posting really great mileage till you have say 10,000 or 15,000 miles on it. My 01 was the same way and your old 03 was that way too.

Tip on the vine crossing either way - you do not need to put the shifter into MT mode to use the paddle shifters. I use the shifters on the down hill runs on the Vine to keep speed checked given the CVT will just keep building speed if you let it. Dropping down into LA going south I simply drop it to 5th and 4th in AT mode and will coast nearly the full length of the Vine your mileage will bump about 4-6mpg during that coasting stretch down the South side. Same thing for the North trip dropping down into the Valley. We do that trip a couple of times a year and I have hauled our trailer through there a few times. 1400lbs from Burbank to SF the 2.5 with CVT in cool temps easily crossed the Vine running 60-65mph in the 3000-3200rpm range on the climb. Once on the flat we were running 70-72mph getting about 23-25mpg pending the traffic and truck situation. No trailer no roof box Thanks Giving run to Sherman Oaks we posted 31mpg to Socal and 29mpg back. Traffic was stop and go miserable 10hr trip both ways but the trip back we ran 70-75mph for the last 40 miles or so which dropped the mileage down. Surprisingly I was able to keep the car in the 30mpg range in the stop and go mess. Speed kills mileage!! 70+ seems to be the point you start dropping it on the classic I5 trip. Best mileage ever was back way into Big Bear to the cabin via the desert running 55mph in mild temps we arrived at Big Bear with a hand calculated tank Average of 32mpg!

Prior to hitting the 15K mark those trips were in the 26-27mpg range.

Very helpful info!
I AM used to a manual transmission and have done this drive myself a few times a year and I WAS noticing I was really picking up speed on the way back (south) in the GV. I am not used to that as my MT driving was so automatic to check my speed with the gears. Also DID notice the horrible gas mileage I was getting - good to know what you told me! thanks!!!

[Sequoia225]

Originally Posted by subiesailor

By the way the window thing was related to the glass not having the right shape there were a few cases reported on the forums here and there the past couple of years. The dealers simply replaced the glass with one that was properly shaped. Not a big deal.

I will tell the dealer. I have found too often - there is a problem that seems to be widely known but then the dealer is like "Ive never heard of this" and they have no idea how to fix. Hope its this easy. It IS a specific point that it stops and comes back down so a bad fit would make sense.

[subiesailor]

Originally Posted by Sequoia225

Very helpful info!
I AM used to a manual transmission and have done this drive myself a few times a year and I WAS noticing I was really picking up speed on the way back (south) in the GV. I am not used to that as my MT driving was so automatic to check my speed with the gears. Also DID notice the horrible gas mileage I was getting - good to know what you told me! thanks!!!

My 01 was the 5spd MT also. Only it was the Legacy GT Limited which did the socal trip more times than I can count. Best mileage we ever saw for that trip was 29mpg and the usual predictable trip mileage was around 25-26mpg. The CVT is super fantastic regarding putting the power down and managing the gear ratios. I had serious doubts but the new 6spd MT was lousy so we bit the bullet and bought the limited with the CVT. 44,000 miles on it now no regrets great transmission for the OB. The Continental tires are lousy by the way they can't hold balance beyond about 8000 miles around 25,000 miles I had one tire that could no longer be on the front end - egg shaped shook the steering wheel too much for that LA trip. I suffered with those tires till 41,000 miles and replaced them with the BFG Touring tires. Which so far have been great! Much stronger built tire stiffer side walls gives the OB a little sharper handling steering response - very very slight increase in road feed back due to the stiffer side walls - but they seem to hold balance like a tire should!! Mileage seems to have not been bothered by them as expected given the tread is similar to the Continentals. They might be a touch quieter than the Continentals also hard to say. Huge improvement however regarding no wobbly shaky tires after being curbed in SF or driven for a few miles the continentals shook like a wet dog after being curbed.

[Sequoia225]

Originally Posted by subiesailor

My 01 was the 5spd MT also. Only it was the Legacy GT Limited which did the socal trip more times than I can count. Best mileage we ever saw for that trip was 29mpg and the usual predictable trip mileage was around 25-26mpg. The CVT is super fantastic regarding putting the power down and managing the gear ratios. I had serious doubts but the new 6spd MT was lousy so we bit the bullet and bought the limited with the CVT. 44,000 miles on it now no regrets great transmission for the OB. The Continental tires are lousy by the way they can't hold balance beyond about 8000 miles around 25,000 miles I had one tire that could no longer be on the front end - egg shaped shook the steering wheel too much for that LA trip. I suffered with those tires till 41,000 miles and replaced them with the BFG Touring tires. Which so far have been great! Much stronger built tire stiffer side walls gives the OB a little sharper handling steering response - very very slight increase in road feed back due to the stiffer side walls - but they seem to hold balance like a tire should!! Mileage seems to have not been bothered by them as expected given the tread is similar to the Continentals. They might be a touch quieter than the Continentals also hard to say. Huge improvement however regarding no wobbly shaky tires after being curbed in SF or driven for a few miles the continentals shook like a wet dog after being curbed.

I have usually bought whatever Costco offers me for my car in the past - Ill make note of this thread for when I need new tires. The only thing I remember about my 2003 Lim was the tires it came with were expensive "performance" tires according to the guy that was putting on the first replacements. I dont know tires that well and dont know anything about the ones on my car other than what you just said.

Thanks!!

Man I love this forum.

I remember looking for a forum years ago and not finding one - when did this one really take off?

[subiesailor]

Originally Posted by Sequoia225

I have usually bought whatever Costco offers me for my car in the past - Ill make note of this thread for when I need new tires. The only thing I remember about my 2003 Lim was the tires it came with were expensive "performance" tires according to the guy that was putting on the first replacements. I dont know tires that well and dont know anything about the ones on my car other than what you just said.

Thanks!!

Man I love this forum.

I remember looking for a forum years ago and not finding one - when did this one really take off?

I've used Discount Tire the past few times - they will match Costco prices and they seem to be far far more skilled when it comes to properly balancing tires etc. Last Costco tire deal I had resulted in 3 visits back to get tires balanced correctly and eventually three new tires given they claimed they couldn't get them balanced right. That was on our VW. Haven't really found a reason to go back to Costco for tires since. Though we buy just about everything else there. My 4x6 trailer was bought off the costco website on a Thursday following Tuesday morning it was dropped off in my driveway! Oh and Costco meats are a hard value to ignore. LOL