Infamous425

my little comparison for anyone comparing these 2. rented the subie for the weekend. 2.5i model with 9,500 miles on it VS my dad's accord lx 4-cyl with about the same mileage. both have auto tranny.

exterior: subie wins hands down. no explanation needed.

interior: goes to the accord.
the gauges and silver center stack in the subie looked cheap to me. the placement of the power window switches is nice except that the door pull bar is in the way. the door handle is too high, requires lazy people like me to lift their arm off the door arm rest to get to it. the center arm rest is too low and doesnt move forward. subie has the more comfortable seats but the fabric sucked. lint and hair sticks to it easily. weak power windows.

accord has those nice electrolumicent(sp?) gauges. seats suck, you sit on them instead of in them. everything is placed right and doesnt look cheap.

ride/handling: subie has the edge here. less body roll on curves and cushioned bumps nicely. accord has a much firmer ride and the steering is too light for my tastes.

power: accord has 160hp, subie has 168hp. accord feels a lot stronger off the line and overall. i think the subie weighs less than 100lbs more. subie only has a 4-spd auto while the accord has 5-spd

misc: subie has that annoying 'ding' reminder if you or your passenger havent put on your seatbelt. i know its a safety thing but sometimes i gotta take my seatbelt off to look in the glovebox or get something in the back seat. its annoying.

subie does have an outside temp and how many miles til emptly/avg mpg which i liked. i dont think the accord has those.

overall: as for '05 4-cyl models i wouldnt get neither of them. one has bad ergonomics and looks cheap inside and the other is butt ugly outside. though the '06 accord looks alot better.

zeroday

legacy gt is the only legacy worth buying. ergonomically ive driven the legacy and i thought it was very well layed out.

aaronnn

if its the legacy, you have to go with GT.. if not, all to the accord. ive driven it and its a really practical and has that everyday driver type of feel to it. its comfy and gets you places, plus there's always crazy aftermarket products available for almost any honda.

CL Platano

yeah the only legacy worth buying is the GT...

VTEC11

I drove an 05 Accord and was surprised how powerful and refined the 4cyl iVTEC engine was. Although it was a 5 speed. Probably much better than the sub. 4cyl.

youngTL

Me too. Oh, and about the seats...one thing to note is that the Accord EX-L has better padding than the LX or DX models. I found the EX-L seats a joy to be in and extremely comfortable, much like a TSX. The I4 Accord is also better balanced than the V6.

F23A4

I have to agree with the sentiment here: unless you're going for the 2.5GT OR desperately need to have AWD, the Accord is the better of the two IMHO. (I havent checked Edmunds but I even think the Accord can be acquired for substantially less than the Legacy, in light of Hondas discounts on the high volume Accord.)

cusdaddy

When I picked up my 2003 Accord EX, I was able to get the price down to $20,500. Even though it was the 4-cylinder, it was the high-end EX model for a really low price

mattg

you would have to get the GT.

and i know the simple trick to getting rid of the never ending seat belt chime.