I picked up a pair of fairly nice Forester seats at the u-pull-it this morning. I couldn't tell you what year or trim level they were from, the outside of the car was mangled almost beyond recognition, but I believe it was a fairly new model.
I picked these out because they have much nicer features than the stock Legacy L seats. They are much firmer, have better side and bottom bolsters, and have two height adjustment knobs. They feel much sportier, and were very comfortable when I sat in them at the junkyard to test them out.
Here's what the seat looked like. It's dirty but in pretty good shape:
The seats bolt directly into the Legacy chassis. The stock seats have five bolts, two at the back of the seat on the inside (next to the driveshaft tunnel). The Forester seats only have four, but are still very secure. I didn't try to put the plastic bolt coverings back on because I was in a hurry, but they looked like they would fit for a nice clean installation.
However, after installing them, I quickly changed my mind about these seats. I was expecting something that felt more like a racing seat... lower center of gravity, hugging my body, with more support. This was not the case. These sit a good 1-2 inches higher than the stock seats, and the effect is even more pronounced because the cushion is firmer and so you don't sink in as much. Since I was sitting more upright than before, I had to lean the seat back and shift around a lot to get the controls at arm's length where I like them, and sitting in this position for about 20 minutes of driving was already starting to make my back sore. If I wanted to move in closer and drive like it was a minivan I'm sure it would have been more comfortable, but that wasn't what I was after when I picked the seats out.
In addition, the stock lap belt does not latch into the Forester buckle. I'm sure it wouldn't be difficult to trade buckles with the stock seat, but it's just one more thing to deal with.
If you don't mind sitting higher than stock and sitting upright, these seats would be very nice, and they ARE considerably more supportive and firm. But they are not for me.
(I ran out of daylight to take pictures of the seats installed. I'll add those tomorrow when I have a chance to take them.)
