A Legacy Worth Remembering
by Joe Tralongo
Me thinks there are magical folk working over at Subaru. The kind you find in Harry Potter movies and Lord of the Rings paperbacks. I know this sounds nuts, but how else can one explain the 2010 Legacy Sedan? It’s a car that remains roughly the same length as its predecessor and yet, magically, sees such vast improvements in the areas of interior room, ride comfort and feature content that it defies explanation. OK, so maybe it’s not magic, but it’s pretty darn impressive. Are you listening Honda and Toyota? The Subaru Legacy is no longer a minor player. It’s now a big, roomy, well equipped sedan that can be had for the same price or less as the barest Accord or Camry. Best of all, the Legacy features as standard equipment one of the best all-wheel-drive systems on the market.
Let’s first tackle the nuts and bolts stuff. Compared to the outgoing model, the new Legacy is 1.4-inches longer, 3.2-inches higher and 3.6-inches wider. There is an increase of four inches in rear seat legroom, as well as a trunk that swells to 14.7 cubic-feet, one of the largest in the segment. The sometimes annoying frameless windows of the 09 model are gone, replaced by proper doors that ensure a tight seal as well as a big reduction in wind noise. I found the new Legacy to be a competent performer, offering strong brakes, a quiet and smooth ride and maneuvering capabilities on par with most other family sedans in this class. I did think it odd that all three trims share the same suspension setup, although they do offer differing wheel and tires sizes. In the case of the 3.6R, this is not so much an issue, but the GT really needs a more aggressive suspension, not to mention a little more aggressive styling. Still, most driver’s shopping the class will be more than pleased with the Legacy’s driving characteristics, which include the Symmetrical All-Wheel-Drive’s ability to tear through snow as if it were little more than sawdust on the road.
Although some styling cues are reminiscent of the previous car, the 2010 Legacy is mostly covered in fresh sheetmetal that is best described as attractive, but not terribly distinctive. The Legacy’s interior, on the other hand, is really quite nice. The front seats have been redesigned to fit a wider spectrum of body types and offer excellent lower back and lower leg support. Moving back, the spacious rear seat is divided into a 60/40 split configuration and can be folded flat when more cargo space is required. With the exception of the somewhat flimsy radio and ventilation control knobs, everything about the new dash feels solid and modern, and credit must be given for the realistic faux brushed aluminum trim. A lengthy standard equipment list includes a dash-mounted electronic parking brake, steering wheel controls for the cruise and audio functions, manual air conditioning, side curtain airbags, tilt/telescopic steering wheel, four-wheel ABS disc brakes and electronic traction and stability control. Unique in this class is the standard electronic hill holder, which stops the car from rolling forward or backwards on angles of more than five degrees.
Up level trims offer such amenities as a power moonroof, a 440-watt harman/kardon audio system and a Cold Weather Package that adds heated seats, side mirrors and windshield wiper de-icers. Limited trims add leather seating, dual-zone automatic climate control and offer the option of a new voice activated navigation system featuring a rear backup camera and streaming Bluetooth, which allows music from your iPhone to be wirelessly streamed to the stereo.
As with last year, Subaru offers the Legacy in three trims: 2.5, Limited and GT. Prices range from $19,995 for the base 2.5 to just over $32,000 for a loaded GT Limited. Power for the base 2.5 model is supplied by a four-cylinder boxer engine producing 170 horsepower teamed to a new six-speed manual transmission. Subaru’s boxer engines are so named because their cylinders lay flat (as opposed to being in-line or V shaped) and move back and forth in a motion that mimics the thrusting jabs of a professional boxer. The design allows the engine block to sit low, thus reducing the vehicle’s center of gravity and improving handling. The 3.6R and 3.6R Limited are powered by a six-cylinder boxer engine pumping out 256 horsepower, while the sporty GT trims receive a turbocharged 2.5-liter engine good for 265 horsepower. Although most agree the GT’s engine offers the best performance for the Legacy, it can only be had with the six-speed manual transmission, leaving automatic drivers out in the cold.
Optional the base cars and standard on the 2.5 Limited is a new CVT automatic transmission. Subaru’s CVT, or Continuously Variable Transmission, eliminates the need for fixed gear ratios by replacing the gear sets with a single metal band running between two pulleys. The CVT maximizes the engine’s power at all times giving optimal performance in the areas of power, fuel economy and emissions. Driving a car with a CVT takes some getting used to, as it eliminates the discernible shift points most of us have come to associate with changing gears. This version, however, does feature steering-wheel mounted shift levers that allow the driver to change gears manually. Subaru has designed the manual mode to artificially generate shift points that make the CVT feel more like a conventional automatic transmission. Legacys equipped with the CVT are expected to return fuel economy figures of 23 city and 31 highway, which is pretty good considering the standard all-wheel-drive layout. Coupled with a new 18.5 gallon fuel tank, the 2010 Legacy can travel over 500 miles on a single tank of gasoline.
So is the 2010 Legacy going to smash the sales records of the Accord and Camry? Probably not, but it does give cold weather consumers something to smile about. A true family sized sedan that fears no snow storm and is priced under $20,000 might just be magic after all.
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