2010 Subaru Legacy Reviewed

[n609mike]

The old body style is way better this is a bad copy of the Camry.

[Nakioki]

own 2.5GT Limited... SWP... loving the car. It's a great get away from my wrx lol being stiff and all. It's big inside and gets lots of wow from all these people that rode in the car. I gotta say I get lots of questions about the car...

A quick mod on the car and it'll be nice.. not fond of the wheel gaps but oh well. Love the car no matter what people say. It's just one of those things people would hate... but love deep inside. I mean, this is not the first time for subaru =]

[Brahmzy]

I had a 2005 Legacy GT. Loved it. However, when I see the old Legacys next to the new ones, it makes the old ones look out-dated and somewhat goofy. I dig the new ones a lot. I'm in the market for a new car and I cannot decide between a WRX Premium sedan or a new Legacy. I don't think I can hold out for the STi sedan...

[Nakioki]

It's hard to go back to my wrx... when I sit on it I feel cramped and not comfortable anymore... I got use to the lgt. So roomy and just feels great. No worries about anything too... and great sleeper.

[unclemat]

Past the honeymoon stage already?

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...est/index.html

First Test: 2010 Subaru Legacy GT
The Only Mainstream Midsize Sedan That Can Call Itself a "Sport Sedan"
November 10, 2009
/ By Todd Lassa

2010 Subaru Legacy GT Front View
Click to view Gallery
We've been hearing it for decades. "What sets our mid-size sedan apart from Camry/Accord is that ours is a sport sedan." Translation from market-speak is, it's got a leather-wrapped steering wheel and stiffer springs and shocks to mitigate short suspension travel, and its maker can sell nowhere near the 400,000+ per year each of Camry or Accord.

So it's refreshing to come across a mid-size family sedan that delivers the goods. Subaru's new Legacy GT, delineated from quotidian naturally aspirated H-4 and H-6 Legacys, is a WRX for grownups. Yes, Subaru did this with the last-generation Legacy, there was even a B-spec. Now the 2010 model has a back seat for grownups, thanks to the Legacy's 3.2-inch longer wheelbase, 3.2-inch taller body and its extra 3.6-inches of width.

Shoulder room is up 4.2-inches in front and 2.4 inches in back, for example. The EPA says interior volume totals 103 cubic feet, versus 90.9 for the '09 model, and the trunk is now good for 14.7 cubic-feet, up from 11.4.

Downside is styling. The last Legacy was one of the cleanest designs in this class. Now it looks gawky and ill proportioned, a retrograde step not unlike the one the Impreza took a couple of years ago. It's a much more striking step back for the Legacy sedan than for the Outback based on it.

2010 Subaru Legacy GT Rear Three Quarters View Driver
Click to view Gallery
Inside, the GT is purposeful and high quality, though not quite as upmarket and modern as Subaru would like to claim. As a smaller niche brand, Subaru is semi-premium in its home market, and here it would rather sell against Acura than against Honda. "This wood is too sparkly, glittery," Frank Markus says of the GT's dash trim. It could use a bit more of the polish of the Outback's similar interior. Texture/color options shouldn't make this sort of difference.

You won't care about this quite so much as you're tossing it around a canyon road. First, there's the power; the turbo-four propels the Legacy GT from zero to 60 mph 0.2-seconds quicker than the slightly heavier and more powerful Toyota Camry SE V-6, which has front-wheel-drive. It's 0.9-seconds quicker than an AWD Audi A4 2.0T and will easily beat either in covering the quarter mile: the Legacy GT's time is 14.1 seconds at 98.8 mph. Like the smaller WRX, the Legacy's turbo four is more spirited, more willing to rev than a typical six, though of course you will have to wait for the turbo to spool up in very low-rpm tight corners.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...#ixzz0WZjwkDEs

[unclemat]

http://www.motoring.co.za/index.php?...icleId=5198603

WHEN BIGGER BECOMES INCONVENIENTLY BULKY

+ Click to Enlarge
BIGGER BUT NOT BETTER: the new Subaru Legacy is bigger in every way than its predecessor (inset) - which is not always an improvement.

October 12, 2009
By John Simister

Subaru's design team have created a monster. What were they thinking of?

Here's the new Subaru Legacy - due for release in South Africa on October 14 - flying the flag once again for Subaru's faith in flat-four engines and all-wheel drive.

Look at it and right away you can see it's got problems. It's longer, wider, taller, bigger in every way than the old one, although the old one was plenty big enough for nearly every purpose. Now it's become just inconveniently bulky.

The Legacy now needs to be berthed rather than merely parked and, frankly, it's ugly. Nobody stood back and said: 'That looks wrong'
. Yes, aesthetics are partly subjective, but slab sides, overblown wheel arches and a generic nose design – whose droopy sculpting and smiley front grille could have come from any lesser-known manufacturer – do not make for a handsome car.

It's true that handsome cars are harder to make nowadays, given the strictures of safety standards. But with the Legacy it seems the designers just could not remember what it was they were designing. And nobody stood back and said: "That looks wrong".

Harsh words? Maybe. The tragedy is that the Legacy does have a positive design legacy. The outgoing version was the first of the breed to be a genuinely good-looking car, a machine which might tempt buyers away from an Audi on aesthetic as well as technical grounds.

So why has Subaru killed the goose? Maybe the US market still needs hefty cars and Subaru is big in the US. People buy Subarus to be different. But the trend here and in Japan is, or should be, to make cars smaller and lighter for obvious environmental reasons.

Subaru, as a company with a strong innovative streak, should be in the vanguard of this thinking. That's a key reason why people buy Subarus: to be different.

The new Legacy, priced from £23 295 (R274 650) in the UK, is made in both sedan and station-wagon forms, the latter once again available also as a toughed-up Outback version.

South Africa will only get the sedan, all models with the four-wheel drive and flat-four engines (a configuration nowadays unique to Subaru) on which the brand is based.

That other Subaru nicety, frameless doors, has however passed into history. Cost is why; it's cheaper to make a conventional window frame than to fit seals sophisticated enough to keep wind noise low without a frame.

In Europe this latest Legacy comes with a choice of two engines, a 2.5-litre petrol unit with 125kW and and a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel with 112kW but considerably more torque than the petrol unit.

INTERESTING SOUND TRACK

There are no plans at present to release the diesel in South Africa but the petrol model will be available with either a six-speed manual gearbox or a continuously-variable automatic transmission called Lineartronic.

The diesel is unquestionably the one to have, with punchier performance, much better fuel economy and a more interesting sound track.

That said, the petrol version's CVT transmission is better than some other similar systems because it doesn't allow the engine speed to soar the second you squeeze the accelerator. It also has six manually controlled steps should you wish to assume control yourself.

Inside, you're surrounded by curves and sweeps and silvery plastic, all accurately made and neatly assembled but somehow lacking the restraint sensed in the previous Legacy. The seating is very comfortable and the rear seats' backrests flip forward automatically when you pull a handle in the boot. The resulting load-floor slopes uphill, unfortunately.

HILL HOLD

The centre console lacks any form of handbrake but there's an electric button on the lower right side of the fascia where it's hardly in a prime zone of ergonomic convenience. You have to pull it to release the brake; unlike some, it doesn't release automatically.

I cursed this system in an uphill traffic crawl, railing against being deprived of the accurate control that a regular handbrake lever gives, until I discovered the hill holder, a device which stops the Subaru rolling back. I should have known; nowadays quite widespread, the hill holder was a Subaru invention.

As for other driving qualities, the suspension lacks the suppleness once typical of a Legacy, the steering is numb, the roadholding is secure, the experience is underwhelming. This is an unusual car, which is welcome in a world of conformity, but it should be so much more than that.

[Knotsure]

Originally Posted by unclemat

Past the honeymoon stage already?

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...est/index.html

Interesting article - but what could appear as a negative review is really nicely summarized on a positive note in the last paragraph. It reads:

"Bottom line is that while the styling may put you off, the performance will more than mitigate it, making this the ultimate stealth sedan. It's a family sedan for enthusiasts to consider, not just for enthusiasts to recommend to their non-enthusiast neighbors. And unlike the WRX STi and the Evo X, or the WRX and the Lancer Ralliart and MazdaSpeed3, there is no other midsize sedan on the U.S. market quite like the Subaru Legacy GT.

Read more: http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/sedans/112_0910_2010_subaru_legacy_gt_test/specs.html#ixzz0WtctvxS"

I believe we are going shopping on Monday. Test driving is done - decision has been made - just need to decide on color. I hear that there is a few weeks wait for some models/colors - because of demand - so I may have to be flexible on the color choice.