Subaru delivers a Legacy fit for the masses
The Subaru Legacy, Honda Accord and Toyota Camry all come in at about $23,000. Equipped with four-cylinder engines, they all deliver about 175-185 hp, so really it all comes down to preference. The Legacy, though, is the only one that offers all-wheel drive.
I don’t know why it gets outsold by the thousands every year, because it offers nearly everything the other guys do, plus a little extra style to go with that AWD.
The 2.5-liter H4 is sufficient, but to make any sort of moves or passes, you have to basically floor it. The CVT makes fake shifts near redline, but that sound...it’s hard to get over, especially when you’ve been used to manuals and standard automatics most of your life. At least in the WRX the trans is tuned for fun; in the Legacy it’s tuned for efficiency. I guess 36 mpg on the highway is a good selling point.
It is relatively quiet on the highway, with wind and road noise kept at bay. It does seem to be working hard to keep the car at 75-80 mph.
The interior is clean-looking, though. I don’t really like the seat material, which feels like a hybrid between nylon and cloth. It’s soft enough, but feels a little cheap. On the other hand, I love the new dash and instrument panel. The touchscreen radio looks good and works well. It feels like a thick piece of glass as opposed to a flexible piece of plastic like some cars. The metal-looking mesh on the doors and dash look good, too.
The Accord is probably a little bit more car for the money than this, but at least the Legacy has some character -- and of course, symmetrical all-wheel drive.
That’s an interesting point about the Legacy never getting close to segment standbys like the Accord or Camry despite comparable pricing and the bonus of standard all-wheel drive. I don’t know whether this has been due to a relative lack of dealerships, less cash for marketing or some vague notion among the car-buying public that Subarus are somehow simultaneously for both crunchy outdoors types and boy-racers, but something’schanged of late, and Fuji Heavy Industries is moving a fair amount of product stateside.
I think the sales boost is due to two things. First, buyers are coming to see all-wheel drive as a necessity (or at least something that should be available as an option) and AWD sales accounted for something like 30 percent of the market in 2013.
And second, Subaru has hit on a design language bland enough to appeal to a wide range of buyers. The 2015 Legacy is not a bad-looking car by any means. But I challenge you to find one remarkable -- let alone polarizing -- style feature on this thing. Perhaps Subaru and Hyundai are able to offer such value-oriented cars because they split styling costs; the more I compare the 2015 Legacy to a 2015 Sonata, the less difference I see.
No matter. The Sonata represents a solid value for the non-enthusiast, and the Legacy does, too. You’re trading some of the Hyundai’s interior refinement, such as it is, for the Subaru’s all-wheel drive. That doesn’t mean the Legacy is dreadful inside -- the light-colored seats seem like a questionable choice for an outdoor activity-inclined person, but it’s comfortable enough.
I’d like to give the 3.6-liter a shot, but honestly, there was nothing underwhelming about the 175 hp 2.5-liter or its (whiny) CVT. That much, at least, seems like a carryover from the 2014 model, despite marginally increased horsepower. You’re not going to be whipping this car around -- that’s what the BRZ and WRX are for -- but if past experience with other Legacy models holds true, it will be excellent in snow.
Like its immediate predecessor, the Legacy offers acceptable power, acceptable refinement and a respectable list of features -- like that all-wheel drive system -- at a palatable price. When I say that it’s possibly just boring enough to appeal to a wide range of sedan buyers, I promise that I don’t mean it as an insult.
The 2015 Subaru Legacy 2.5i Premium features a wonderful all-wheel drive platform.
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