At first blush, the Subaru Legacy is a great all-around sedan, thanks to its standard all-wheel drive and affordability. Dig a bit deeper and you'll realize that's selling the Legacy short. This is a car with very few compromises, effectively blending an excellent ride, responsive handling, a roomy and quiet interior, great visibility, simple controls and easy cabin access front and rear. This all adds up to put it among the top performers in our ratings of the midsized family sedans of its day.
Sure, the Legacy doesn't set hearts racing with its nondescript looks and respectable-if-unexciting acceleration numbers. But with the best ride, strong handling and impressive braking, the Subaru topped its category in nearly every other measure of track performance.
This version of the Legacy also addressed most of our complaints with its predecessor. The car finally entered the modern era with a state-of-the-art infotainment system.
Also, engine noise was considerably tamed, thanks to the reprogrammed continuously variable transmission. This made the car feel much less strained when accelerating.
Even with its 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine and standard all-wheel drive, the Legacy doesn't penalize drivers at the pump, returning a very good 26 mpg overall. A six-cylinder engine is available too, which transforms the car with quick, effortless acceleration.
Either way, this version of Legacy was well equipped, also offering a full-complement of modern active driver assistance safety aids though Subaru's EyeSight system. And yet four-cylinder versions remained affordable.
All in all, this Legacy is a very easy car for us to recommend.
Navigating the trim lines
Overall, the Legacy started out well-equipped relative to other cars in the segment. The base 2.5i has all the basic power equipment you'd expect: cruise control, backup camera, Bluetooth, 16-inch alloy wheels and a touch-screen infotainment system. Considering all-wheel drive was standard, it's a lot of car for the money. The only missing feature of consequence was a power driver's seat.
Most folks bought the next model up the ladder, the 2.5i Premium. It included a power driver's seat, heated front seats, automatic climate control, satellite radio, a larger touchscreen system and 17-inch alloy wheels. This trim level also opened up a new level of options including a sunroof, navigation and the EyeSight suite of advanced safety aids.
Blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert are among many added features that come standard on the top-of-the-line Limited. Other standard niceties include leather seats, 18-inch wheels, a 576-watt Harmon/Kardon stereo, a power front passenger's seat and heated rear seats. The only options of note were a moonroof, navigation, and EyeSight. It's also the only trim where you can opt for the six-cylinder engine, designated the 3.6R, which also added high-intensity discharge (HID) headlights.
That's a big improvement over the previous car, which was relatively sparse on amenities. The only features the new Legacy missed were ventilated front seats and a heated steering wheel, which is an odd omission for an all-wheel-drive car that sells well in cold climates.