Subaru Legacy Tourer 2.5i SE Lineatronic
by Tim Barnes-Clay, the man behind the wheel.
Date: 09 August 2010
I REALLY missed the Subaru Legacy when my loan was over. And I was surprised, because, despite Subaru’s legendary rally background, the Legacy looked fairly bland at first sight.
The thing is, once I drove the car, I found myself becoming slowly but surely addicted. By the end of my week with the Subaru I was obsessed, and I even started looking at the car and changing my mind about the mundane appearance. I began to see the car as quite handsome - its aggressive nose and low-set wide stance were particularly appealing attributes.
Maybe all this change of mind over the looks was psychological? All I know is that having driven the car, ‘bland’ is a word that just can’t be used to describe the Legacy.
When I’m in the market for an estate car again, the Legacy will be given serious consideration.
Why? Well, it is simply awesome to drive. It’s fun; it holds the road and accelerates with effortless ease.
It’s also superbly comfortable to sit in and has bags of space in the sensibly square shaped load area.
With two small children, I can vouch for the fact that the Legacy’s boot will swallow at least two prams, toys and shopping bags all in one go without any hassle.
Even more importantly, I felt safe driving my family on greasy wet roads with lorry spray incessantly hitting the windscreen, because I knew this car had a Symmetrical AWD (All-Wheel-Drive) system and had twice the gripping power of most estate cars out there.
The car feels rugged – inside and out, but in that handsome way I described earlier. Ok, some of the interior plastics on the dash are obviously not padded, but everything feels tough and hard-wearing.
The Legacy is a real alternative to an SUV or a small 4x4 mud-plugger, but looks like a normal estate car. That appeals to me, as I’m sure it will many other people, because the image of being a ‘Chelsea Tractor’ owner isn’t always welcome.
The Only Gripe
My only real gripe about the 2.5 petrol powered automatic Legacy Estate is how quickly it sucks up fuel.
I did drive the car rather enthusiastically during my week, but three days into my loan, I found the fuel had plummeted into the reserve tank, while another estate I had on test (a Honda Accord 2.2 diesel) just refused to drink from its tank.
I will really need to test drive the Legacy’s 2.0 litre oil-burning brother, to really be fair to it, because, mpg aside, everything else about this car is just so good.
It’s certainly what you might describe as a ‘real driver’s’ car. In other words, if you like driving, you’ll love being in control of this Subaru, whether it’s a trip to the shops, a rip up the motorway, or a long, winding cross-country journey.
And you’ll be able to do it all with the family, and be as safe as houses.
PROS ‘N’ CONS
PROS
- Performance
- Roomy
- Fun
CONS
- Thirsty
FAST FACTS
- Max speed: 120 mph
- 0-62 mph: 10.3 secs
- Combined mpg: 33.6
- Engine layout: 2.5-litre petrol / 4 Boxer
- Max. power (bhp): 165 at 5600 rpm
- Max. torque (lb.ft): 168.9 at 4000 rpm
- CO2: 196 g/km
- Price: £26,995
