What the Customers Say
SUBARU NEW LEGACY BOXER DIESEL
As one of the first owners in the UK to take delivery of a previous model range diesel-engined Legacy I’m grateful to Crossroads garage for the loan of a new Legacy for a long test. My current car has done over 50,000 miles in slightly over two years and has proved to be a very useful tool especially as many of the miles covered have not been on motorways or trunk roads and it has been driven somewhat enthusiastically throughout. So far it has required new tyres, pads etc but nothing more. It is reasonably quick, can easily cope with four adults and has also proved itself to be a very competent tow car on the few occasions it has been asked to do so.
So, the opportunity to try the new model with the latest version of the same engine was most welcome especially as I was allowed to take it for a long test over a full weekend of motor sport activity.
The first thing you notice is that the new car looks so much bigger. I’m not sure that it has the same ‘chic’ appeal of the earlier car but these things have a habit of growing on you and some cars that at first seem very odd often end up as being very attractive. In fact the car is just 4” longer and 2” wider but it seems a lot more, especially when you get in. The cabin appears to be huge and the obvious change is in available interior width. The driving position in infinitely variable within its corner of the car and so it takes a while to work out what is best for you. Nonetheless, I soon found myself very comfortable, as did my passenger on the Friday afternoon trek to North Lincolnshire and Cadwell Park for the Vintage Sports-Car Club’s race meeting there.
The next thing that strikes you is the changes to the dynamics of the vehicle. Clearly, the ride and suspension has received a lot of attention and the new car feels much more taught than the old car – well it should as that one has done 50,000 miles – but even so it is definitely more stiffly sprung or damped or both, particularly at the rear. Overall, the handling feels a bit more controlled than in the previous car and it is easy to point in the right direction and appears to be completely neutral in character until you really start to push it when the inevitable safety valve of understeer begins to kick in; this is perfectly acceptable however as there are no sudden changes in the characteristics such that it is easy to drive in all sorts of road conditions.
At one point over the weekend we were ‘five-up’ for the 30-mile round trip to and from the hotel, bags as well, but from behind the wheel you would hardly have known that there was anyone in the back. What was particularly noteworthy about this was that we were traversing Lincolnshire lanes, quite wide but undulating and twisty, at speeds to challenge the national limit, without a hint of drama or uncertainty. It really was quite impressive and despite my enthusiastic driving there was not a murmur of complaint from my passengers. It felt totally safe.
Sunday morning found us making our way south, cross country to Snetterton at which point I would have gladly thrown the SatNav out of the car as it insisted on directing me back to Cadwell – I hadn’t read the instructions of course so it was probably my fault but I didn’t think that the system was as intuitive as others that I have used. Later that day after it languished in the Snetterton car park it was time to drive it back to the Cotswolds along the A11 and A14, the first time that the car really got into high speed cruising mode over the entire weekend. The car cruises very well and I had to remember that it had a sixth gear; I wasn’t sure I needed it, but it did help at high speed. It is very easy to exceed acceptable speed limits. I would say that the overall engine characteristics are largely unchanged from the model I have now; it provides loads of low down torque, revs very easily for a diesel to an acceptably high limit, and provides good, if not startling, acceleration. On the grounds that I don’t make a living from testing cars I didn’t have the wit to carefully measure fuel consumption and the like but over the weekend I don’t think the average fuel consumption readout from the on-board computer varied from 40.8 mpg, perfectly reasonable over a mixed bag of motoring by an enthusiastic driver. I used just over a full tank of fuel.
All in all this new car is bigger and better than its predecessor, a normal trait from most manufacturers these days. I quickly adapted to the size, handling and qualities of the car but I’m still not convinced about the looks. That may well have changed come the time I replace my current car and I’ve got an idea where I might look last for its replacement.
Mike Stripe