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Not your traditional Subaru:
The Legacy GT has all the trappings of a European sport sedan
Tony Whitney and Tim Dimopoulos
Over the past decade or so, Subaru seems to have carved itself an entirely new image, compared to the one it had in years past.
According to legend, Subarus of old were docile, unspectacular and rather eccentric runabouts driven by elderly academic types from Maine. The chance of one ever being compared to a BMW or an Audi was remote, to say the least.
How times have changed! Subarus have gotten better with each vehicle generation. They now compete at the highest level possible in the World Rally Championship (and winning with aces like Petter Solberg). Subaru is now a serious and respected force in the auto business and certainly a brand to be compared with the best in those classes it competes in.
The Legacy GT 2.5T, our most recent test Subaru, is a case in point. Every time I get into one of these and take off down the road, I have to check the logo on the steering wheel to confirm I'm not driving one of the better German sports sedans. It really is that nice of a car.
Legacy styling is conservative, rather than eye-catching, but this is a handsome car with reasonably compact dimensions. It translates into commendable roominess for the driver and front seat passenger, and very good trunk space for business use, but we thought the rear seat room was a little on the sparse side for adult passengers.
Under the hood
You can spot a GT, compared to a basic Legacy, by its functional hood scoop (it feeds air to the turbo's intercooler) and one or two more subtle body features. Mostly though. it's just about identical to its non-turbo stablemate. It's a tasteful job and won't brand you as a "boy racer" in the way the rally-ready (and highly desirable) Impreza WRX does.
The GT‘s engine is "only" a 2.5-litre four-cylinder, but you'll have to look under the hood to discover it's not a muscular V6. It's silky smooth and very responsive and turbo lag is just about non-existent. It puts out 250-horsepower, which is more than enough for a car in this size range.
As with all Subarus, the powerplant is an amazingly compact horizontally-opposed unit or "boxer," as they're sometimes called. I've seen a Subaru engineer (a fit one, admittedly) lift a stripped Subaru flat four off the workshop floor without a hoist, which confirms how light and cleverly-designed these all-aluminum engines are. It's surprising that only Porsche goes the horizontally-opposed route among manufacturers of mass-produced vehicles. Other benefits of this engine configuration include a lower centre of gravity, which makes for a better-balanced car.
Subaru's active valve control system (AVCS) is said to optimize power at all engine speeds and our experience with the car certainly confirmed this. Working in unison with this impressive power unit is a Subaru SI-
DRIVE five-speed automatic transmission, which offers the option of semi-
manual shifting. There are actually three modes available—"intelligent," "Sport" and the intriguingly-named Sport Sharp. We found this transmission to be very good indeed, with "Sport" the best mode for most driving. With such a well-engineered transmission, we never felt any longing for a manual gearbox, excellent though the ones Subaru makes are.
Winter driving
You can only buy a Legacy these days with all-wheel drive, but nobody's going to complain about that. Few people ever opted for 2WD versions when they were available. Subaru's "symmetrical all-wheel drive" has long been one of the best in the industry. AWD is a great safety benefit in all kinds of conditions besides snow, even when the roads are dry.
The vehicle dynamic control (VDC)—a stability and traction control system which uses electronics, is another notable feature. VDC is designed to keep the Legacy heading in the direction the driver is steering, especially on slippery road conditions. If you have a serious problem getting the car out of deep snow, the VDC system can be de-activated to create the wheel slippage
you may need to extricate the vehicle.
The Legacy is a great winter car with all this safety and technology to back it up. For people who have to take their car out in the worst of weather conditions, there are few better choices out there than a Subaru Legacy, including many full-house SUVs.
The GT model handles very well. Various suspension upgrades help in this respect, but the Legacy is a nicely balanced sedan anyway. Steering is very precise and predictable and seems to have just the right amount of power input when you need it. Overall, we thought handling was close to a best in class.
In terms of safety, the best features include all wheel-drive, taut handling, and impressive poise. On the passive safety side, though, the car is very well equipped with a large complement of air bags and a very rugged and crash-proof body structure. There's also a whiplash prevention system, since this kind of is a major factor in many automobile accidents.
The car is rated very highly by the US Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, as far as crash-worthiness goes. Subaru did a great job with the interior of this car; right down to a real Italian Momo steering wheel, which could be a very costly addition to a new car if you went the aftermarket route. The choice of materials is excellent and the use of soft-touch vinyls gives the car a luxury feel.
The seats are sporty and supportive and the quality of fit and finish, inside and out, is outstanding. All Legacys have an eight-way power driver's seat, something I've always found useful on long runs when occasional slight adjustments can help prevent lower back pain.
The controls and instruments are very well done in most respects, and we especially liked the red electroluminescent dials, which are clear and easy to scan. The dash is pre-wired for XM radio (the best thing that ever happened to on-the-road entertainment!), as are so many models these days, but we'd have liked to see steering-wheel mounted audio controls. One way to make room for this would be to eliminate the dual gearshift buttons on the wheel, which some staff members didn't like. The climate control system seemed a little slow in responding to rapid temperature changes. All GTs have a power
Moonroof—a great feature when the weather cooperates.
A few very minor glitches apart, this Subaru Legacy is a delight to drive, and a potent competitor for the best European sports sedans. It's a supremely comfortable long-distance touring car for business or pleasure.
It's not an economy car by any means, but it's well worth its sticker price of a shade over $40,000 considering its performance, build quality and level of luxury. You could pay a lot more for a European sports sedan and not really get a better automobile.
Tony Whitney is a Burnaby, BC-based automotive journalist. Tim Dimopoulos is publisher of Purchasing b2b.
SPECS AT A GLANCE:
BODY STYLE: Four-door, five-seat sedan
ENGINE: 2.5-litre turbocharged and intercooled horizontally-opposed 4-
cylinder
TRANSMISSION: Five-speed automatic with semi-manual mode
PERFORMANCE: Zero to 100 km/h in approx. 6.5-seconds
FUEL ECONOMY: 12.3-litres/100 km city; 8.6-litres/100 km highway
PRICE: $40,295 MSRP
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