2015 Subaru Legacy Reviews

Subaru has never been afraid to chart its own path. From its first passenger car, the rear-engine, two-cylinder, two-stroke Subaru 360, to the import-duty-skirting Subaru Brat of the 1970s, the company built its reputation filling niches that many manufacturers never even knew existed. This resourcefulness served Subaru well, helping it develop a small but dedicated following. But after watching the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord hit the big time, Subaru decided it was time to nudge the brand away from the left of the dial and introduced the larger, slightly less funky Legacy to the U.S. market in 1990. While the car had its fans—it arrived packing the brand’s trademark flat-four engine and an all-wheel-drive chassis—it never established enough of a customer base to bring Subaru mainstream success.

While the Forester, Impreza, and Outback wagon continued to leverage the brand’s idiosyncrasies to win fans in Contraryville, the Legacy’s identity crisis continued unabated. Subaru concedes that the Legacy’s sales were not only far below that of its crossovers, but essentially a rounding error of the Toyota Camry’s, which outsold the Subie sedan by as much as 17 to 1 in recent years. Yet Subaru says the new sixth-gen 2015 Legacy is, “a Subaru first, and sedan second,” adding, “we are not just a crossover brand.”

Good Vibes

But fire up the engine, and you question the whole “Subaru first” shtick. Both the standard flat-four and upgrade flat-six engines now are tethered via new liquid-filled motor mounts that filter out a remarkable amount of vibration. The motor mounts are aided in their quest to tamp down NVH by an acoustic-glass windshield, expanded use of foam-filled frame members, thicker panels, and extensive use of underfloor sound-deadening material. Matting the throttle in the 2.5-liter four-cylinder yields an instant and determined response—and a familiar over-square soundtrack, if you listen attentively—that feels just about on the mark for its rated output of 175 horsepower and 174 lb-ft of torque. The four-banger Legacy’s not quick by any measure, but doesn’t lack gumption.

Producing 256 horsepower and 247 lb-ft of torque, the 3.6-liter six-cylinder is just as subdued, but it delivers a far more rewarding driving experience. It’s not as if the six-pot transforms the Legacy into a quarter-mile demon (we’ll have test numbers as soon as we can strap on our gear), but the added output is welcome when it comes to navigating the tight, winding switchbacks and uphill sections of roads like California’s Pacific Coast Highway, which is where we drove the Legacy.

Killing Me Softly

Not as welcome is the continuously variable transmission that is the only available “gearbox” for either engine. While the four-cylinder 2.5i model shares the same Lineartronic CVT that can be found in other Subaru models, the six-cylinder Legacy Limited comes equipped a high-torque version from the WRX and Forester Turbo. Both suffer the same general disconnect between engine speed and road speed as all CVTs, but are reasonably quiet in operation. They handle torque efficiently and stay out of the way until the driver summons control by tugging on one of the wheel-mounted shifter paddles. Our biggest complaint with the stepped-gear function is the near complete lack of engine braking when downshifting. We didn’t detect any differences in operation between the two units, both moving between “gears” swiftly, and becoming nearly transparent in automatic mode.

One of the wisest decisions Subaru made for the 2015 Legacy was to make its excellent all-wheel drive and brake-based active torque-vectoring standard. The latter brakes the inside front wheel to sharpen turn-in and reduce understeer. Paired with a recently calibrated version of Subaru’s Active Torque Split Symmetrical AWD, the setup allows the driver to stay on the throttle and leave the system to sort out the particulars. Along the high rocky bluffs of PCH, where turning the Legacy into a piece of cliff graffiti or vanishing into the drink below are very real possibilities, it required a small leap of faith to leave our foot planted when understeer reared its ugly head. But all four tires howl in unison at the limit, giving plenty of warning before things get religious. An electric power-assisted steering setup finds center easily and transmits inputs from the wheel accurately, but remains otherwise cold and indifferent. The Legacy’s braking comes from the same gene pool—linear in response and more than up to the task at hand, but unsympathetic to pedal finesse.