Subaru’s Legacy XT Touring – LEGACY ADMISSIONS

Subaru’s Legacy XT Touring

LEGACY ADMISSIONS

In a market (and regional press fleets) jammed with pickups, crossovers and SUVs, a 4-door sedan shows up in the LAX Parking Spot, this one built by Subaru. Having just returned a Malibu sedan rental in Hawaii, it was – to channel Yogi Berra – déjà vu all over again. Obviously, there are huge differences between a rental Malibu and Subaru’s upscale Legacy, but in both offering four doors and a trunk there’s also a lot in common. Who’d a thunk I’d get a second trunk?

Before those crossovers and SUVs attained market dominance, Subaru’s Legacy, whose platform has underpinned the Outback since Subaru ‘came out’, had been available in both base and performance variants, in both sedan and wagon form. Notably, it still is, although that performance trim falls well short of what Subaru serves with its WRX franchise – and there’s no wagon. Our test Legacy’s XT Touring trim is the top-of-the-line, and as soon as I opened the door that luxury spec was evident. 

Given the ubiquity of Subaru’s Outback, Forester and Crosstrek (and Accords and Camrys!), a lot of us have forgotten that the Legacy sedan continues in production. But there’s a lot to like here, and (notably) not a lot to dislike. The bodyshell is tightly drawn, its 190-inch length stretched over 108 inches of wheelbase. Given that its mission is on-road and not the Outback’s fire trails and deep(est) snow, the ride height is that of a car, and were it not for what I see as excessive front overhang (its turbocharged boxer four sits ahead of the front transaxle) the overall impression would be balanced. 

Inside, the XT Touring’s brown leather (Subaru calls it Java) has an almost Germanic look, is gently sculpted, perforated and – given the triple digit temps of Santa Clarita this past week – both heated and ventilated. 

In front of the driver is a digitized version of an analog tach and speedo. The tach’s redline is 6,000 rpm, while the speedo will register to 160; unless behind the wheel of Subaru’s WRX, I’ve rarely seen a Subie driver exceed 60. (Car and Driver estimates the Legacy turbo’s top speed at 140 – in traffic court you could volunteer for your municipality’s green initiative…any green initiative.) If wanting to hit 60 in the shortest possible time, that same magazine arrived there in just over six seconds; presumably you can, too. 

Within its 108 inches of wheelbase interior room is generous, with rear seat passengers enjoying both adequate legroom and – in the middle – space for the third over a lunch hour. (If it’s a Happy Hour put ‘em in the trunk.) And that trunk is bigger than its 15 cubic feet of volume suggests. With a wide rear opening above the bumper and the rear seats folded, it easily swallowed my road bike without removing its front wheel, a win for those that drive to their ride. Obviously, a trunk doesn’t work as well as a hatch or wagon, but it worked.

On the road the Legacy offers exactly the type of behavior you want in a family-centric sedan. It’s comfortable and composed, but spec’d for touring (tied to the trim!) and not track days. I find the ‘Sport’ trims on 4-door sedans slightly ridiculous, and the Legacy avoids that. Notably, the folks at Rubbermaid weren’t asked to provide fender cladding on the Legacy, but then, today’s Outback has more than it needs…

Finally, there’s pricing. In base trim a Legacy can be purchased for well under $30K, and even bumping to the more comfort-oriented Premium you’re just above $30K. The turbocharged powertrain, however, begins with the $36,000 Sport and tops out at our $40K-plus XT Touring. On one level those price points represent great value. However, if looking at it another way, you can visit a Genesis showroom and drive out in that company’s G70 sedan for under $45K. 

With that, Subaru loyalists won’t be swayed by the attraction – or distraction – of a sport sedan. And if Subaru was to build a Legacy wagon I could avoid those distractions, also.