Subaru Legacy 2.5 Estate

...maybe knowing something about the Subaru Impreza, due to its World Rally Car fame, I am going to guess that there are some of you reading this that are unaware that Subaru manufacture a larger car too, the Legacy.

For those of you in that particular boat, and unless your Great Uncle Bill left you something in his will (no I didn't get the Rolls, just in case you were wondering) - and we won't go there right now - I will have to explain ...
...in Germany and importantly for Subaru now, Saab in Sweden.

Of all the worlds car manufacturers I have always regarded Subaru a little 'odd ball' or eccentric. Their, until recently two car, range were purchased exclusively by rallying enthusiasts in 'the-know', but outside of that circle and the farming community, were largely ignored by the Great British motoring public.

However there are certain areas of the country ... more

This is something of a long shot, but apart from maybe knowing something about the Subaru Impreza, due to its World Rally Car fame, I am going to guess that there are some of you reading this that are unaware that Subaru manufacture a larger car too, the Legacy.

For those of you in that particular boat, and unless your Great Uncle Bill left you something in his will (no I didn't get the Rolls, just in case you were wondering) - and we won't go there right now - I will have to explain to you what a Legacy is.

Subaru for many years were a relatively small, independent, Japanese car manufacturer. Goodness only knows how they funded that hugely expensive rally programme. Of late they have had more than a small tie-in to General Motors, the parent company of Vauxhall in this country, Opel in Germany and importantly for Subaru now, Saab in Sweden.

Of all the worlds car manufacturers I have always regarded Subaru a little 'odd ball' or eccentric. Their, until recently two car, range were purchased exclusively by rallying enthusiasts in 'the-know', but outside of that circle and the farming community, were largely ignored by the Great British motoring public.

However there are certain areas of the country where Subaru's are very popular indeed, the South East and Commuter Belt not being amongst them. In Cumbria, Northumberland and indeed north of the boarder they are much more popular, you see a good few on the roads and for very good reason.

Subaru road cars have an enviable reputation amongst the sensible hill folk for being as 'tough as old boots', they do not go wrong and when you approach a dealer for servicing you are entering into one of the most highly regarded dealer networks in the country. Most of the dealers are true enthusiasts, many run their own small rally team, even if only at local club level.

Being neither a farmer, nor do we (unfortunately) live in the Lake District, I have to say that until relatively recently, Subaru was a brand to which I had paid very little attention. Then, one damp, grey day, around six years ago, whilst on holiday in the area, I attempted to follow a completely standard Subaru Legacy Estate on the wonderful A689 'Weardale' road. On the map this appears a relatively unchallenging route between Alston and Stanhope. Far from it, in my experience it comes pretty close the "Alpine Route" at the Millbrook Testing Ground, which doubtless you have already read me raving about. I am sure that there are more appropriate places to eulogise about a twisting, dipping, brilliant strip of black tarmac than here, suffice to say that I rate this probably as one of the top two "driving" roads in the country.

Anyway, on this particular October day I am behind the wheel of my (then) 170bhp V6 Vauxhall Vectra. By any standards it is not a slow car, although even then, this was a 1996 model - the first of the "flying door mirror" type, it did not have a great reputation for handling. A bit of a brawn rather than brain type of car you could have described it as I suppose. However ahead of me is a completely basic 2.0 litre Subaru Legacy estate. I'm building up quite a sweat in the Vectra just attempting to keep this (presumably local driver) in sight. His car has a good 30bhp less than mine, a filthy dirty four year old white brick of an estate car and in the end I all I can do is just ease off and watch him disappear into the distance!

How could this possibly be? I missed out two other Subaru 'features', they all have four wheel drive and, at that time, 'flat four / boxer' engines!

'Sorry Richada, now not only are you writing about a car model that we have never heard of, but surely only Land Rovers and those big school run cars have four wheel drive and what on earth is a flat four and, or Boxer engine?'

Well those big 4x4's of course do have four wheel drive, designed primarily for 'off-roading', the nearest most of them get to driving off road being the grass verge outside the local primary school. However there are a small handful of four wheel drive cars optimised for every day use, whilst Audi would claim to be the inventor of this sector with their Quattro series, Subaru were already, very discreetly marketing such cars.

Four wheel drive is I think pretty self explanatory, each one of the four wheels receives drive from the engine. This on a road car gives a great deal of extra security as soon as the road is anything less than bone dry. On the other hand, and this is where the Northern hill folk enter the picture, as soon as there is a smattering, or a pile, of snow on the ground, their Subaru is going to get them from A to B when nothing else less than a Land Rover would complete the same journey.

Combined with the massive traction advantage of having all the wheels driven are the very unusual engines that Subaru use to power their cars. Previously an all four cylinder range, they have also during the last couple of years very quietly dropped in a 'flat' six cylinder unit at the top the range. However that car I was attempting to follow would have been the original four cylinder flat four endowed with a less than impressive power figure of around 130bhp.

Sorry, I still have not explained what a 'flat' engine is. Well, your average car, be it petrol or diesel powered, is going to have four cylinders aligned in one row i.e. 'in-line'. Alternatively you may find, usually with six cylinders (or more), a V formation, i.e. two sets of three at often a 45 degree angle. A 'flat' engine is somewhere between the two of these where the cylinders are aligned, in the case of a four cylinder unit, four square. The advantages of this configuration are that not only is the engine remarkably compact, but also the height is substantially reduced. That aids handling due to it putting the biggest source of weight in the car at the lowest possible level. In technical terms this is referred to 'lowering the centre of gravity'.

Wandering off subject a little, that is how Porsche have always managed to shoe-horn a big 3.0 litre plus engine into the tiny compartment space in the rear of their 911 model; all 911's have flat six engines.

Flat engines tend to be good news all round, unless mounted in an Alfasud, they tend to be bombproof mechanically, always sound great in use and also produce a very flat torque curve. My Legacy driving friend on that north country road was able to leave me standing, without I am sure even trying, due to his car's four wheel drive and real world superior torque characteristics. This only proves what I have thought for a very long time, in the daily use of a car the torque, i.e. flexibility, is far more important than a big bhp figure.

After the chance encounter on the moors that morning, a Subaru Legacy had become top of my "must try" list when visiting Company Car in Action at the Millbrook testing ground. Unfortunately I had a long wait, this is an event aimed directly at fleet managers, Subaru were not interested in chasing that market for many years and therefore, quite sensibly were not going to purchase expensive stand space at an event like this.

Several years ago, when they did bring the Subaru range to Millbrook, I drove a Legacy Estate with the 2.0 flat four engine and it left a lasting impression. By any standards a plain looking car from the outside, it had a typical (Japanese of the time) grey plastic and rather low rent cloth interior too, but as an engineer and keen driver it appealed in a way that no other car driven that year did. Subaru know how to set up a four wheel drive chassis to best effect, they also know how to make a car feel as tough as old boots, a proper car.

Now, finally, with apologies to those amongst you bored with the preamble, to the subject of this review: the latest SUBARU LEGACY 2.5 SE TOURER.

It shares very much the same ingredients with the original "moors" car and the one driven several years ago, but GM (owners of this slightly eccentric Japanese marque) have applied the top gloss in terms of fit and finish and perceived quality. Indeed the old grey "tweed" upholstery has been replaced by superb half leather / alcantara, the dashboard is now attractive to look at - if a little "Eurobland" with its aluminium strips and flaps over the stereo.

The car that we drove also had a huge panoramic sun roof which split in the middle. Personally I would have done without this particular option as all it served to do was create extra wind noise, with a good climate control system the Subaru does not need a sun roof anyway. In terms of visual quality the Legacy can now compete with the likes of the VW Passat, Honda Accord and even 3-Series BMW.

It is of course the last of those models, the very recently obsolete BMW icon to which all manufacturers aspire. Looking at the smoothly Europeanised styling (my wife likens it to an Omega) and sitting down in the very attractive interior, surrounded in leather and aluminium strips my senses are a little confused. The "tough as old boots" feel has gone, replaced with something rather more sophisticated, bland even.

Start it up and the 2.5 litre flat 4 engine still has that distinctively unique, very attractive beat to it, but now it is so muted that you have to listen carefully to discover that there is an unusual engine under the bonnet. By four cylinder standards it is extraordinarily refined, 2.5 litres gives you lots of low down torque too, the gear change has a wonderfully polished action to it, which goes a long way on the road to making it still feel like a very well engineered car.

Driving in close quarters there is nothing dislikeable about the Legacy. The driving position is instantly right, the controls all where your hands fall naturally on them. This is a very friendly, even easy car to drive, due to much better than average visibility from the drivers seat.

Behind you, thanks partly to this one being an estate, although the saloon is equally spacious at least for passengers, is a hugely practical and roomy space. It is not difficult to understand why such a car would appeal to people living in remote areas of the country.

However, such is progress that where four years ago Subaru offered something genuinely out of the ordinary, especially in terms of ride and handling, other cars driven here today were just as good which regrettably means that this car left a far less lasting impression than the last Subaru driven.

Being four wheel drive, of course, you had that added sense of security in the rain on the hill route; the cornering was flatter and the added traction out of the bends welcome. As an A to B car across country you would actually need something quite exotic and much more expensive in which to keep up with a well driven one of these.

Out onto the banked oval track where you are allowed to drive in complete safety at 100mph, the Legacy was also rock steady at that speed in a very high cross wind. But then, to be fair, so were the entirely conventional front wheel driven Vauxhall Signum and Fiat Panda previously driven.

In conclusion then, if I were purchasing a car with my own money, a Legacy would certainly come above even the new BMW 3 Series on my short list. It is better built, has better performance (than any BMW at the same price), more space, considerably more equipment for less money, and above all is a much more individual choice.

Note the "my own purchase" clause there. Sorry Subaru, but as a company car this whole range of yours still does not add up financially. Thanks to a combination of big capacity Boxer engines, but more influentially the four wheel drive, the CO2 levels (around 200) remain uncompetitive, meaning that even at its quite reasonable asking price of £21,400 it will be an expensive car to run 'on the company'. Subaru do not make, and so far have not sourced any diesel engines for their cars, in Japan where they are built, diesel is simply not a popular fuel, nor in the USA, Subaru's main expert market.

The question we ask at the end of every drive, my (Polish) wife and I:

"Would we drive to Poland in it? At Christmas, with snow on the ground, I can think of no better car for the journey."

High praise indeed for a very good car.
 

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