Subaru Legacy is an all-wheel drive sedan of the mid-size category (aka "D-class" by European standards), which combines attractive design, modern and spacious interior, productive technical "stuffing" and good driving potential ... Its main target audience is well-to-do men (often family), who want to get a "large and comfortable vehicle", who, as a rule, understand cars and understand the need for all-wheel drive as a guarantee of safety ...
The world premiere of the next generation three-volume, the seventh in a row, took place in early February 2019 at the stands of the International Motor Show in Chicago. After the "reincarnation" the car evolved outwardly, but otherwise it was created "from scratch" - it received a fundamentally new salon, "moved" to the modular SGP platform, slightly enlarged in size, "armed" with powerful motors and replenished its functionality with hitherto inaccessible options ...
The exterior of the seventh generation Subaru Legacy is subordinated to the family design philosophy of the Japanese brand called "Dynamic X Solid" - the car looks nice, fresh, harmonious and moderately solid, but at the same time it is also sporty.
At the front, the sedan gazes at the world with menacingly frowned complex headlights with LED "brackets" of running lights, which are successfully complemented by a hexagonal "shield" of the radiator grille and a raised bumper, and at the back it flaunts graceful LED lights, a "chubby" bumper and a pair of exhaust "trunks".
In profile, the four-door attracts attention with its balanced and squat proportions with a long bonnet, sloping roof that turns into a noticeable "outgrowth" of the stern, expressive splashes on the sidewalls, a window line with a truncated corner at the rear and regular stripes of wheel arches.
In terms of its dimensions, "Legacy" is a typical representative of the D-class: the car "extends" in length by 4840 mm, in height it is 1500 mm, and in width does not exceed 1840 mm. The distance between the wheelsets of the front and rear axles is 2750 mm for the three-volume.
Inside, the 2020 Subaru Legacy pleasantly surprises with a beautiful and modern design, where the main emphasis is placed on a portrait-oriented 11.6-inch display, which is entrusted with managing almost all secondary functions (for convenience, there are physical "hot" knobs and keys on the sides of the screen) ... True, in the "base" the center console is crowned with two separate monitors of seven inches each: the upper one is responsible for multimedia capabilities, and the lower one controls the "climate".
At the driver's workplace there is a stylish multi-steering wheel with a three-spoke rim, as well as exemplary "instrumentation" with analog scales and a color board of the on-board computer between them.
In addition, the interior of the mid-size sedan boasts well-thought-out ergonomics and exceptionally solid finishing materials (in the "top" versions, even high-quality Nappa leather).
Salon "Legacy" of the seventh incarnation is designed to accommodate a driver and four adult passengers - all of them are promised a sufficient supply of free space. In the front, there are comfortable chairs with pronounced side bolsters and wide adjustment ranges, and in the back there is a friendly sofa with an optimal profile.
The trunk of the "seventh" Subaru Legacy in its normal form is able to accommodate 428 liters of luggage (according to the American EPA method). At the same time, the compartment itself has a convenient shape, and the lid hinges do not take away the useful volume when closed. The second row of seats folds in the ratio "60:40" - as a result, a decent opening into the cabin opens up, allowing you to transport long items, but a flat cargo area does not work.
For "Legacy" of the seventh generation, two gasoline four-cylinder engines with a horizontally opposed design, direct fuel injection and a 16-valve timing are offered:
- By default, the car is equipped with a 2.5-liter "aspirated" displacement with an exhaust phase change system and an electronically controlled thermostat that generates 185 horsepower at 5800 rpm and 239 Nm of torque at 4400 rpm.
- The more powerful versions are armed with a 2.4-liter twin-scroll turbocharged engine, an intercooler and Subaru's DAVC (Dual Active Valve Control) phase control technology, which produces 264 hp. at 5600 rpm and 376 Nm of peak thrust at 2000-4800 rpm.
Regardless of the modification, the mid-size sedan is equipped with a Lineatronic wedge-chain variator, which has an eight-speed simulation mode and paddle shifters, and an all-wheel drive transmission with a multi-plate rear axle clutch and an ATV electronic assistant that controls the thrust vector using standard brakes.
A car with a "junior" engine accelerates from zero to the first "hundred" in 8.4 seconds and on average consumes about 7.7 liters of fuel for every 100 km of track in combined conditions, while in the version with the "senior" unit these figures are 6.1 seconds and 8.6 liters, respectively.
The seventh generation Subaru Legacy is based on the modular "front-wheel drive" SGP (Subaru Global Platform) architecture with a longitudinally oriented "heart" and a monocoque body, largely consisting of high-strength and ultra-high-strength grades of steel.
The Japanese sedan has a completely independent chassis: at the front it has a McPherson-type suspension with aluminum L-shaped arms and integrated spring rebound dampers, and at the rear it has a double wishbone on a subframe with a hollow anti-roll bar. The car is equipped with rack and pinion steering with active electric booster, as well as disc brakes "in a circle" (ventilated on the front axle), complemented by a bunch of modern "gadgets".
In the US, the seventh-generation Subaru Legacy will go on sale in Fall 2019 in Base, Premium, Sport, Limited, Limited XT and Touring XT trim levels (pricing will be announced later). But the car may not reach the Russian market.
Already in the "base" the sedan is able to boast: eight airbags, alloy wheels, ABS, EBD, ESP, adaptive cruise, a lane-keeping system, power windows for all doors, a media center with a 7-inch screen, dual-zone "climate" (also with 7-inch display), high-quality audio system, multifunction steering wheel and other modern equipment.
As for the "top-end" versions, their equipment includes: driver monitoring system, blind spot monitoring, Starlink multimedia system with an 11.6-inch tablet, Nappa leather trim, electric front seats, heated all seats and steering wheel, fully LED optics, "Music" Harman Kardon and the darkness of other "bells and whistles".
