What do you do if you reach a point in life where you need a practical estate, but don’t want to feel like you are getting old? You buy a BMW 5-Series estate with a bit of poke and a nice set of alloys. But the trouble with buying a BMW is people will judge you. So you buy an Audi, or possibly a Saab. But then the neighbours just assume you wanted a BMW but didn’t want to be pigeonholed. Back to square one. The real solution is the Subaru Legacy Sports Tourer on 18” alloys. In the flesh, it looks sporty and expensive; it lends an aura of mystery and success to its pilot. But only the informed recognise it and no one really knows what it says about you. Allowing you to speak for yourself.
Which is good news because you may occasionally need to defend your choice. The Subaru is not going to make you look like James Bond. When James Bond jumps in a car, even without a key, he starts it and screams off in seconds. I had both the key and the alarm fob and on several occasions couldn’t get it to start. Consulting the handbook I discovered that the immobiliser system is very sensitive. Reading between the lines, I concluded that you have to learn to start the car whilst still getting in. Any delay results in an embarrassing process of alarming the car whilst inside, then de-alarming again, which involves a corresponding number of indicator flashes. This signals to everyone in the petrol station that I am a clown who doesn’t know how to operate his own car. This of course is only half right; the car is Subaru’s.
The interior is well designed and well built. It mostly feels the equal of the established premium German brands. The controls are in the right place, the gauges easy to read and there are lots of nice design touches. It would be better for those us around the 6” mark if the seats went a little further back, but the rest of the driving position is ideal. The stereo has an impressive range and offers a quality sound. I tend to like to fade a stereo to the rear of the car, especially if the sound is a bit tinny.
My friend Guy, however, likes to test a car stereo’s ability to cocoon him in perfectly balanced and unnecessarily loud music. All the cars I have ever owned have failed his test, but this one passed with flying colours. But all of these points are just a distraction. I feel the normal Subarus (not world rally and other customised versions) are as close to my kindred spirit as an inanimate object can get. They are about function over flash. The Subaru is not designed like a trinket or accessory, it is engineered for driving. In determining this, we took the Subaru crosscountry to the National Water Skills Centre at Nottingham. We made an effortless trip up the motorway and a brisk thrash along all kinds of winding A-roads. We didn’t feel discernibly older or less sporty because we were driving an estate car.
We felt pretty old after some ‘wake boarding’ on a zip wire linked to an old ski-lift. In fact my hands may never recover. The astonishing thing about the test car was its ability to turn in at any speed and offer effortless grip. The steering perfectly weighted to inspire confidence right the way through every corner. I can’t believe the speed this estate car allows the driver to carry on and off roundabouts. It really doesn’t feel, when clamped into the luxury sports seats, with index and middle fingers hovering over the semiautomatic gear shift paddles, like you are driving an estate car. Rev it to the red line and you can compete with almost anything.
Summary
The Legacy is a practical estate car that is comfortable, solid and reliable. Yet it handles, accelerates and brakes like a sports car. Is it better than an equivalent Audi or BMW? It compares on most aspects, like performance and miles per gallon, but if buying brand new, there would be a few small details I wouldn’t be happy about on a car that costs over £29,000. A couple of bits of trim felt less than solid, the seats don’t go back far enough and the satellite navigation needs a dedicated member of staff to operate it successfully. But, if you buy a one-year-old car with about 10,000 miles on the clock from Subaru’s proven and direct service you are really being clever. You are getting this incredible machine, with a comprehensive mechanical check (or the next manufacturers service) valeted like new, for about 73% of the new price. You are getting a premium driving enjoyment for every-day money and no one will pre-judge you. It’s a smart move.
Test Car Details:
Legacy 3.0 R spec.B 5 speed Automatic with SportShift.
0-62mph 6.9 secs
Words: Matthew Tumbridge