Subaru Legacy Wagon: Best for Last

by Thane Peterson

Editor's Rating:

The Good: Handling, cargo space, safety, four-wheel drive

The Bad: Generic styling, no telescoping steering wheel

The Bottom Line: It may be a station wagon, but it has speed, panache, and offers good value

Reader Reviews

This is more of a lament than a review. In a few months, Subaru is phasing out the Subaru Legacy station wagon, one of the most affordable, practical, yet fun-to-drive family cars on the market. As of the '08 model year, the Legacy will only be offered as a sedan. The sole station wagon version of the vehicle will be the far more SUV-ish Subaru Outback.

That doesn't make any sense. Survey after survey shows that most owners rarely if ever actually do any off-road driving. So, what's with the American obsession with high-profile, high-riding vehicles? And why is it that any vehicle that looks even remotely like a traditional station wagon doesn't sell? I mean, 1950s-style furniture and ranch-style homes have made a comeback. Why not station wagons, which have just as much space inside and usually handle better than small sport-utility vehicles?

Nothing against the Outback, but for people who like sporty driver's cars, the Legacy is a cut above its sister model. The Outback wagon is identical to the Legacy wagon in length, width, and wheelbase, and (like all Subarus) both models only come with all-wheel drive. But a couple of telling statistics set the two apart: The Outback, which is designed for the U.S. market to have a rugged, SUV-like look and feel, has a ground clearance of 8.7 inches, nearly as much as General Motors' (GM) Hummer H3 and two-and-a-half inches more than the Legacy. The Outback also is five inches taller than the Legacy.

The upshot is that the Legacy sits lower on the pavement than the Outback, and handles and hugs the road better. Sure, the Legacy is much more of a traditional station wagon, and its styling is hardly head-turning. But if you're trading down from a gas-guzzling SUV and like to drive, it's a great option to consider. Lower-end Legacies offer remarkable value, and the high-end GT Limited version of the Legacy wagon has the speed and handling of European wagons such as the Audi A4 Quattro and the Saab 9-3.

When I noticed Subaru enthusiasts fretting on the Internet about the possible demise of the Legacy wagon, I scheduled a test drive of the 2.5 GT Limited, which starts at $31,520. Powered by a peppy, turbocharged, 243-horsepower four-cylinder engine, it's one of the great smaller family cars on the market, and may be the best Legacy wagon Subaru has ever made. In addition to the turbocharged engine, it has bigger brakes, a limited slip rear differential, fancy electroluminescent gauges, and comes standard with a five-speed automatic transmission with a manual-shifting mode.

The good thing about the Legacy, though, is that there are more affordable versions for the budget shopper. The base model 2.5i Legacy wagon, the only version with a stick shift, starts at just $22,120. Even at that low price, it not only comes with all-wheel drive but a fair amount of standard equipment, including air conditioning, antilock brakes, power windows and doors, and a six-speaker sound system with an auxiliary jack for an MP3 player. It also comes standard with front, side, and side curtain airbags, and the Legacy has earned top crash-test ratings in both front and side collisions.

The next step up is the $23,620 2.5i Special Edition, which has a four-speed automatic transmission rather than a stick shift, plus a panoramic double sunroof and a power driver's seat.

The mid-level is the 2.5i Limited wagon, which starts out at just under $26,000, adds heated exterior mirrors, a windshield wiper de-icer, heated front seats, leather upholstery, and an upgraded sound system.

The base model Legacy wagon is rated to get a respectable 22 miles per gallon in the city and 29 on the highway, but mileage drops to 19/25 in the turbocharged GT Limited. In a stretch of 160 miles of very hard driving, I only got 20 mpg, but you can probably expect to get about 23 mpg in more normal mixed driving. Keep in mind that the turbocharged engine requires expensive premium gasoline.

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