Superior Handling Estate
by David Finlay (12 Mar 04)

Up until about fifteen years ago, Subaru's reputation was based largely on its ability to produce reliable, hard-working transport for country folk. Through its participation in the World Rally Championship it moved with remarkable speed to become a sporty brand, and in recent years it has devoted more attention to creating products which are attractive as well as being effective. Practicality, performance, prettiness. The Legacy Sports Tourer is an attempt to put all three attributes into one package. And it very largely succeeds.

The current Legacy range, introduced last year (see launch report), is without doubt the most pleasing to the eye, and the Sports Tourer is yet another example of an estate car which is if anything more smartly designed than the saloon on which it is based. Unlike some other stylish estates, it's also able to carry a lot more luggage. With the rear seats up, the luggage compartment is already 26 litres more than the saloon’s at 459 litres, and this extends to 1628 litres with the seats down. The floor is inevitably higher than it would be if the Legacy drove through the front wheels only, but the packaging is still impressive and the Legacy can undoubtedly carry a lot of stuff.

Front seat occupants get a lot of space too, but the rear is surprisingly cramped. Although there's plenty of headroom back there, I found I could barely manage to fit myself behind the driver's seat when it was set up the way I wanted. Astonishingly for a car of this overall size, the Legacy is not nearly as good at carrying four adults as several much smaller hatchbacks.

Learning A Lesson

As far as interior styling is concerned, there are no complaints. Subaru has been roundly criticised over the years for unimaginative design of its passenger areas, and with the Legacy it's almost as if all that negative feedback has been addressed in one go. The shapes are pleasing, the colours are neatly co-ordinated and the little areas of carbon-effect trim are quite to the purpose. While admitting that these things are a matter of personal taste, I'd suggest that no comparably priced car has a significantly better-designed cabin than this.

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