A Hit And A Miss
by David Finlay (15 Apr 08)

A word of explanation before we get started properly. Regular readers with good memories will recall that we have already published a road test on the Legend. The reason for revisiting it now is because that first test was written on the basis of having driven the car for part of an afternoon. What you're about to read are impressions gained after living with the car for a week.

Now that that week is over, my main feeling about the Legend is that it is, in spite of its considerable size, a quite astonishingly capable sports saloon. I'm lucky enough to live in a part of the country festooned with wonderful roads, and on the occasions when conditions, sightlines and so on permitted I found that this enormous car could be whisked round corners with about the same gusto as you might be inspired to apply in a hot hatch - or perhaps even more, since the long wheelbase gives it a level of stability which no hot hatch can beat.

There are several reasons for this but perhaps the most obvious is the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive 4x4 package which means that no matter how free and easy you are with the 3.5-litre V6 engine's 291bhp, no individual tyre ever has much power to cope with. It's also clear that the Legend's suspension has been set up by people who know exactly what they were doing.

If the Legend were being marketed entirely as a performance car, this would all be fine, but in fact Honda also intends it to be thought of as a luxury cruiser. In my previous road test I suggested that this apparent contradiction had actually worked out very well, and I still think that; but I had some reservations then and I have more now.

In some ways the Legend does feel very luxurious. The steering is superb, the seats are comfortable, it's very well-equipped, and it's certainly quiet. Until you really start pushing it, that big, smooth V6 is almost inaudible, and you can't help agreeing with the engineer who once said, "When God created the engine, it was a six-cylinder."

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