Subaru LEGACY 3.0R SPEC B ESTATE
If You Look Beyond The Impreza, Subarus Range Has Some Other Nuggets To Tempt The Sporty Driver. Take The Legacy 3.0R Spec B For Instance. Andy Enright Does Just That
It has to be said that as a nation, were more than a little myopic when it comes to the
Subaru range. Turbocharged Imprezas get the big billing but beyond that things get a little hazy. Normally aspirated Imprezas often remain glued to showroom floors whilst Outbacks and Foresters are informed choices for the country set but get little attention from mainstream consumers. The Legacy estate is an even dimmer point somewhere at the outer reaches of the Subaru universe.
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Opt for the most extreme version of it and you find a car that few realise even exists, let alone would consider buying. Thats a crying shame as in the Legacy 3.0R Spec B,
Subaru have one of the greatest sporting estates money can buy.
Granted, its a bit of a mouthful but bear with us here. The Spec B is a more focused version of the existing Legacy 3.0R estate, the biggest difference being the switch from an automatic gearbox to a very direct six-speed manual lifted from the Impreza STi. There are a whole host of other incremental revisions that lend the Spec B a far sharper feel.
The first is the feel of the steering, which has been retuned to offer more weight. The suspension has also been uprated with Bilstein dampers and STi-style inverted front struts. The look is generally low-key. Theres none of the brash Imprezas blue and gold rally replica attitude.
Instead there are some rather handsome 18-inch alloy wheels, a subtle lip spoiler on the trailing edge of the roof and some chromed kicker plates on the sills. In your face it is not and thats what makes the Spec B even more alluring. Do not trifle with this car as it has some serious clout to fall back on. Lets start with 242bhp.
Its as good a place as any to start clobbering opposition like BMWs 330i Sport Touring or Jaguars X-TYPE Estate 3.0 Sport. The manual gearbox really does make a significant difference to the cars sprinting ability as well. Any car with this amount of grunt and the traction advantage of four-wheel drive is going to get off the mark with some alacrity but the manual car sledgehammers home its surfeit of power.
The sprint to 60 is dispatched in just 6.3 seconds (an improvement of 1.8 seconds compared to the auto 3.0R), suddenly making the Legacy look quite the performance bargain at £27,500.
Although the Subaru cant quite match the badge equity of its more prestigious competitors, on almost any objective basis its got them nailed.
"Do not trifle with this car as it has some serious clout to fall back on"
The estate version of the Spec B stacks up favourably against over £30,000 of equivalently specified
Jaguar X-TYPE 3.0-litre and both the
Volvo V70 T5 and the
Audi A4 Avant 3.0 Quattro would be the thick end of £33,000,with none of them matching the Subarus punch. Its closest competitor in terms of dynamics remains the
BMW 330i but for one of these youd be looking at over £36,000.
Suddenly spending this sort of money on a rather unheralded Subaru seems eminently sensible. The all-wheel drive traction benefit is a massive boon when accelerating from a standstill onto, say, a fast flowing roundabout or when you need to pull out of a T-junction safely. Because the boxer engine is in-line with the gearbox which is again in-line with the prop shafts and rear differential, frictional losses are reduced to a minimum. In addition, the drive shafts are of equal length for a pure division of power, thus reducing the unseemly torque steer that powerful front wheel drive cars often suffer from.
Should you attempt to defy the laws of physics when cornering, Vehicle Dynamics Control software will attempt to keep everything in check. This uses sensors in all four wheels to detect slippage and can brake certain wheels if it feels the vehicle is likely to slide. Experienced drivers can switch VDC off for more playful rear-wheel biased handling. Where legal, the Legacy will run on to a top speed of 147mph.
All the Subaru trademarks continue. The frameless windows, the boxer engines and the all-wheel drive transmissions are all present and correct, but the big difference is that the Legacy is at last a car that your passengers will enjoy as much as you do. Subaru have poached Andreas Zapatinas from
Alfa Romeo and theyve snagged a very capable designer. Encouraged by recent part-shareholder General Motors, Subaru now seem to have a little more integration between their engineering and design departments.
The latest Legacy is at last the car that most car nuts wish it always had been. The styling has been sharpened up, excised of all the fussy detailing and gawky lines. The basic silhouette still shouts Subaru, but the deftness of detail in the headlamps, the swage lines and the perceived tension in the body is something that has eluded the crayon-wielders at Subaru to date. Everything is just that little bit neater.
The mirrors house Mercedes style side repeaters; the wheelarches bulge gently out, topped by a pronounced hip. The roof pillars are elegantly slim and the wheels do a better job of filling the arches. One can almost imagine Zapatinas taking a red pen to blueprints of the old car. If you think that the exterior lines have been sharpened up, just wait until you drop into the cabin.
Although its probably too much to expect Audi or BMW style at the first strike, the fascia is one of the better designs out there. Gone are the acres of brittle grey plastics, flimsy cupholders, scratchy fabrics and uninspiring dials. In its place is a dashboard of sleekly industrial metallic finish, overlapping aluminium-ringed dials, soft-touch surfaces and rubber and felt-lined door pockets and cubbies. Despite only featuring height adjustment for the steering column, its an easy cockpit to get comfortable in.
Head and legroom are generous up front and the seats are reassuringly supportive. This is a Subaru, remember. Access to the rear isnt the best, the wheelarch making the door shape a little awkward, plus theres a big transmission tunnel marring foot space for a third central passenger. The estate version boats better headroom but the penalty for the saloons swooping lines is rear headroom thats a little restricted for the taller passenger.
Consolation comes in the form of one of the most accommodating boots in the class. The load area is usefully free of intrusions, is fully carpeted and measures a hefty 495 cubic litres. With a saloon version also offered, the Legacy 3.0R B Spec makes a very convincing case for itself.
Fast, well equipped and comfortable, this range-topping Legacy would seem to have all the bases covered. Now if Subaru can only get people to realise theres more to their product portfolio than turbocharged Imprezas
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Subaru Legacy 3.0R Spec B Estate
PRICES: £27,500 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 16E [est]
CO2 EMISSIONS: 285g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 6.3s / Max Speed 147mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (Combined) 23.7mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags / ABS with EBD / Seatbelt pretensioners / VDC
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4725/1730/1425
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