2010 Subaru Legacy: Daddy Driven
Kelsey Mays has already turned in a full review of the 2010 Subaru Legacy, but a black Premier model with a moonroof and Harman Kardon stereo recently wound up in my hands for a follow-up. Because Kelsey had already taken on the particulars in his review, I figured I could expand on how the redesigned car handled life in a dad’s hands.
If you don’t follow along regularly, I have two kids under 2, meaning there’s a full-size convertible car seat for my 18-month-old son and a rear-facing convertible car seat for my 2-month-old daughter. The new Legacy’s additional 5 inches of legroom compared with the 2009 version came in handy, and both seats fit easily using the Latch connectors. I own a 2008 Subaru Outback that has identical dimensions — besides rear headroom — to the outgoing Legacy; the new Outback and Legacy also have identical interior dimensions.
I was happy to find that while our Subaru forces me to sit with my knees against the dash when the infant seat is in back, the new Legacy leaves plenty of room for me in the passenger seat. Yes, I could even stretch a little. Check out the photos below of the two.
The trunk was also a good size. At 14.7 cubic feet, it’s bigger than the Honda Accord (14 cubic feet) but smaller than the Toyota Camry (15 cubic feet) and Chevy Malibu (15.1 cubic feet). However, it didn’t feel so voluminous to me that it would actually outdo any of them significantly in cargo hauling. Our umbrella stroller had to be placed diagonally to fit. I then ran some errands and filled the trunk with a full grocery trip of bags and a case of bottled water. There was also a large Baby’s R Us bag of necessities like new sippy cups, some diapers and assorted other items you never knew existed until you had children. As you can see, it all fit fine.
The cloth seats seemed durable and should stand up to abuse from the kids. It’s a different material than our Outback, too — not as fuzzy — and hopefully repels dog hair a bit better.
Interior quality overall was high. After serious debate with other staffers, this seems to be a split feeling, but I liked the weight of the buttons, the nice gauges and the useful cubbies everywhere. There’s one hidden in the center stack that can fit full-size CDs, and an open one below that, in front of the shifter, with a rubber surface to keep things from sliding. On top of the center stack is another flat portion that could hold items. That’s also where you see time and temp. Other editors pointed to the fake silver finish on some parts of the dash and the small knobs as particular problems. My guess is that most consumers wouldn’t note them. Our opinions were so varied that I personally raved about the brushed metal finish of the center stereo while another editor found it awful. We’re still struggling to resolve these differences.
The optional $995 Harman Kardon sound system sounded terrific, with great sound clarity and instrument separation, but little deep bass. However, I highly question any automaker that isn’t putting USB jacks into their cars as standard equipment, let alone in a $995 optional stereo. It does have a six-disc CD changer, but as our editor-in-chief recently opined, “I’d need that as much as a tape deck,” which is pretty accurate in today’s iPod/MP3-player world. It’s much easier to throw a children’s music playlist onto my iPod than to try and find a few CDs that could be in any number of rooms in the house.
The Premium trim level, moonroof and stereo brought the price, which starts at $19,995, up to $24,180 after destination. That’s also for the manual transmission; adding a continuously variable automatic transmission is an additional $1,000. Still it’s the only midsize, non-luxury sedan on the market where you can get all-wheel drive teamed to a four-cylinder engine. A 2010 Ford Fusion with all-wheel drive comes with a V-6 and starts at $27,790, but that’s with a six-speed automatic. Mazda, Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Chevy do not offer all-wheel drive in their midsize sedans.
So for dads out there in need of an all-wheel-drive sedan to complement a larger family vehicle, the Legacy offers tremendous value. If front-wheel drive is all you need, this segment is so crowded with contenders it’s hard to find many reasons to single out the Legacy.
Legroom photos
More photos of my tester by Ian Merritt are below.
2010|Subaru|Legacy
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Dumb question - the title of this article is "2010 Subaru Legacy: Daddy Driven", however did daddy actually drive it?
Play ANY music taken from a compressed file through a decent stereo system next to the same music via CD (I've done it) and bless the fact that you can still have the CD format. The folks who create and record music will tell you that hearing their stuff in the ipod version makes them want to jack.
tscurt,
most people these days say the compression has improved enough where to the normal ear you can't hear a difference if it's a 256 file. especially if you go 320.
However, yes, cds are still better.
BigD,
I think Kelsey covered all the driving impressions in his post. It's a four-cylinder with a 6-speed stick which was plenty powerful for me in daily driving.
Handling is sharp like you'd expect but the car does have some lean in turns, and just feels tall. But overall next to a Malibu or an Altima you're not losing anything IMO.
CD changers -- with mp3 decoder capability -- are great for those of us who own more than one car. I can burn a LOT of songs in mp3 format on a CD; and i can make different copies to leave in each car for almost free. much easier.
I would lose my mp3 player if i had to bring it to each car (don't use iPods anymore because i hate Apple's monopoly on not allowing you to share mp3s with family or, god forbid you own more than one computer or one player, you have to pay for the song each time you change machines!!!)
btw, love the brushed aluminum.
the instrument panel -- like how the tach is on the left, the way it should for enthusiasts; little miffed it looks like it imitated the G37 though (i guess imitation is ... flattery ...)
DL,
Ah, but I bring the iPhone everywhere ...
But you're right, MP3 cds are easy and cheap to do and you don't care if you lose them.
v0 VBR baby :)
I kinda like the brushed aluminum though. At least it looks more convincing (in the pictures) than a lot of other imitation metal.
I don't understand the MPG gauge in a non-hybrid, however...much rather have an instantaneous readout.
I test drove a 2010 Outback last week (lease on the Pilot is over in a month) and was really impressed with the redesign.
Billy, I also thought the mpg gauge was silly to have but there is an instant/average digital mpg readout with the clock on top of the center stack.
I like the look of the redesign on the Legacy better but need the extra space of the Outback. Very nice car!
It looks like if the Avalon and the Sebring have had a child together... boring, boring... I know Tomoco has a big stake in Subaru... but do they need to make a car so boring?... I still remember some people using some versions of this car to race in Europe.
Another CFC special.
I would hardly call Toyota's 16.6% stake in Subaru "a big stake". I can see some G37 in the Legacy but no Avalon or Sebring.
If this stereo is anything like the 08-09 OB Ltd or 09 Forester, whether or not it has MP3 decode capability (single or 6CD), there's a mini stereo jack in the center console along with a 9v lighter jack for power. So if you want to bring that 40 gig or more MP3 with loads of tunes, you can plug in and have music galore!
I have the 2010 Legacy 2.5i Limited. The CVT is *really* nice and smooth.
The MPG gauge is a relative indictator - relative to you average MPG at that time. You can see at a glance if your driving is improving or reducing your overall MPG.
The stereo is available with a USB port as an upgrade. It's the Media Center. Plus in your iPOD (or other compatible devices - Windows Mobile devices are not compatbile) and you can play through the stereo. Control of the MP3 players is minimal, but it works. I use the USB port to charge my phone.
Leg room and handling are superb. Getting about 27MPG around town (varies a few MPG, but engine is just now broken in).
Moonroof is nicer than expected and doesn't seem to reduce headroom. Seats are very confortable, and a lot of nice little touches. We are a fairly tall family and all four fit comfortable - which I can't say about the Outback we traded in...
You didn't even drive the car? All I read was information that could be found anywhere else on the web. MASSIVE FAIL.
Wow does every new asian car have to look like a Toyota camry rebadge, sheesh