#went this morning on my semi annual pilgrimage

[dear-ao3]

[adrenalineguide]

Toronto Motorama Part 3 – Getting there in the Subaru Legacy Limited

Words and Photos By Michael Hozjan

It’s become the annual right of spring, the long, boring ride down the 401 to Toronto for the annual custom car show, better known over the last few years as Motorama. (See photos down the page.) My pilgrimage is always a one day event leaving the farm around six in the morning to avoid Toronto’s rush hour and then leaving the show around seven in the evening to again avoid the rush. I’m fortunate enough to have a friend or two come along to make the drive less tedious.

If I’m coming across as negative it’s because I’ve been down the 401 probably a couple of hundred times, more often than not in the worst possible conditions from torrential rain to freezing sleet and of course, this being Canada, snow, lots of snow. But the show, with all the fabulous cars and great people is worth it. Of course depending which vehicle I’m driving for the marathon run can be rewarding or disaster. I have come back sitting in the back on my side unable to drive because my sciatica flared up thanks to the SUV’s seats.

As luck would have it, this year I got lucky and booked a Subaru Legacy unaware it was the week of the show. I was relieved, in particular because, maybe I’ve been watching to  many towing shows and seeing all those wrecks made me, for the first time in my life, jittery about the drive. Kinda like watching a movie about plane crashes days before boarding a flight. Relieved because Subaru’s Eye Sight accident avoidance system is among the best in the business, and I trust it fully.  Secondly no matter what Mother Nature would throw at us, the Subie’s  confidence inspiring all-wheel-drive system was ready.

You wouldn’t know it by looking at it but for its seventh generation, Subaru has done some major reengineering from the ground up to the Legacy and its butch brother, the Outback. An all new platform with new suspension and two new boxer engines serve as the base for the 2020 models. Just nobody told the design department.

Six trim levels make up the  Legacy lineup; Convenience, Touring, Limited, Premier, Limited GT and the Premier GT with prices starting at $26,395. That entry level gets you the 2.5L boxer four cylinder that produces 182 horses/176 lb-ft  and dual 7” infotainment screens (my personal choice). Eye Sight and Lane Assist are standard across the board.  Stepping up to the Touring gets you a power sunroof, reverse automatic braking, rear/side vehicle detection, Subaru’s Starlink  and a 11.6 inch infotainment screen.

·      Convenience: $26,395

·      Touring: $30,295

·      Limited: $34,295

·      Premier: $36,295

·      Limited GT: $37,095

·      Premier GT: $39,095

My Limited added leather seating, a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats and the Harmon Kardon premium sound system to the equation. Stepping up to the Premier gets you ventilated front seats and Nappa leather, front view camera and a distraction management system. 

It’s only when you step up to the GT models that you’re upgraded to the sportier, 260 horsepower 2.4L turbocharged boxer four that nets you 277 lb ft of torque.  If the mill rings a bell, it’s the same engine that propels the large Accent.  Yes folks the venerable flat six has sadly been relegated to the history books.

The green house remains typically Subaru, not overly styled like some of the Legacy’s competitors, but a clean flowing design in keeping with the company’s mantra of functionality over glitz. Hard and soft plastic are the materials of choice with a sprinkling of shiny piano ebony looking plastic. The first thing you notice upon opening the door is the large 11 plus inch infotainment screen. More on this later.

The seats are comfortable with just enough side bolstering that it doesn’t compromise ingress and egress. The back seat will accommodate six footers with ease and the large opening trunk with a low lift over makes loading a breeze.

 On the Road

At the risk of repeating myself the Legacy proved itself once again to be a very capable four-season sedan. My legacy came with the base engine, which now has direct injection and auto start/stop. While the mainstream engine did run out of steam and made a lot of clatter when the go pedal was pushed to the floor (only for research), at normal speeds with normal throttle openings the Legacy had no trouble passing semis on my Toronto run and made gave us a combined thirst quotient of 7.0l/100kms. Excellent numbers for a medium sized all-wheel-drive family sedan in winter with warm ups and plowing through the white stuff, and reason enough to get your butt into one.   

Likewise, the ride is among the best in class, with the new chassis taking the brunt of road irregularities and not sending it into the cabin. Just cross some train tracks and you’ll see how well the sedan soaks up the bumps, a testament to the new car’s additional torsional and front-suspension rigidity (improved by 70%) and the rear’s subframe rigidity which according to Subaru, has been by increased 100 per cent compared to the last year’s Legacy.

The use of additional sound deadening in the new car is easily evident, greatly reducing road noise into the cockpit. While I don’t have access to decibel meters, I’m sure the Legacy is now quieter than some of its pricier counterparts. It took me a few days to get my seat adjusted just right but from then on, the ten plus hours of my Motorama run were comfortable and without any “seat” pain.

The only thing that lacking in the Legacy to give it some fun factor is a standard tranny, instead we get the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). Subaru has been a pioneer in CVTs, and over the years I’ve learned how to get the best out of them, but it will never replace a standard.  

 Thumbs Down

Ok, I’ll be the first one to admit it, I’m old school. Yes, I welcome and admire new technology, but when it is warranted and not for the sake of competing with the Joneses. I still back up with my back turned looking out the rear window, I prefer knobs and dials over flowing my fingers over screens – which usually takes three tries anyway because most screens think I’m a zombie and can’t read me. Truth is and I wish all car manufacturers would listen up; WE ARE NOT FLYING THE ENTERPRISE THROUGH SPACE, we are driving cars with other cars, trucks, bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians, skate boarders and whatever else sharing the road with us, often-just inches away from us. Screens may be great for Mr. Chekov hurtling through space. I need to keep my eyes on the road and not on a screen. I’m sure you know where I’m going with this. Not only is the new 11.6” screen a magnet for reflecting glare into your eyes, it also takes away the ease of use. 

When I first started in this field Subaru’s radios had tiny little buttons that were perfect for newborns. Over the years they went from good to great. In last year’s Legacy everything worked as how it should. In the new car if you want to warm your seat, first you need to press the screen’s seat warmer button, then that opens up the large screen where you see images of the seat and a temp gauge, press the seat warmer button again to activate the warmer. Thankfully rear seat passengers still get regular switches. You’re on the phone, well, the phone screen won’t deactivate when you hang up and go back to the radio screen, nope that would be too easy. Instead press the home button, once the main menu pops up press the radio button. Oh and all this time you’re supposed to have your eyes on the road. And since when do we have to have reminders about anniversaries and birthdays popping up on our screens? Don’t forget you are PAYING for this. I’ll take the base car’s screen any day thank you.

Again a note to all car manufacturers and not just Subaru, please, please hire some drivers to design you’re dashes and not some bicycle riding computer geeks that would rather be designing computer games.    

Thumbs Up

The family sedan is going through a crisis these days, and while I’ve reported time and time again that most of my friends prefer sedans to the latest soccer mom ride, the SUV, sedans are facing a tough road. The Legacy provides a lot of bang for the buck and with room for five is a smart alternative to the SUV/crossover and a perfect choice for the four-season Canadian family. I couldn’t have thought of a better car for the occasion.

Oh and it’ll be interesting to see if the OPP car that had its trunk pushed into the back seat by the tractor trailer while having a car pulled over will make it to the towing show, there were certainly enough tow trucks on the scene.   

 Price as tested: $35,945 *

* Includes freight and dealer prep