If you've followed the Legacy since it joined the Motor Trend long-term fleet, you may recall that at first, most of the comments were positive. Editors praised the ride/handling compromise, noting that the suspension absorbs ruts and irregularities, and that it handles well in turns. As time has passed, though, little flaws are becoming more noticeable.
Copy chief Emiliana Sandoval found the navigation and satellite controls counterintuitive. "I drove to dance class from work and needed directions how to get home. I entered the address, then the nav asked me for a city, and I chose Show 5 Nearest Cities. It replied that there were no cities near me-while I was sitting in a parking lot in Santa Monica. So I tried to enter Los Angeles, and after the L, it blacked out the O. The satellite radio also is unnecessarily difficult to tune: It lets you skip from category to category, but forget about flipping through the stations in each category. My tech-savvy sister messed with it for a good five minutes, before giving up and pronouncing it 'lame.' Yeah, we could've gotten the directions out of the glovebox. But in this modern electronic age, it shouldn't be that complicated."
Senior editor Jonny Lieberman observed that "when the sticker explaining how to use the Legacy's electronic parking brake is half the size of the navigation screen, you're doing it wrong. In my life I've driven...1000 cars? More? And I've never had any trouble working a parking brake. Until I drove the Legacy."
Photo intern Michael Shaffer has mixed feelings. "After spending an evening with the Panamera Turbo, the Legacy still felt fast. When the turbo spools, there is a smooth, strong pull you wouldn't expect from a car with the Legacy's sheer mass. This mass is what leaves me torn on the Legacy. I like that it's big so I can enjoy plenty of space for myself and some friends. I like that it lends to the overall solid feel of the whole car. I don't like that the body rolls as much as it does when you exercise the AWD's tenacious grip around on-ramps. If Subaru just back-stepped a little bit and made the Legacy about 10 percent smaller than it is, the balance between comfortable people-mover and rally cruiser would be just about right."