2020 Legacy: Boring in the best ways
rating of 27/35/30 city/highway/combined mpg — worse than base frontdrive versions of the Honda Accord (30/ 38/33), Toyota Camry (28/39/32) and Nissan Altima (28/39/32).
Where it does well is in ride comfort. Like Subaru’s other vehicles, the move to the automaker’s new global platform has been a good one. The Legacy excels in ride comfort, with soft suspension tuning and good isolation.
I tested a mid-level Limited trim and the cabin — though generic looking — is handsomely dressed and comfortably cushioned. The sedan’s pillowy front seats are a treat, but the rest of the materials and design are forgettable.
It almost doesn’t matter, though, because all eyes are on the flashy, giant touchscreen, which is 11.6 inches (measured diagonally). The vertically oriented screen reminds me of the setup in Volvo and Tesla vehicles, but Legacy’s physical knobs for volume and tuning are more ergonomically placed.
The screen is standard on all trims except the base one, and I found it refreshingly easy to use. Its icons are huge and easy to read, the menu setup is simple and the screen is customizable.
I did have a couple hiccups with the system: First, although the touchscreen’s responsiveness seemed quick when just tapping something on the screen, things slowed down a lot when using the map with pinching and zooming actions. Also, the map only displays some street name labels — many are oddly blank even when you zoom in. Going into the map settings didn’t help.
The system’s vertical orientation works against it at times: For such a large screen, the backup camera display is smaller than in many cars because the screen is narrow — 5.8 inches wide — and only the top few of the display’s generous 10 inches of height are used for the image.
Like last year, Subaru’s EyeSight bundle of safety and driver-assistance technology is standard; it comes with essentials like a front collision warning system with automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane departure alert. What’s new this year is a lane-centering function.
For the most part, I’m a big fan of Subaru’s safety systems, but some tweaking is needed. First, the driver assistance system sounds helpful, but it can be too sensitive. A couple times, I got a warning to keep my eyes on the road when my eyes were on the road.
The AWD 2020 Subaru Legacy starts around $23,600 — less than base, frontwheel-drive versions of the Honda Accord, Nissan Altima and Toyota Camry.
The Legacy’s powertrain needs work, and managing its safety systems will take some getting used to, but if you can get past those issues, this sleepy sedan is comfortable, practical and a good value.