For every man, a Legacy

MANILA, Philippines - Over the past few years, Subarus have grown to become among the most sought after vehicles in these 7,100 islands. This is so because the people at Motor Image Pilipinas came to the car sales war with a superbly sound battle plan – and because they brought in the right products to help them win the war.

Knowing that they had a unique product offering in the standard symmetrical all-wheel drive system, they marketed their vehicles as performance automobiles that stood a notch higher than their average Japanese counterparts. Knowing that they had the advantage of better pricing, they marketed their vehicles as value-for-money alternatives to similarly positioned European sports sedans. And now, knowing that they have the benefit of performance-oriented turbocharged engines underneath the hoods of their fifth generation Legacy sedans and wagons, the Motor Image folk have set their sights squarely on range topping midsized Japanese sedan buyers who might want a little more oomph to come along with their smooth rides.

Tomorrow, at the Bonifacio High Street grounds, Motor Image Pilipinas will unveil the all new Legacy 2.5GT sedan and Legacy 2.5GT wagon as well as their off-road oriented sibling, the Legacy Outback 3.6R. And fun-loving middle and upper management folk who love driving are given fair notice.

All three fifth generation Legacy variants are equipped with a newly-refined E-5AT automatic transmission which is paired with Variable Torque Distribution All-Wheel Drive (VTD). VTD is a breakthrough in improving balance further as it instantaneously distributes the new Legacy’s powerful engines’ torque to all four wheels. This while the system still focuses on the rear wheels as conditions dictate, allowing for enhanced handling, traction and stability. Yes, this on top of the almost perfect weight distribution due to the horizontally-opposed configuration of the car’s boxer engine.

I know what you’re thinking. If it’s a Legacy and it aims to topple such big guns as the Camry and the Accord, it has to be a lot less brutal on the passengers than say... an Impreza. So how does the car shift, you ask? In a word, superbly. The electronically controlled 5-speed transmission features driver-adaptive shifting, blipping control for quicker and smoother downshifts and manual-style control via steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. And with Subaru’s patented SI-DRIVE, it can adjust smoothly to three different modes (Intelligent, Sport and Sport Sharp) quite handily. In other words, you can configure the car to behave like a smooth sailing people carrier one moment, then act like a brute out to bully every other car out on the road the next. It’s almost like the Legacy has a specific configuration to anyone who gets behind its wheel.

How do we know all this? Because two weeks ago, we were in a controlled driving environment somewhere in Singapore abusing the cars for an entire day. And we couldn’t be more pleased with what we saw.

Here’s fact. Save for the rather lethargic 2.0-liter engine, the fourth generation Subaru Legacy is a fantastic car. It handled well, felt tight, was very comfortable inside and looked sweet no matter which way you looked at it. Now, imagine replacing its one weakness (the engine) with a ridiculous upgrade, throwing in several bits of technical goodies in the bag and giving it a bigger, more passenger-friendly body. That’s what this new Legacy feels like. It’s every bit the improvement on an already awesome car. But don’t just take our word for it. Have a look yourself. After tomorrow, the all new Legacy and Outback variants will be available for viewing at the Motor Image Pilipinas showroom in EDSA Greenhills. Do check them out.