Subaru Legacy Diesel

Subaru’s diesel is impressive – pity about its thirst.

Auto Express Car Reviews

Rating:
Latest deal price: from £21,081 to £27,686
On the road price: £26,995 - £29,295
For : Distinctive flat-four engine, drives well, roomy boot
Against : Mediocre quality and attention to detail, looks expensive, very thirsty

Driving
The Legacy is the first car in the world to be fitted with a oil-burning boxer motor. Thanks to careful engineering, the Japanese firm has managed to give the diesel a similar character to its petrol units. It shakes the car to life in the same way and the exhaust note has the trademark burble. It’s impressively smooth, quiet and refined, too. The five-speed gearbox disappoints as a result of ratios that are spaced too widely, especially first-to-second, dropping . Nonetheless, there’s a real sense of mechanical robustness to the Legacy. The suspension is very adept at soaking up punishment, so rough roads pose no problems, and even with a fair bit of steering kickback and road noise at speed, it’s a very likeable car to drive.

Marketplace
Subaru’s first-ever diesel was a long time coming. And, aside from a sizeable bonnet scoop and a bootlid badge, there’s little to mark out the diesel estate (for now, it’s only available in the Sports Tourer and Outback) from standard Legacys. Flush-fit glass, blacked out pillars and frameless doors help give it a uncluttered look; it’s not handsome, but individual enough to stand out alongside rivals that include the BMW 3-Series Touring, Audi A4 Avant, Mercedes C-Class estate and Saab 9-3 Sportwagon, as well as the mainstream Ford Mondeo and Mazda 6. It is offered in R and RE trim, with the latter getting electric leather seats and cruise control.

Owning
Despite Subaru’s best efforts, interior quality and trim is no match for premium rivals. The layout is cluttered and uninspiring, and even the generous standard kit fails to raise the ambience. There are niggles too, such as the car re-immobilising itself if it’s not started immediately. Rear doors are small and, although legroom and seat comfort are reasonable, it still doesn’t feel spacious. The boot is better, though. There's 459 litres of space with the rear bench up, minimal wheelarch intrusion, and it's easy to load. Up front, it’s comfortable and the raised seating gives a great view out, which is aided by thin pillars and a low shoulder line. However, the the key figure for any diesel-engined car is economy. Officially, it averages 49.6mpg – but, during our tests, it returned a very disappointing 33.6mpg. Retained values should be more impressive though and servicing costs should be reasonable, despite short 12,000-mile service intervals.

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7 Comments

Economy

I liked the look of this Legacy but seriously put off by the fuel economy figure's. A diesel motor should do alot better.

By macca59 on 24 January, 2010, 8:48pm

economy

I run a Legacy Diesel as a company car and I love it, from new it averaged 45mpg, and after 40k will now average 50 combined, more if you're careful. For a big grey estate car it is great, the handling and ease at which you can cover ground amazed me and that was after a 2005 Accord Diesel, which admittedly was better inside but not as good to drive.

By not_mondeo_man on 11 February, 2010, 11:24pm

Great Economy

I've been running this car now since July last year and over the last 9000 miles the average consumption is 45.8 mpg and I'm not not known for hanging around and on some runs I've had better than 50 mpg. God knows what you were doing to it to get that sort of consumption!

By LegacyFan on 13 February, 2010, 1:23pm

Alarm Reimmobilising

Who wrote this? It's meant to so that if you don't start it straight away it can't be hotwired so even if you leave it unlocked it can't be started.

I had Audis, Fords, Mercedes and this is by far the best build and when it comes to safety can't be beaten. All wheel drive over the past few weeks has been a godsend and some emergency situations left me smiling and others pretty unhappy (and minus bits following collisions etc).

And while I think about it - compare the price for the same levels of kit, where else does the basic model come with heated seats, multi cd changer, cruise control, electric drivers seat, headlamp washers, and xenon headlamps? oh and at the time I bought mine I got £500 of additional accessories fitted as well!

Who wrote this review?

By LegacyFan on 13 February, 2010, 1:34pm

Photographs

Incorrect photos as well - if you look at the interior, it's an automatic and the diesel isn't available in this model as an automatic. The other weird thing is there is no fuel filler on the driver side which is where it is on my model so exactly what have you been driving?

By LegacyFan on 13 February, 2010, 1:40pm

Great Economy

By LegacyFan on 13 February, 2010, 1:42pm

Poor photographs

Very lazy Auto Express!

The "Against" for the Legacy would be well applied to the photographs used...

You've photoshopped a LHD diesel to pretend it's RHD... I'm sure most readers would've tolerated you using LHD press cars?

To make matters worse, a petrol interior (because it's an auto) and then you chuck in a picture of an Outback?

As a Legacy diesel owner I'ver never managed anywhere near 33 mpg - how did you do that, drive everywhere in second at 4000 rpm?

(Although now obsolete) This is a very good car AE, however it would appear that "Mediocre quality and attention to detail" in your eyes, doesn't just apply to the car...

By natwest on 7 April, 2010, 1:02pm

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Subaru Legacy Diesel