As a wagon, the Legacy is very capable.  Despite its rather compact exterior, it’s able to swallow 100 cm x 100 cm cardboard with the rear seats folded down.  With the seats up, there’s minimal obstruction from the wheel wells so we’re pretty sure that a Balik-Bayan’s worth of luggage will certainly fit.  The loading bay’s also pretty low so even the fairer sex will find shoving groceries into the Legacy very easy.  There are numerous hooks and a luggage cover too.

On the road, the Legacy behaves like how a Subaru should: composed, sporty and refined.  The ride borders on the firm side, but it does take potholes quite well.  Wind and road noise are relatively subdued, but the tires make itself quite known at higher speed.  It’s a good thing though that the 2.0-liter flat-4 makes one of the best sounds in a four cylinder engine we’ve heard so far.  It’s throaty, balanced with a deep bass at the low-end.  It has excellent power too: 165 horsepower, but its peaky nature leaves us wanting for a turbocharger.  Once at speed though, the Legacy scoots around quite well.  The 4-speed automatic is nicely spaced and responsive.  There’s a manual shifting function, but it’s too slow to react, so we’d rather leave things in full automatic mode.  The shift quality’s smooth and unobtrusive, but you can still coax it to get confused when you alternate your throttle pressure from gingerly to ineptly.

Despite the added wagon weight, the Legacy makes up for it with some aluminum body panels.  As a result, it has excellent reflexes—there’s little lean in the corners and handling’s nicely balanced.  The responsive steering and symmetrical all-wheel drive helps a lot too.  Braking is equally excellent with nice pedal modulation and no nonsense stopping power.  Despite the frameless doors, the Legacy has a solid feel to it.  There are no parking assist systems of any kind onboard, but slotting the Legacy through the tightest of spaces is a breeze thanks to excellent all-around visibility.

As we let the engine and brakes cool down after a long, enthusiastic drive we are quite impressed at how the Legacy has grown in a little span of ten years.  A decade ago, we can see why people were so turned off by the Legacy.  Subaru was an untried brand and the Legacy certainly didn’t set your loins on fire.  Now, things can never be more different.  The brand’s now a renowned enthusiast’s choice and the Legacy has grown up both inside and out to become a formidable driving machine.  People who want the SUV space but want a very sporting driving experience should look no further than the Subaru Legacy Wagon.

photo gallery >