The 2010 Subaru Legacy 3.6 R Limited is an excellent import, any consumer who fails to recognize the niche market Japanese automaker’s latest mid size four door sedan as a viable option when shopping for a new car are seriously missing out. This Ruby Red Pearl 3.6 R Limited is the automaker’s top of the line Legacy, and a pleasant surprise from the all wheel drive automaker is just how luxurious their flagship sedan can be. Subaru is an automaker that we would traditionally relate with Gran Turismo and the World Rally Championship, but in this case the “R” is meant less as a nod towards a high performance racing model, but is more likely to stand for the new Legacy’s relaxed attitude. However that doesn’t mean that the new Legacy isn’t going racing, in fact it is already a GT300 race car, and once you have a look at the flared four door, you will never look at another new Legacy the same way again.
The all new 2010 Subaru Legacy wears a set of the automaker’s aerodynamic hawk eye headlamps up front, stylish 17 inch wheels underneath a set of curvaceously contoured flared fenders, a redesigned rear suspension that makes a more spacious rear bench while under the hood of our 3.6 R is a rather large horizontally opposed six cylinder engine. The 3.6 Liter boxer engine makes a total of 256 HP and 247 lb-ft of torque while getting and EPA estimated 18 MPG in the city and 25 MPG on the highway using regular grade gasoline.
One interesting feature of the Legacy 3.6 R is that the flat six engine is only available with a 5 speed automatic transmission that has been beefed up to work with the flatter torque curve from the bigger power plant. Our 2010 Subaru Legacy 3.6 R came well equipped, and would have set us back somewhere around $31,000. If you ask us, that is a great price to pay for such a relaxed all wheel drive sedan experience.
If you can remember the new 2010 Subaru Legacy and Outback that we showed you a couple of weeks ago then Top Speed’s latest press car should be quite familiar to you, that is because the good folks over at the automotive arm of Fuji Heavy Industries saw fit to let us try out their most luxurious model to date, this 2010 Legacy 3.6 R Limited. Aside our Ruby Red Pearl Legacy’s rather large horizontally opposed six cylinder engine and stylish 17 inch wheels, the new Legacy is filled with all sorts of creature comforts like a one touch window for the driver, leather wrapped steering wheel, power adjustable driver’s seat and a pair of chrome exhaust tips; the Limited model adds some very supple leather, dual zone climate control and a Harman-Kardon sound system complete with a large navigation screen that will play DVDs when you are in park.
The 3.6 R is the top of the line Legacy, however in this case the “R” stands for relaxed and not for racing and after having a look around the new Legacy we can see why. The fifth generation of the Legacy received a restyling and features a bold new design that features a larger one bar grill and a set of Subaru’s new hawk eye style headlamps and a set of bold fenders. It is also supposed to be the roomiest Legacy ever thanks to a longer wheelbase and the new double wishbone suspension in the back makes for a back seat that you can finally have fun in. Speaking of seats, our Limited model’s came wrapped in some very attractive leather and the wood trim on the dash and doors sets off the darker parts of the interior beautifully.
Top Speed was invited to a special showing for an up close look at two new Subarus for 2010, the redesigned Legacy sport sedan and Outback wagon. According to the sales sheets more and more new car customers are being handed the keys to a Subaru because they had the fortune of being one of the few automobile manufacturers to turn a profit last year. Cash For Clunkers certainly didn’t hurt either, doubling their sales last month alone. Although the Japanese automaker’s market share in the U.S. may not be that big of a slice of the pie, rising from 2.2% to 2.5% this year, with a few anticipated improvements they expect to keep that momentum going by offering the right car to the right customer. Subaru plans on doing this by offering a range of new vehicles that meet the right: size, equipment and price requirements of the consumer.
Over the course of the afternoon we learned that Fuji Heavy Industries, the automaker’s parent company considers Subaru to be a luxury brand around the world and they are sold at a premium over other Japanese automobiles like Hondas, Toyotas and Nissans in Europe. However the general public doesn’t feel the a same way in this market. In the U.S. Subaru is seen as a niche brand reserved for the rugged duties of snowy northeast winters, but what shoppers fail to realize is that from rainy South Florida summers to the constantly wet Northwest where precipitation is an issue, these are also perfect places for Subaru’s symmetrical all wheel drive to shine.
For many years the Subaru Technica International team has been the only factory backed racing effort to compete in Japan’s most prestigious form of motorsport when it would team up with the aftermarket parts manufacturer Cusco to campaign an entry into what used to be called the Japanese Grand Touring Car Championship or JGTC. The rules are simple, you need to use the firewall from the factory car, an engine from the manufacturer and that is about it. The race is run similar to an American Le Mans Series race, the competition is broken down into two categories, the bigger GT500 cars are limited to 500 HP while the smaller GT300 class competitors are limited to you guessed it, 300 HP, but they also get to run a few less laps.
Subaru has decided to not only pull the Impreza out of World Rally Championship competition but Super GT as well. At least in this case the Japanese automaker is going to offer a substitution. This Legacy based GT300 racecar looks like a Mercedes Benz DTM car with its wide arches and bright silver paint reflecting the sun during the shakedown run at Fuji Speedway. This is also an advanced look at what the redesigned 2010 Lagacy is going to look like before Frankfurt. The Legacy continues the automaker’s tradition of entering an all wheel drive into the championship, a proving factor for their drivetrain.
Perhaps with this blow, Subaru is only distanceing themselves from their once infamous boy racer image with box fendered and wild winged WRXs being replaced by much more civilized and muscular sport sedans, perhaps next year they will have a WRCOutback.
The automotive arm of Fuji Heavy Industries has announced that the European versions of the new Subaru Legacy and Outback will make their world debuts at the upcoming Frankfurt Motor Show in September and will then go on sale in the summer of 2010.
The 2010 Subaru Legacy is being offered in two body styles, the first is a sedan and the second is a wagon. The upcoming Legacy will be powered by either a 2.0 Liter or a 2.5 Liter gas burning boxer engine as well as a 2.0 Liter turbo diesel mill. Both the sedan and wagon will be larger in both length and wheelbase which in turn will provide more legroom for the back seat passengers.
The 2010 Subaru Outback will be offered with a 2.5 Liter gasoline engine and a 2.0 Liter diesel power plant. The top of the line flagship version of the 2010 Subaru Outback model will have a 3.6 Liter flat six under the hood.
