Road review 2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5GT Limited: the Legacy vs the Cuda?

March 27, 8:28 PMRoad & Driver ExaminerRoman Mica

Previous Next

1 comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Road & Driver Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

                                                  Ladies and Gentlemen, in this corner the 2009 Subaru Legacy

The year is 1982 and I'm folded in the back seat of my friend Tracy's Plymouth Barracuda. We're flying up I-70 just past George Town in the section of the highway that gets very steep very fast. The 'Cuda's exhaust is reverberating up and down the canyon like distance cannon fire as it leaves the flimsy glass pack duel mufflers that do little to silence the monster Hemi engine's roar.

Tracy has painted his car a bright orange, but as benefits a car like the 'Cuda the hood, roof, functional hood scoop, and trunk are jet black. Back in 1982 a collage freshman could still afford a Cuda and Tracy was cool long before the car became expansive and cool again.

We're heading up to go skiing at A Basin with something like $20 in cash in our combined pockets with a lunch and lift tickets purchased at King Soopers for about the same amount. I barely fit in the back seat with the long skis, boots, and the neon yellow, red, and purple ski jackets.

I recall thinking to myself that this stretch of I-70 always separates the wheat from the chaff, or in this case the fast cars from the slow. And believe me in the land and year when Chrysler K cars, Chevy Vegas, and those goofy Pacers still roamed the streets, the 'Cuda was King.

Fast forward some 27 years and I'm older, heavier, and I can't help but recall my friend Tracy who passed away so many years ago as I'm once again flying up I-70, but this time in a ruby red Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT. And just like the 'Cuda back in 1982 the Legacy is flying up the steep section of I-70 just West of Georgetown with the 'Cuda like functional hood scoop gulping down huge swallows of air as the 2.5 liter turbocharged and intercooled engine makes easy work of the steep hill.

Tracy's 'Cuda had massive Craiger wheels with an aftermarket Hurst shifter, and air suspension he could raise and lower by going to the local gas station and filling up the car with free air.

The Legacy has an automatic with paddle shifters, 17-inch alloy wheels with tire pressure monitors, all wheel drive, and the Subaru SI- Drive which lets the driver change the dynamic handling and performance characteristics of the car.

The 'Cuda could take about anything on the road in a straight line, but Lord help you if you had to go around a curve at anything resembling a brisk walk.

The Legacy is fast, and perhaps even furious, in both a straight line and especially when the road turns twisty.

Both cars give their owners an effortless sense of speed, but the 'Cuda kicks you in the groin to let you know that it is the bad boy in town while the Legacy is way too sublte and way too refined for such childlike behavior. It just goes about its business with a cool and understated ease.

I drove the Subaru back from Vail very late at night after visiting a friend from Prague. I was tired, it was St. Patrick's Day, or perhaps the very early morning after St. Pat's Day, and I-70 was all mine. I just wanted to get home and to bed ASAP.

The Legacy welcomed me by happily flicking all of its dial needles up and down when I inserted the key. I turned on the Harmon Kardon Premium radio and pointed the car East. With little fuss the car effortlessly brought me home in under two hours. The car felt planted and secure with limited lean around the fast turns just past the Copper Mountain exit. The steering was precise and communicative, the handling was predictably and neutral, exhibiting none of the over or understeer of front or rear wheel drive cars when the road turns challenging.  

Flying up the West side of Vail Pass was a breeze as the intercooled 243 horsepower boxer four coupled to Subaru's full time all-wheel-drive made easy work of the steep and slippery sections. 

Unlike the 'Cuda, the Subaru only gets better as the weather turns nasty.

However also unlike the 'Cuda, I'm not sure I'll remember the Legacy 20 plus years from now. The styling of the car goes from exciting at the front to bland and mundane at the rear. The 'Cuda's was an in your face bad ass beast that took no prisoners. I fear the Legacy would be just as at home going to the weekend farmer's market as burning up the highway.

And you know a 'Cuda would would never do at a farmers market.

A word about Legacy's automatic transitions with paddle shifters---it works as advertised

However I just don't get it. I'm sure that if you are Michael Shumacher flying around the race track in Nuremburg in a bright red Ferrari and you've got the perfect line dialed in the paddle shifters give you that extra second or two around the track that make you a champion.

But when they engineered an automatic transmission so that it emulates a sports cars sequential gearbox, which is emulating a race cars high performance sequential gearbox---in my opinion you end up with a pointless copy of a copy.

The silver paddles behind the steering wheel may look cool, but they are about as fun to have and use in the Legacy as cup of hot coffee in the cup holderless 'Cuda. Putting around town they just don't make much sense, and I would bet that 99.9 percent of Legacy buyers will never take the car to the track or use the paddle shifters as the main shifting option.

Subaru's Intelligent Drive (SI-Drive) however does work as advertised. The big rotary knob can be set to either:

- Intelligent mode

- Sport

- Sport Sharp

The different setting change the engine and transmissions shift points and throttle response. In Sport Sharp mode you'll be rewarded with acceleration and shifting that would make Shumacher proud. The down side: a significant drop in gas mileage.

As with many of these types of systems that offer three options I choose the middle one for most of my daily driving duties. It doesn't seem to matter if it is the suspension or the engine management that can be changed I always seem to go for the middle of the road option.

Is the Legacy 2.5 GT Limited the spiritual successor to the mighty 'Cuda?

Of course not.

But does it offer many of the same thrills with none of the drawbacks?

You bet---and best of all it even has a functional hood scoop that I'm sure would have made my friend Tracy smile.

2009 Subaru Legacy 2.5 GT Limited

Price as Tested: $31,060

Engine, Transmission: 2.5L DOHC Intercooled Turbo 5-Speed Auto Transmisson w/Paddle Shift

Horsepower: 243

PocketDyno Test Data

1/4 Mile: 15.60 second at 97.09 mph

0-60 mph: 7.32

Max Acceleration: 0.44 g's

EPA Fuel Economy Estimates

City: 18 mpg

Highway: 24 mpg

Combined: 20 mpg

As tested: 22.5 mpg

CO₂ per year: 10,107 lbs

Click HERE to follow me on Twitter for the latest news and updates.