How much can buying a trunk save you?
About $4,000.
That's the price difference between the new Subaru Legacy and the new Subaru Outback, which is basically a Legacy without the trunk.
Both are mechanically identical and almost physically identical — except for the Outback being a wagon and the Legacy being the sedan on which it's based.
The only things you get less of for your money if you buy the Legacy are cargo room and ground clearance.
Which may matter less to you than the $4k you didn't spend to get them.
What It Is
The Legacy is the sedan version of the Outback wagon — or vice versa, depending on how you view it.
It's also the only large sedan with a price that starts under $23k that comes standard with all-wheel drive. Most of the sedans in the same-size range, like the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord, don't even offer it — and they cost more without it.
The Legacy's base price is $22,745 with all-wheel drive, versus $23,870 for an Accord sedan without it. A Camry without all-wheel drive is even pricier: $24,425 to start.
Both of these Legacy rivals do have some things the Legacy lacks. The Camry has a stronger standard engine, and the Accord has a larger trunk and an available manual transmission.
That said, the Legacy is still the most affordable large sedan with standard all-wheel drive on the market.
And it can be a powerful sedan, too — when ordered with its optional turbocharged engine, which is available in the Limited XT ($34,195) and Touring XT ($35,895) trims.
What's New
The Legacy gets a major makeover for 2020, including new bodywork and an updated interior with a huge LCD touch screen. Also new is the optional 2.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which replaces the old Legacy's optional 3.6-liter six-cylinder engine.
What's Good
It's an Outback without the Outback price.
It costs less with all-wheel drive than front-wheel-drive-only rivals.
It has a large, easy-to-use LCD touch screen.
What's Not So Good
Its powerful 2.4-liter engine is restricted to the pricey Limited and Touring trims.
The sedan's trunk has much less room than the wagon's cargo area.
The unpleasant (and unavoidable) automatic stop-start system is standard.
Under the Hood
The new Legacy comes standard with an updated version of the previous Legacy's 2.5-liter, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder engine — now making 182 horsepower versus 175 horsepower last year. As before, it's paired with a continuously variable automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.
Interestingly, this very high-compression engine (12.0 to 1) is optimized to burn 87-octane regular gas.
The 3.6-liter, horizontally opposed, six-cylinder engine is no longer available. Its place has been taken by a turbocharged 2.4-liter engine that has two fewer cylinders but makes more horsepower — 260 versus 258 — and delivers better gas mileage, which increases to 24 mpg city, 32 mpg highway versus the previous 20 mpg city, 28 mpg highway.
This engine — also designed for 87-octane regular unleaded gas — is also paired with the continuously variable automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.
On the Road
The Legacy isn't as speedy as rivals like the Camry and Accord, but they can't rival its tenaciousness — because they don't even offer all-wheel drive.
This tenaciousness is tempered somewhat by the Legacy's lower-to-the-ground stance. It has 5.9 inches of clearance, which is about the same as the others in the class and a lot less than the Outback's 8.7 inches of clearance.
But the payoff is more sure-footed, high-speed stability compared with the Outback, along with higher-cornering grip on dry pavement than its front-wheel-drive-only midsize sedan rivals.
Another thing the Legacy has is legs.
It can travel an astounding 647 miles on 18.5 gallons of gas (with the 2.5-liter engine). This is comparable to the range of no-longer-available diesel-powered cars like the — rest in peace — Volkswagen Passat and Jetta TDI, which got discontinued for cheating on government emissions certification tests.
At the Curb
The new Legacy — like the new Camry and Accord — has been restyled to make up for the sedan layout, which is no longer as appealing to people's sensibilities.
It's a more noticeable car than before. And it's a bit more practical than before. A slight increase in overall length — 190.6 inches now versus 189.1 before — carves out about an inch more backseat legroom (39.5 inches now versus 38.1 previously).
However, trunk space — 15.1 cubic feet — remains about the same.
It's comparable to other sedans in the class like the Camry (also 15.1 cubic feet) but can't compare with the Outback's 32.5 cubic feet — which more than doubles to 75.7 cubic feet when you lower the back seats.
The Rest
Almost all new cars have LCD touch screens, but only a few have touch screens as large as the Legacy's — which occupies most of the center stack. The size addresses the main weakness of the touch screen interface: It's sometimes hard to see and touch the small icons for the various functions.
The Bottom Line
The new Legacy goes almost anywhere the new Outback can — for less.
Just pack a bit less.
Eric's new book, "Don't Get Taken for a Ride!" is available now. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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