Category: Large Family 
Price Range: £20,400 to £27,400
Strong, smooth performance; refinement; a unique proposition; the usual Legacy strengths.
A little noisy at start-up; too idiosyncratic?
The most petrol-like diesel we've yet driven.
The Legacy is a large, wide car but lighter and lower than many rivals, giving it a sportier feel than, say, a Passat or Volvo V70.
Its stability is superb, its permanent four-wheel-drive system giving excellent security and traction, but with a rear-biased feel under most normal driving conditions. And if you're feeling hardcore, the vehicle dynamics control (traction/stability monitoring) can be switched off, although it is set up to be unobtrusive anyway. The steering is responsive and well-weighted, and the 'drive-by-wire' electronic throttle intuitive.
Now that most rivals have six-speed gearboxes, giving the Legacy/Outback a five-speeder seems retrograde, but with an engine this flexible, an extra ratio really isn't necessary.
Despite a little clattering at start-up, the engine is wonderfully quiet and smooth at high speeds, civilised under hard acceleration yet high-revving and responsive in all gears. It'll even cruise comfortably at motorway speeds in third.
Subaru claims a top speed of 126mph and 0-60mph in 8.5 seconds for the Legacy Sports Tourer, with 124mph and 0-60 in 8.8 seconds for the higher-riding Outback.
These figures sound competitive enough for a 2.0-litre, 150bhp unit, but that's not the whole story: Subaru's diesel gives, quite simply, the nearest thing to a petrol-engine driving experience than any diesel we've yet driven.
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