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2020 Subaru Legacy XT safe and scure as ever

By Craig And Deanne Conover, Daily Herald - | Jun 6, 2020
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2020 Subaru Legacy XT

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2020 Subaru Legacy XT

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2020 Subaru Legacy XT

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2020 Subaru Legacy XT

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2020 Subaru Legacy XT

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2020 Subaru Legacy XT

The 2020 model year brings an all new Subaru Legacy to the market with all kinds of safety and driving enhancements. These include all kinds of things from the huge new 11.6-inch high resolution tablet-like touchscreen to a new segment-exclusive DriverFocus system.

Just what is a DriverFocus system was one of the first questions we had when looking over the literature that came before the Legacy arrived at our home. Anything that can keep a diver’s attention on the road or react to a driver that is not paying attention, just had to be a great addition in our book.

Entering the vehicle for the first time in the driver’s seat, Craig immediately noticed a message on the screen between the tachometer and speedometer that the Legacy was scanning the driver’s face and preparing this new system. This was even before pressing the start button to get the new sedan engaged and moving.

On his first drive around our city he immediately found out just how active and attentive this new system is. If the driver takes his eyes off of the road for a mere 3 seconds a warning beep and message is displayed on the center screen for the driver to get focused on the road again!

For the first few times it seemed that this system was being a little over reactive as Craig referred to it as possibly being his second wife reminding him to pay attention to the road — 3 seconds would go by so quickly.

However, on day three of our weeklong test drive he had to head from Provo to Ogden with three of his work colleagues and figured this would be a great test for not only this new DriverFocus system but also the other safety systems that our now included in the Legacy.

This new system of course preformed flawlessly, reminding him to keep his eyes on the road; in fact, there were times he wondered if it might be just a little too active in its warnings, but it kept the conversation lively with the others in the car wanting to know all about it and also reminding Craig to keep is attention to the road.

This system would also bring the Legacy to a slow stop if the driver continues to ignore the warning and not turn his attention to the road, and will call for an operator to speak with the driver if he or she is completely unresponsive.

So yes, this system is designed to save lives and help us to drive better, as it has been proven across our great country that inattentive driving is one of the leading causes of accidents every day. After a week with the new Legacy we went from thinking that it was a bit of an annoyance, to enjoying the reminders, especially after Craig took the longer 160-mile round trip journey. Oh, and we found that it works just as well at slower speeds also.

Subaru’s great Eyesight package is included and is now even better on the new Legacy. It included an adaptive cruise control that now comes for the first time with a lane centering assist package that would help to keep the sedan within the lane when engaged.

Of course, the great safety features we have come to love on a Subaru are also included, like blind spot monitoring and rear cross traffic alert that worked great when we were backing out of parking spots at the grocery store.

Another first for Subaru is the new, awesomely huge 11.6-inch touchscreen that takes up the entire center console and is surround by a beautiful, high gloss black inlay with buttons for some of the most important functions for easy use by the driver.

The screen can also be split into two sections top and bottom, which is a great way to keep track of both navigation and audio or other functions during a long drive, as Craig found out. The new screen functions just like a tablet with swipe and zoom functions, so it is very easy to get accustomed to, as it seems our home lives are moving out to the autos we drive!

The interior of the new Touring edition is now clad in Nappa leather that included seating surfaces, dashboard and door panels, and this was all done in a beautiful brown color. The front seats were both heated and cooled along with heated rear seats, which kept everyone happy on the trip to Ogden as leaving at 7 a.m. to begin the drive the temperature was still in the mid 50s.

The interior sound level has also been lowered by 3 decibels over the previous model to help with conversations among the occupants and to keep the fantastic Harmon Kardon audio system sounding as great as possible. This may not sound like a great reduction but in the decibel world it is quite a change when you know that every decrease in 10 decibels is 100 times softer than the previous reading.

There was also a new turbocharged engine that has been added to the line: a 2.4 Boxer liter 4-cylinder version that now produces a very strong 260 horsepower and 277 ft.-lbs. of torque, which is standard on the Touring edition. There is also a 2.5-liter Boxer non-turbo engine that gets 182 horsepower.

During our week with the new Legacy the engine proved to be quiet a little powerhouse having no problems out on the freeway or just motoring around town. We think having the extra horsepower would be the best plan for the mid-sized sedan.

Being a Subaru, Legacy is naturally a “go anywhere vehicle,” coming with 15.1 cubic feet of trunk space, enough to fit four rolling suit cases, and this year an additional 1.4 inches of rear leg room space.

The new Subaru Legacy sedan would be a great addition to any active family and is now more technologically and safety advanced than ever.

Base Price: $35,895

Price as Driven: $36,795

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