2015 Subaru Legacy
The Subaru Legacy has been around long enough to actually have a legacy. That’s 26 years and counting as a comfortable, affordable, reliable family sedan choice. It’s also mirrored the legacy of the Subaru brand itself: delivering all-weather capabilities in a slightly quirky package. Well, an all-new Legacy is looking to update both histories, while also going a bit more mainstream.
The Subaru Legacy sedan has always labored in the popularity shadow of the Outback Sport Utility Wagon with which it once again shares a platform. So, what does the 2015 Legacy bring to the table to warrant more of the spotlight?
Well, for one thing, smoother, more mainstream styling. It looks like Subaru is taking a page out of the Honda Accord book by making the Legacy silkier, if also more conservative.
And that’s OK if, like the Accord, you design the car to be appealing as an entire package, and not just a shiny object of great desire that lacks good practicality and purpose. And, without a doubt, the Legacy has come a long way towards becoming that type of very desirable car.
And perhaps that’s why they didn’t stretch too much on the powertrains as both engines carry over from last year. The 2.5-liter flat-4 sees a minor 2-horsepower gain to 175, and will still be the choice for most buyers. Our car’s very robust 3.6-liter flat-6 carries over unchanged with 256-horsepower and 247 lb-ft. of torque
No manual or traditional automatics are offered, as a CVT is the only transmission. And it works surprisingly well this go around, being smoother with fewer…quirks!
Plus, it has helped raise the 6’s fuel economy numbers, though they still aren’t stellar; perhaps that‘s because all-wheel-drive is still standard. Government Fuel Economy Ratings are 20-City, 29-Highway, and 23-Combined for the six. We averaged 25.5 miles-per-gallon of Regular in a mixed loop of driving. If you don’t mind sluggish acceleration the 2.5 four has 30% better fuel economy.
At our test track, Subaru’s CVT performed quite well when combined with our snappy 3.6-six. The simulated shifting was strong and accompanied by a nice surge of power as the RPMs dipped ever so slightly. 0 to 60 was dispatched in a reasonable 7.3 seconds, and we ended the quarter-mile in 15.7-seconds at 92 miles-per-hour.
A much stiffer chassis and some honest to goodness heft to the wheel helps the Legacy also perform with more composure and sportiness than most rivals. Things are way more fun to drive than last year, with a definite hike in chassis feedback, and an overall demeanor that’s more Mazda6 than Camry.
Steering is quick and precise for both inputs and corrections, and handling prowess is aided by brake intervention Active Torque Vectoring. Overall braking performance fell back to about average, however, with some minor fade. Stops of 125-feet from 60 were smooth and straight.
Things are well above average inside, particularly in Limited trim……and now we pause from this road test to say thank you, thank you, thank you to Subaru for finally putting in a non-frustrating navigation system. With this latest infotainment system, they’ve went from absolutely one of the worst units to one of the best.
Everything is clear, the colors really pop, and the street names are highly legible. Even the variable touch buttons work well. It’s a huge improvement both visually and functionally, and as much grief as we’ve given them over the years, we’d better spend some time praising, now that they’ve gotten it right.
Gauges are also both more informative and clearer, and again, thank you Subaru, for bringing back a real coolant temperature gauge. A backup camera is now standard on all Legacy’s too, but the feature packed Limited also gets leather heated seating front and rear, a 576-watt Harmon Kardon audio system, and blind spot detection.
Seats all-around deliver great comfort and most interior measurements are up just slightly; even trunk capacity climbs a little to 15.0 cubic-ft before you fold the split rear seats.
Legacy base pricing also climbs slightly to $22,490 for the 2.5i. The 3.6R comes in top tier Limited trim only, and stickers for $30,390.
It’s clear to us that Subaru has listened to current owners and changed only what needed to be changed. The new Legacy may be less quirky, but in it stead is a high quality car that’s not nearly as sedate as it looks. Plus, even though it’s more mainstream, it still offers standard all-wheel drive, something still unique to the affordable mid-size family sedan segment. The 2015 Subaru Legacy deserves it’s time in the spotlight. We’re very favorably impressed with the result.
Specifications
- Horsepower: 256
- Engine: 3.6 liter
- Torque: 247 lb-ft.
- 0-60 mph: 7.3 seconds
- 1/4 mile: 15.7 seconds @ 92 mph
- EPA: 20 mpg city/ 29 mpg highway
2025 Porsche 911 Carrera
Ever Evolving 911 Reaches New Heights
The Porsche 911 has existed for 60 years now! Amazing! And, you could argue that major changes over all those years have been relatively few, as constant incremental improvement is more the way that Porsche does business. With that in mind, let’s hit the track in the latest 911 and see what constant improvement means for 2025.
We’ve driven so many 911s here at MotorWeek, each seemingly more special than the last, so it’s a bit refreshing to be ripping around Savannah’s Roebling Road Raceway in a 2025 Porsche 911 that’s about as close as you can get to base these days. And the fact that it’s just as fun as all those exclusive pieces says a lot about how far the 911 has come. Perhaps it also speaks to how much a base 911 will set you back today as well; more on that later.
For now, we’re just thinking about the next apex, holding steady throttle as we approach, and getting on it way sooner than you’d expect without upsetting anything, as the 911 rockets off the corner thanks to tremendous grip and a PDK trans that finds the perfect gear before we even gave it a thought. Even with very cold track temps, we never struggled for grip or battled any wheelspin coming off of corners. And trying to land it in that perfect spot in braking zones is easy with strong brake performance that was predictable and consistent lap after lap; no wandering, and great feedback too.
Yes, even the standard 911 is near pure perfection on a racetrack. It gives you all the right feedback, stays incredibly flat through corners, makes you always feel totally in control, and again is just plain fun. Unless you’re chasing lap times, there’s really no need to head further up the 911 tree. Though it is worth noting the few upgrades that were on our Carrera did help the situation a little. The 20- and 21-inch Carrera S wheels enabled plenty of grip from the 305 Pirelli P Zero tires, the Sport Chrono Package allows 0-60 sprints of 3.7 seconds, an extended range fuel tank meant we could lap all day without having to fill up, and the fantastic Sport Seats provided great support and better comfort than we remember experiencing in a 911. The Sport Exhaust system didn’t add anything to performance, but made things sound a whole lot better, and the oval silver tips look great too.
We never struggled for grip or battled any wheel spin coming off of corners.
Our track time got cut short thanks to a rare snowstorm in Coastal Georgia, but the white stuff and blue sky made the perfect backdrop for our Guards Red Carrera. Exterior tweaks for what is officially the 992.2 include a reshaped front fascia with improved aerodynamics. All front lighting is now contained within the Matrix Design LED headlight housing. The rear fascia has also been smoothed out, the license plate moved higher, and Porsche 3D block lettering spelled out across the back beneath the active rear spoiler and new decklid grille.
Even without Turbo in the name, the standard 911 engine is indeed a turbo these days, a 3.0-liter flat-six twin-turbo delivering 388 horsepower and 331 lb-ft strictly to the rear wheels in the Carrera Coupe.
Inside the cabin, the 911 continues its slow crawl towards the modern, now including a 12.6-inch fully digital gauge display and a start button located on the left side of the steering wheel, with drive modes easily accessible on the wheel itself. In another no brainer move, Porsche now makes the rear seat a no cost option, so you can choose if you want it or not.
Government Fuel Economy Ratings are 18 City, 25 Highway, and 21 Combined. That’s only slightly worse than average for the Energy Impact Score; 14.2 barrels of annual oil consumption with 7.0 tons of CO2 emissions.
The good news is this 911 had the fewest number of options of any Porsche that we’ve tested in some time, and it was still plenty awesome; the bad news is, a base Porsche 911 Carrera Coupe now starts at $122,095.
But can you really put value on “the force,” this mythical power that Porsche seems to have, that somehow turns average drivers into great ones? It’s useless to resist as far as we’re concerned, as it only gets better with the 2025 Porsche 911 Carrera.
Specifications
As Tested
- Engine: 3.0-liter twin-turbo flat-6
- Transmission: 8-speed PDK
- Horsepower: 388
- Torque: 331 lb-ft