The interior of the Subaru Legacy is a pleasant place to spend time, with solid construction, tasteful materials, and a modern dashboard design with a Volvo-like portrait infotainment touchscreen. Unfortunately, too many features must be operated via the touchscreen, and we lament the lack of physical buttons. Whereas many automakers provide a button for activating and deactivating the stop-start system, here you have to navigate through the menus to do so. Other than that, there is little wrong, and there is plenty of space inside the Legacy, with high comfort levels. Sightlines are excellent and big windows make for excellent over-the-shoulder visibility with few noteworthy blind spots.
The Subaru Legacy's seats are comfortable and any driver will be able to find an ideal seating position with the available adjustments. Interior space is generous indeed for a mid-size sedan and it beats most rivals except the class-leading Accord. Headroom and legroom in front are 39.4 inches and 42.8 inches, respectively, while the corresponding figures for the second row are 37.2 inches and 39.5 inches. Three across will fit in the rear, but two will be more comfortable - even adults of above-average height.
Subaru Legacy Trims | Base | Premium | Limited | Sport | Touring XT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seating | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
Headroom Front Seat | 39.4 in. | 39.4 in. | 39.4 in. | 38.3 in. | 38.3 in. |
Headroom Back Seat | 37.2 in. | 37.2 in. | 37.2 in. | 37.2 in. | 37.2 in. |
Legroom Front Seat | 42.8 in. | 42.8 in. | 42.8 in. | 42.8 in. | 42.8 in. |
Legroom Back Seat | 39.5 in. | 39.5 in. | 39.5 in. | 39.5 in. | 39.5 in. |
Shoulder Room Front | 58.1 in. | 58.1 in. | 58.1 in. | 58.1 in. | 58.1 in. |
Shoulder Room Rear | 57.4 in. | 57.4 in. | 57.4 in. | 57.4 in. | 57.4 in. |
Hip Room, Front | 55.5 in. | 55.5 in. | 55.5 in. | 55.5 in. | 55.5 in. |
Hip Room, Rear | 54.8 in. | 54.8 in. | 54.8 in. | 54.8 in. | 54.8 in. |
There are three interior colors for the Subaru Legacy, but availability is dependent on the trim and exterior color, so check the configurator for your desired combination. The Base trim gets Slate Black cloth seats and that's it, but the Premium adds Titanium Gray cloth to the mix. The Limited gets leather upholstery and adds an additional color called Warm Ivory. The Sport reverts to cloth, but it's in a sporty two-tone gray/black, and this trim gets red stitching on the seats and on various surfaces throughout the interior. The Touring XT gets Nappa leather in either Slate Black or Java Brown, with white interior stitching. All trims except the Base get a leather-trimmed steering wheel. A woodgrain interior trim kit is optional on all trims except Sport for $325.
On the face of it, the Subaru Legacy's cargo space is middling for this class, with 15.1 cubic feet of trunk volume available with all seats in use, but this number doesn't tell the full story. The space is deep and of a usable shape, enabling you to fit in eight carry-on suitcases, one more than you can get into the Honda Accord with its physically larger 16.7-cu-ft trunk. The second row can be folded down to increase the size of the luggage compartment, but Subaru does not supply a figure for the cargo hold in this configuration, or for the underfloor storage tray in the trunk. It's worth noting that the center rear seatbelt remains attached to the rear shelf with the seats folded and is irritatingly in the way when loading up.
Interior stowage spaces are generous and include spacious door pockets, a glovebox, a shelf in front of the front passenger, two-level lidded front-console storage, a storage space ahead of the shifter for small items, a front overhead sunglasses holder, and no fewer than eight cup/bottle holders strewn throughout the cabin.
Subaru Legacy Trims | Base | Premium | Limited | Sport | Touring XT |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Trunk Volume | 15.1 cu. ft. | 15.1 cu. ft. | 15.1 cu. ft. | 15.1 cu. ft. | 15.1 cu. ft. |
The Legacy is reasonably well-equipped, even in its high-value Base trim. Standard features include automatic LED headlights, manual seat adjustment, cloth upholstery, a manually tilting/telescoping steering column, paddle shifters, and single-zone climate control, but it has access to very few options. Higher up the trim ladder, you get standard and/or optional features such as LED foglights, power-folding mirrors, power front seats, heated and/or ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, leather upholstery, a sunroof, and more, as well as more available extras. The standard EyeSight driver-assistance suite includes adaptive cruise control, lane tracing, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, and automatic emergency steering and braking at the base level. Top trims get more driver assists.
Subaru's Starlink Multimedia infotainment system is standard on all models, but its features differ by trim. Only the Base trim gets a seven-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM, HD Radio, one USB port, Bluetooth audio streaming, an auxiliary audio jack, and a four-speaker audio system. The Premium, Sport, and Limited replace the small screen with a high-resolution 11.6-inch screen and add to the feature count wireless phone mirroring, NFC technology, 4G Wi-Fi capability, and an additional USB port. To these features, the Sport and Touring XT add navigation. The Premium gets a six-speaker audio system, while the Limited, Sport, and Touring XT get a premium Harman Kardon audio system with an amplifier and 12 speakers. A CD player is standard on the Touring XT only.
The Legacy's trunk holds 15.1 cu-ft of luggage, but it's deep and broad and will accept eight carry-on suitcases.
The Legacy can accommodate up to five adults, but it's most comfortable with two in the second row.
There are eight cup/bottle holders in the cabin.