Perhaps not a word you’re usually likely to associate with the Subaru brand, no, but let me tell you, that while Subaru itself admits to having targeted the Honda Accord with the new MY2010 Legacy in particular, they’ve overshot the mark.

In fact, barring the huge amount of standard electronic wizardry which finds itself installed in the cabin of another Japanese manufacturer, this car is closer in feel and outright refinement to a far more “premium” brand. That’s right, Lexus! It even looks a little like the baby IS range doesn’t it?

The ride is nothing short of astounding. I drove the 2-litre, 6-speed manual, which is the entry-level MY10 Legacy, down to Parys for the launch, and Subaru SA cleverly mapped an involved back-route for us to take which featured the worst surfaces SA roads could throw at us, and not once was the car anything less than utterly serene, gliding over broken tarmac like melted butter over popcorn. Sure it does make the actual dynamics somewhat woollier than the ultra-focussed Impreza, but that’s a sports saloon, this is a family one.

The naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre doesn’t make the most power (110kW), especially strangled for Oxygen here at the Highveld, but it’s honestly enough. In fact the larger 2.5 (123kW) available feels only marginally stronger. The smaller DOHC unit does have a bit of closed-throttle jerkiness, but it isn’t tragic. The 6-speed manual is an all-new and excellent ‘box to stir so keeping the engine on the boil is no chore. The new Lineartronic CVT transmission available on these models is easier still, but as with all CVTs so far, rather disconcerting for the more focussed driver. It’s better in Manual mode, using the lovely cold, metallic paddles mounted behind the wheel for shifting.

Subaru has clearly spent a huge amount of time developing these models. Minute detail enhancements abound, from the clever new cradle mounting system for the engine to the electronic handbrake which won’t auto-release until the driver’s door is closed and seatbelt clicked into place. They’ve even gone and improved the opening angle of the doors, a seemingly useless engineering effort, until that is you try to put your child-seats in there, when this would be a massive boon!

And speaking of comfort and convenience, the space in here is mad, it really is. I’m 7-feet tall and at times felt overwhelmed by just how much room I had, both as the driver and as a rear-seat passenger! That’s honestly not something I can say about many cars short of a Maybach or similar limousine.

Yet this entry-level Legacy costs just R299 000! Brilliant, and I think their conservative sales projections should on product strength alone be comprehensively smashed.

My only criticism so far, is that the 2.0-litre is quite torque-light, and allied to the Symmetrical AWD which forms a part of Scooby’s international fame, can be quite easily stalled on pulloff if you don’t dial-in the requisite revs before dropping the clutch.

As usual, we’ll go into the granular details in the next edition of the magazine, so be sure to catch this full review when our next installment of Drive Magazine goes live. Both MY10 Legacy and MY10 Outback were sampled so we’ll cover both new models, along naturally with more great photography of these machines and some delving deeper into some of the more technical aspects.

For now, pricing info is:

Legacy 2.0i Manual        R299 000                              Outback 2.5i Premium Manual     R345 000

Legacy 2.0i CVT              R311 000                               Outback 2.5i Premium CVT            R358 000

Legacy 2.5i Sport Premium R345 000

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