Not overly wide, the Legacy still has lots of room up front, with more legroom than most full-size SUVs; angling the power seat allows those same tall types to clear the moonroof and the new telescoping wheel means you needn't drive like an ape anymore. The front seats are thick and take up a smidge of kneeroom in back, and on the top-line 3.0R only the passenger's side has a net pocket.
The rear seat is raked well rearward and the cushions as long as the front, though legroom is more in line with the smaller Audi A4 or Volvo S40 than the midsize Camry/Altima brigade. Each position has an adjustable headrest, the armrest includes a trunk pass-through, the seatbacks fold flat with the narrow section driver's side, and the baby seat anchors are nicely concealed under an upholstered pad that appears part of the seat until you pull the hook-and-loop fastener for access.
The three-spoke steering wheel on GT and R models is ergonomically shaped and very comfortable. The welcome addition of a telescoping aspect to the tilt steering column allows a much broader range of drivers to position themselves properly. The MOMO steering wheel on the spec.B is superb, as you'd expect from a company that's supplied Ferrari and other exotics and countless race cars over the years.
Midway through the model line, the gauges are upgraded to electroluminescent, which appears a blank display until you turn the key. Then red needles and gauge outlines and white numerals shine through in clarity, and the detailed information in the trip computer/odometer display is just as crisp. If not properly adjusted, such instruments can fatigue you so Subaru allows intensity adjustment at any time, not only if the headlights are on or the sensor determines it is dark or daylight again.
The layout is typical, with larger tachometer and speedometer flanked by smaller temperature and fuel gauges. Data is inset in the tachometer, while a fuel economy gauge under the speedometer essentially mimics the throttle, even swinging to minus (-) when the automatic blips the throttle electronically on a downshift. If you can't tell what your right foot is doing, this gauge probably won't either.
Enthusiast drivers will find the pedal layout on manual gearbox cars places the brake and gas pedal close together, with the clutch pedal spaced farther to the left. This makes it difficult to blip the gas with the right foot for a downshift, while the toe of that foot is on the brake pedal, the so-called heel-and-toe technique that results in smoother downshifts when you're decelerating in a hurry.
Turbocharged and 3.0 models have an SI-DRIVE button behind the shifter, which changes relative performance among three modes; there's a button on the steering wheel that does the same chores.
A proper handbrake is immediately adjacent the driver's seat and Next Page