Honda Legend 2009 Review

There will always be those who simply don’t see that kind of car as coming from anywhere except Europe.

The price at times hasn’t helped, with the Legend at one stage edging close to $90,000. But as it has come down to more realistic level, with the latest model offering added power and refinement, it has a better swipe at being appealing to the luxury car buyer.

Powertrain

The Legend is powered by a 3.7 litre, 24-valve SOHC VTEC V6 engine that produces 226kW at 6300rpm and 370Nm at 5000rpm. From a 73 litre tank, it burns 11.3litres of fuel per 100kms, and emits 210gms of CO2 per kilometre.

A five-speed Sequential SportShift transmission with sports mode and steering wheel-mounted paddle-shift controls – that can be used in both sports and normal modes –gets power to the wheels.

Exterior

With more aerodynamic lines and a sportier more athletic appearance, the new Legend is brought into line with other cars in its class.

Bi-xenon headlights, dual exhausts, seven spoke, 18 inch alloy wheels, a new boot lid with integrated spoiler and a new front bumper with integral fog lights and lower cooling air intakes give the car more poise and presence than earlier versions.

Interior

The addition of an ‘acoustic windscreen’ that sandwiches butul alcohol between two panels of glass, makes the leather and brush metal trimmed cabin, pin-drop quiet.

A ten speaker Bose sound system, sat nav, wood grain panelling, electric seats and climate control air conditioning give the vehicle a prestigious look and feel.

Safety

With a five star ANCAP crashworthiness rating, Honda makes no bones about their focus on safety. There is also a comprehensive airbag package, ABS, EBD, Emergency Brake Assist and a reversing camera.

Pricing

The 2009 Honda Legend starts at $77,500.

DRIVING

Halligan says

There’s no doubt the new Honda Legend is a very good car – it is just so damn boring.

What is it about Honda and Toyota at the moment? Have you looked at a white Legend sitting next to a white Aurion? Or an Accord next to a Camry? Or any combination of the above for that matter. Indulge me for a moment and open this in a new tab (right click) and then this one next to it. I want to know which designer (ah-hmm) copied off the other at design school.

But admittedly the Legend is good to drive. Very good. Performance and handling get a tick. It's better in sport mode. But unfortunately when you are in that mode you are burning through the fuel tank. The damn chew-through-the-juice-o-ometer at the bottom of the speedo spends too much time off the scale at the slightest touch of the accelerator.

There’s little to dislike about the interior. The seats are great and the leather is very good. But the wood panelling is out of context and too try-hard, the centre dash console is a mess and the carpet looks industrial enough to cope with the traffic at CentreLink.

And when my daughter put the rear window down there was wind buffeting. Then again anyone who actually buys one of these will probably never put the rear window down as their kids will have long left the household.

Very good but very boring.

Verdict: 7.5 / 10