People tend to forget that before the WRX, or the XV Crosstrek, the Subaru Legacy was really the car that put the brand on the map. It was a proper mid-sized sedan with a 4WD (that’s 4WD, not AWD) option made right here in North America. It even raced (and won) rallies.

With that in mind, Subaru invited the media down to its Subaru of Indiana Automotive facility to put the next generation of the Legacy through its paces both on the road, and on track at the facility.

Similar in profile to last year’s model, but with a few choice details to help differentiate it, 2015 sees a larger, better equipped Legacy arrive in showrooms.

New LED taillights, wheel choices (17-inch steel, 17-inch alloy and a sharp new 18-inch two-tone alloy) and a lower roofline are on-hand to modernize the Legacy. It’s also longer and wider than the outgoing model, making for a roomier interior.

Inside, you’ll find niceties like 10-way power driver’s seat and back-up cam at base level, while higher trims get you EyeSight safety (distance-based cruise, emergency stopping, lane departure warning), leather seating and even a thumping 576-watt Harmon Kardon sound system. 

The main mechanical draw of the Legacy is its AWD powertrain that can be had even on its base 2.5i model, starting at a scarce $23,495 accompanied by a standard six-speed manual transmission. Otherwise, you can upgrade to a Continuously Variable Automatic (CVT) that will cost you an additional $1,300.

The CVT is all new, and while some caveats remain, it’s decidedly un-CVT like when you want it to be. Column-mounted paddle shifters let you select from 6 or 8 “virtual” ratios depending on how you’re driving (six for slow around-town crawls, eight for when you tackle the open road), and you get a real sense that some cog-swapping is happening, even though it’s not. 

Power comes from either a 175 hp four-banger or 256 hp flat-six, both carryovers from last year. The four banger’s hp count may not sound like much, but it hustles the (now lighter, thanks to more high-tensile steel) Legacy around with gumption, as we found on the slalom course at the test facility.

What was less inspired, more so in the heavier flat-six powered 3.6R models, was how much body roll it exhibits. Granted, it’s more noticeable on the track, we did notice a little more bob and weave in everyday driving. Luckily, the Legacy’s roomy, comfortable interior complete with new, bigger seats both front and back make up for this.

That’s the little price to pay when you consider the security and confidence the Legacy projects, thanks in no small part to that three-diff AWD system. 

Production has begun and we should expect to see the 2015 Legacy in showrooms come July.