Mecaglisse, QC – When it becomes freezing cold outside, we tend to stay indoors as much as possible. Who wants to deal with the wind, snow, and icy roads? At times it doesn’t seem worth it, but when Subaru called to test out their Subaru Legacy in -30C weather, I got excited to attack these conditions head-on.

There are a couple of reasons for my excitement. First of all, I love the opportunity to do a winter test drive on a race track. Believe it or not, it’s something that I’ve rarely done. Secondly, the test was with Subaru, a company built-on safety winning the Top Safety Pick award for its Legacy and all of its other vehicles from the IIHS (Insurance Institute of Highway Safety). While the safety features are impressive, Subaru’s other main attraction is their symmetrical all-wheel drive system (AWD) that makes the Legacy a perfectly fun and safe winter driving specimen. 

For those who might not know about Subaru’s AWD system – get ready to be excited about the next large snowfall. Its symmetrical all-wheel drive systemprovides optimum traction, balance and control by sending power simultaneously to all the wheels. It instantly gives the driver the most traction available allowing your drive to be as smooth as possible along your desired path. A dream to some who struggle on their commutes in a snowstorm is an actual reality for Subaru owners.

As for the Subaru Legacy itself, it is fitted with a 2.5L 4-cylinder DOHC engine that cranks out 173 horsepower and 174 lb.-ft. of torque. It also possesses an all-new second-generation continuously variable transmission (CVT) that produces a respectable 8.4 L/100 km in the city and 6.0 L/100 km on the highway. 

At the beautiful Mecaglisse ice track found 50 minutes from Mont-Tremblant, the Legacy was pitted against their biggest rivals the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord – two front-wheel drive cars (FWD). This test would be on equal grounds as all the vehicles were fitted with Bridgestone Blizzak tires. Going into this test – it was apparent that the Legacy would handle much better given their all-wheel drive system, but what would be interesting to see was how much better? 

The first test was a snow slalom around some pylons with an emergency lane change at the end. All three vehicles seemed to handle the course well, but the Legacy responded to my steering direction throughout the slalom at a touch quicker pace. After a few runs, I felt more confident to increase my speed in the Legacy, while the Camry and Accord made it without incident at a slower, more comfortable pace. The pylon drill would turn out to be just a little appetizer for things to come.

The next test was a circular skid pad with a mix of ice and snow to test out the Legacy versus the Accord. The object of the test was to drive around the circle and keep going counter-clockwise. Safe to say – not an easy task especially with the Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) and Stability turned off! 

My first stab at it was in the Accord with another driver taking the Legacy out starting at the opposite end of the circle. The Accord was smooth at the start, but when some light acceleration was applied going around the icy bend it lost all traction and my foot had to be lifted to prevent a 360 degree spin. You really had to lay off the throttle and only use a little acceleration to avoid understeering and an eventual spin. 

On the other hand, the Legacy performed more admirably around the circle. It found at least some traction on the icy surface, albeit not much, and with just a little reverse steering I was in complete control and eyeing the Accord directly ahead of me. A little secret also with the Legacy is that the VDC and Stability doesn’t fully turn off, but still assists you slightly when in need. It’s nice to know that technology can kick in when it feels that the driver is in need of more assistance. 

At the end of the second round, the Legacy showed itself as a champion of the skid pad tackling the icy and snow conditions and never once dealing with severe oversteer or understeer – showing off the Legacy’s AWD balancing act. I was even able to drift with the Legacy while maintaining control throughout – fun on a closed race track, but not to be tried on the open roads.

The final test of the day involved a short race track that would test an incline start, tight cornering and emergency braking – an all-around true test that can all occur on everyday roads. All three cars were involved in this test and I started out in the Camry. 

I was ready to go, but unfortunately the Camry wasn’t as it tried to make its way up a small incline. After some initial front wheel spinning and backwards sliding it eventually moved forward to the first right corner. The Camry had a little oversteer on the next two rights, but made those turns without any trouble leading into the emergency braking test at 50 km/h where it stopped within reason.

Next up was the Accord, which had the same initial lack of forward motion on the inclined hill. The Accord seemed a touch more balanced around the turns and broke in the same vicinity as the Camry. Not much difference between the two.

Finally the Legacy was off and running after only a momentary spin of its tires, it found some traction and gingerly glided up the hill – AWD at its best! The Legacy maintained great balance throughout the turns without any concern in sight and ended with a similar emergency brake distance as the Camry and Accord.  

Going into this test, it was pretty evident that an all-wheel drive car could handle snow and ice much better than the two front-wheel drive cars. In the end to no one’s surprise, the Legacy was a master at tackling these winter conditions. When losing traction, the Legacy regained it the fastest and put me at ease, which is what every driver wants. Even though we might know which vehicle will perform better in certain conditions before they begin, we must understand how important these tests are as not all drivers understand the difference between AWD and FWD. At every stage of this test, both FWD vehicles didn’t offer as much control and safety as the AWD equipped Legacy. Many choose their vehicles out of popularity and price, but as we brace ourselves for another winter snowfall – it’s always good to know that the Legacy is a nice alternative to the more popular Camrys and Accords for just about the same price (actually the Subaru Legacy’s starting price is the cheapest at $23,495).