Honda Legend test drive since 2009 sedan

I'm a legend

Look into the Honda Legend restyled eyes, which is a dark evening to casually ask to smoke from the crowd of heated samurai. Of course, there is a chance that you will not be touched, but trembling in the knees should just knock down.
Are you scared? Of course, after all, the aggression of the only E-class from Honda is directed entirely and completely against German competitors.
Excellent equipment around me and my passengers guarded eight airbags, under my right foot, the responsive accelerator is ready to give free rein to all 295 horsepower forces that easily rotate four wheels through a reliable system of the SH-AWD all-wheel drive, and two built-in subwoofers are filled alive rhythm of business class salon, sheathed with soft skin
Although I would have chosen an audio system for a different warehouse than a semi-budget Bose, with a cleaner sound at the top, such as high-end from Infiniti. It’s not that 8 speakers sounded badly, but the juicies in the favorite original performance of Love Me Tender, Love Me Sweet clearly did not get
As a driver, I would have enough comfort and Accord for my eyes, but for passengers the legend will be not enough, they will certainly want a separate climate control for themselves. And at the same time heating the seats but relax. The flour of the choice of configuration and additional equipment should not spoil the mood of the buyer Honda Legend. Because the Japanese manufacturer decided everything for him. One model is one equipment. With the predecessor it was exactly the same
But what the prerestyling model did not have was such external aggressiveness. Smooth rifts of the anterior optics were replaced by prickly, sharp, faceted forms that echoed the chord design. Without extra whale, but with a claim to stable positions in a business class, where they are very often met by clothing.
The only motor is the new 3.5 liter 295 strong, working with a five -speed automatic, transmitting to 351 nm of torque to wheels. After it, the smaller aggregate would seem fresh and boring, how difficult it is to reconcile with the 2.5 liter Nissan Teana after tearing on a model with a motor, large per liter of working volume.
Such an engine is almost perfect for a large all -wheel drive sedan. Equipped with the electronic control of the throttle, it allows you to dose traction with amazing smoothness. The rear passengers drowned in soft chairs should not splash coffee on expensive costumes. And if you want a drive, let them transfer forward. For all its smoothness, Honda may well move very dynamically.
The lion's share of pleasure from such a movement is in the transmission. The fact is that the rear differential of Honda Legend is active, which means that an additional torque can be transferred to the external to the center of rotation to 5%, in comparison with a passive differential. In a slippery turn, swear the car into a turn, you can leave a car in a whisper in a decent speed.
On the dashboard, there is even an interesting detail graphic traction distribution indicator. Does it only need it in a business sedan? I can imagine: the Honda driver begins to enter a dynamic turn, tears the rear axle into a controlled skid, and at the same time plunges into the study of diagrams, how did the active differentials dropped the torque on the wheels?
In general, the driver of Honda Legend, despite the obvious belonging to the business class, prevails over comfortable and status. If you like the WE-Tekov Motor, which spins perfectly to high speeds and has good thrust at the top, you will choose Honda. You trust active differentials in all -wheel drive transmission is also Honda. Like strict, but at the same time aggressive and original design? The address is the same.
Nevertheless, the extremely modest results of the sales of prerestyled models amid the clear success of Mercedes and BMW unequivocally hint that something else needs to be successful in class. Maybe it's all about separate climate control and heating the rear seats? ..

Author: Alexander Mikhailov
Photo: Roman Zubko

 
 

   
 

 

Source: Wheel magazine [March 2009]