Test drive Honda Legend sedan 1996 - 2005 sedan
Honda Legend car overview
Light car in the elite class - is it possible? The Honda Legend car is equipped with a SH-AWD all-wheel drive system, and, as the advertising booklet claims, due to this, it is significantly encouraged. The correspondent of the Japanese magazine Navi Suzuki Mahito made a test trip driving a new elite car developed by Honda, whose salon supposedly represents what the driver needs.
A magic gnome hides inside the car
I was able to get acquainted with the new Honda Legend before it appeared on sale. This happened on Hokkaido, on the Honda test track in the area of \u200b\u200bthe city of Takanos. Of course, it was only a preliminary version of the car.
The ring track was not chosen by chance. The fact is that it is on it that it is easiest to evaluate the operation of the SH-AWD all-wheel drive system. And most importantly, on the test track there was a Legend of the previous generation of the model, so the assessment of the innovation was supposed to make, so to speak, by comparison. Thanks to this, I can immediately announce my conclusion: what was before, and the fact that we now see are two completely different things! Of course, the Legend family has a big story, and each next car is obliged to bring something new to the history of the model. Nevertheless, the current Honda product goes far beyond the simple update of the model range.
In a closed, specially equipped section of the test route, you can fully feel the speed qualities of the machine. But it’s so clear that, no matter how you press on gas, nothing terrible will happen. Is the car entering the turn? Please - click on the brake, twist the steering wheel and see what will happen. Yes, nothing, in fact, is special: the car, describing the correct arc, confidently changes the course. In this case, the distribution coefficient of the traction force between the front and rear wheels changes in the range from 30 to 70.
And in the bunch of the left and right rear wheels, the distribution of force can vary in the interval from 100 to 0. Moreover, the change goes smoothly, according to the unavailable scheme. This is the main effect of using the SH-AWD system. But, while driving, you do not even suspect that all this is accompanied by such complex transformations. It seems that somewhere inside the car there is some kind of magic gnome that helps to do everything as it should. Of course, the lightness with which the machine maintains high speed, by itself, can captivate anyone. But it must be borne in mind that for those drivers who are completely confident in their skill, the idea that somewhere inside the machine is a force that can actively intervene in the managerial process may not cause special delight. So it is so, but Legend is not just a sedan of the highest class, it is an elite car, as it is in Honda. And there everyone believes that the high -speed capabilities of the car should be closely related to ensuring traffic safety, even if for the sake of this ligament it is necessary to carry out a certain control correction in an unconditional manner without asking for the consent of the driver.
Each movement is easy
Yes, it should be borne in mind that Honda Legend is a car included in the group of elite cars. But, moving along the ring track, I was inclined to completely forget about it and all the time tried to add to the gas. Useless! And no matter how much the driver complained that why the machine, which overcame the bar of 280 horsepower, if it is equipped with such a rigid system of self -control, nothing can be done here. This is not a sports car, and techniques for handling a super -powerful engine here should be fundamentally different. When I finally got out on a public road, I assure me, I immediately had reasons to make sure that this approach was correct.
Having left for the city, I stopped to look at the car from the side. Yes, the appearance gives it a very active character. Starting somewhere with Odyssey, Honda deliberately gives its cars slightly cocky expressions of faces. The flagship of the LEGEND modeling range did not escape this fate. Yes, it is in this guise that this car plans to conquer the city. But maybe such an expression on his face and at a meeting somewhere outside the city will produce no less effect on the oncoming ones. Recently, all high -class sedans - it doesn’t matter, imported or Japanese - seemed to be conspired in every way to demonstrate their sports. But Honda Legend adheres to another tactics. At least, she can make the driver forget about her enlarged body not only by shake on the ring track ring. As soon as the car is touching, there is immediately a feeling that you are driving a car with a light body - any movement is so easily given to it. And this despite the fact that in fact the weight of the car is not so and small - as many as 1760 kg. But when driving, this weight in an incomprehensible way is felt by a driver at a level of about 1200 kg. Such a feeling does not disappear when the car is on a high -speed highway. The speed begins to grow rapidly, but only a slightly increasing, but at the same time, the noise of the motor at the same time indicates this. The car easily moves from one lane to another. And at the same time, the driver begins to feel more and more young.
The pleasure of driving is a positive moment, but
So, driving this machine is pleasure. There is no doubt that this is a big plus of Legend. But it should be borne in mind that we are dealing with a representative of the group of elite cars, with a sedan who claims to be a high -class title. And I just didn’t remember this yet. And if you compare different machines of this class - for example, with Toyota Crown, then I personally would prefer Honda! Yes, only this is a snag: I, as you know, are not the one for whom such cars are created. So, from the point of view of those who do not recognize any cars, if they stand below Crown in the automotive hierarchy, such a remark as a slight noise can be interpreted as an annoying sound. And the definition of a frisky will be perceived in the sense of not allowing to concentrate, right? So my choice in favor of Legend is due only to the running qualities of two compared machines, and absolutely does not take into account their other characteristics, which, in fact, force Crown to consider an exemplary elite car.
And now I want to try to look at Legend through the eyes of that very elite driver. What does he see? A review through the windshield, which opens from its place at the wheel, cannot be called perfect. The front panel trimmed for metal is not perceived as very expensive. The long -awaited dashboard under the tree looks somewhat elevated. The desire to arrange the salon according to the sports type leads to the fact that the existing useful area is planned by the way that does not cause a desire to call the salon rich. And what about the fact that the buyer guesses in the car the desire to seem to be a high -class? After all, wanting does not mean to be! Thus, I fully admit that those who are addressed to this machine will perceive it ambiguously. So, I have to finish. The previous generation Honda Legend car seemed to me a model standing at a crossroads. What will happen to her next, where she will go - all that was left was to guess. Finally, priorities were identified: power and only power. And everything else? Of course, the market sometimes makes you copy something, and to imitate someone, not without it. But what's the point of imitation, if the product does not obviously sell - this is the question! Technical characteristics of Honda Legend
Body dimensions (length / width / height)
4930 mm / 1845 mm / 1455 mm
Wheelbase
2800 mm
The weight of the car
1760 kg
Drive unit
Full
Engine
3.5-liter, 6-cylinder with V-shaped cylinders, SOHC with 24 valves, developed power-300 hp. at 6200 vol./min., Maximum torque 36.0 kg/m at 5000 rpm.
Transmission
5-speed automatic transmission
The basic price of the car
5.250.000 yen (about $ 47.700)
The price of the car on which the test trip was performed
6.279.000 yen (about $ 57.100)
Author: Suzuki Mahito
Photo: Takahashi Nobukhiro (Tahakashi Nobuhiro)
January 2005
Source: webcg
