Test drive Honda Legend sedan since 2006 sedan

Basabi to taste

English -speaking drivers often interpret the name Honda as an abbreviation, offering all kinds of jesting decodings with an assessment of the consumer qualities of the brand. The options are usually polar. From the Happy Owners Never Drive Anything, that is, the happy owners will not sit on anything else in their lives, to the Horribly Overprice, Needing Dad's Assistance - a monstrously over -estimated one, requiring folder assistance. Our motorists are not so skillful in terms of entertaining philology, but they, according to the main autopilot, can also be different in the Hondas: either good or ... not very. It all depends on a specific machine. Specifically, Nikolai Fomenko tested Honda Legend.
 
Honda Legend is a car vibalized by the public and the press. And not only in the North American market, where it is sold under the name Acura RL, but also on the homeland spoiled by good technology. In particular, in Japan, Legend was recognized as a car of the year 2004-2005. In addition, thanks to the complete Super Handling All-Wheel-Drive (SH-AWD) and pedestrian recognition system, the model received a reward for the most advanced technologies.
Finally, the Legend Ministry of Transport was awarded the honorary certificate of a car with an extremely low emission of harmful substances. The Honda Legend toxicity indicator is 75% lower than the permissible norms accepted in the country of the rising sun.
God's mercy. A low bow towards the country of the rising sun and its masters of automobile affairs. They know their business well. They, however, have one behavioral feature: they are trying to demonstrate to us, the demented Hiji, which they know better what we need in the car. Give them freedom-they are all European and American cars, saying: this is how your BMW will be more correct and prettier.
This is the same as if some respected grandfather from Palekh on his own initiative would undertake to make and paint a wooden idol for the African Tikitika tribe. And for sure I would have made an idol better than the one that the poor barbarians still worshiped. Because we, you see, know how to make it more correctly. The idol itself we imagine well. According to the photograph from the magazine around the world for 1976. The photo is unimportant, well, nothing. We will not just redraw it, but decorate and ennoble it. Coer thoroughly, let's put it. Indigo we will have even blue than natural. The God himself is more impressive and pocheglasey.
 
The Japanese car assembled to put Hujin's tastes, this is the same hypertrophied god. Here is Honda Legend - that is the eastern legend in export performance.
 
Sitting in a cramped legend, you understand that the islanders with Honsu are small people. I am sure there are many Rusichs and Vyatichi who simply will not fit into it
In tight, not offense. At the distance, Honda Legend looks very good. Provided that this is a distance of at least fifteen meters, and you contemplate the car with lateral vision. With this angle, it may even seem that it is an expensive and beautiful car. Stepping closer and seeing the price tag, you are convinced that it is a really expensive car. But not as beautiful as it seemed from afar. The soap design of Japanese machines is already causing physical rejection. Due to the tired ones, the almost identical physiognomies of Japanese cars are valid, I do not want to sit down at their steering wheel and look what they have inside. I don’t want to sit in the frets.
 
But I'm on the test. And I open the Legend door. And I understand that it opens the same way as Civic. With the same sound that a frightened gopher is published, a tram-meal. The first impression of what you saw inside is the same Hyundai Sonata, in a slightly more expensive performance.
I am settled at the wheel and feel like visiting a computer programmer for mezzanines forced by electronics. The salon is by no means small - outside Legend really makes a rather close impression. It immediately becomes clear that the islanders with Honsu, Kyusu, Sikoku and Hokkaido are small people.
 
Moreover, the tightness of Legend is not at all the same as the tightness of the Jaguar X-Type, which is akin to a narrow jacket from ZEGNA. In Honda, a large -sized driver may not fit because the entire space is clogged with a huge number of devices and buttons. They are everywhere: on the steering wheel and under the wheel, on the dashboard and on the central tunnel, where the controller is also located - the Hondovsky analogue of MMI or I -Drive. Everything, as the fashion requires, is. Holding switches, however, are not very comfortable. The key card instead of the ignition lock-however, not with the start button, but with a outlandish rotary handle.
The wealth of configuration is great. But everything should be in moderation. Here, ergonomics is sacrificed for the sake of an spectacular interior, which evokes the memories of the mid-80s-the time of the appearance of silver tape recorders of the Sharp 777 type with color rows on the facade and bright stickers on the sides.
  
 
The new compact and light 3.5-liter V6 SOHC engine with the VTEC system is the most powerful apparatus in the history of the brand. At the last Moscow International Auto Show, a version of Honda Legend with the same engine was shown that could disperse the car to 100 km/h for 7.3 s and develop a maximum speed of 250 km/h.
The list of standard Honda Legend equipment is noticeably richer than many direct competitors, and this wealth is not limited to an impressive set of smart electronic systems. Among the pleasant and useful things: the steering wheel electroregulation in height and flight, steering wheel switches in the form of petals, rotary xenon and fog lights, cruise control, rear view camera, audio system with a DVD changer, 9 speakers and a subwoofer, Hands Free with Bluetooth technology, Active noise reduction system, access to a car without a key, rain and light sensors, etc.
 
Someone deliberately with a spectacular interior will even like it. What to do? Not everyone went to the Ufitsi Gallery and burdened themselves with promenade in the center of St. Petersburg
Where to put the Middle? I repeat, Honda Legend - the car is quite expensive. Its owner will have a chance to realize this fact not only at the time of purchase, but also in subsequent years of operation. When you have to pay a serious transport tax. Or when, God forbid, you will have to contact the service center. The fact is that Honda cars have almost all details have a life guarantee. And with these details from high -quality alloys almost never happens. The Japanese live on islands blown by permanent passes, monsoons and other breeze salt impregnated with salt. Therefore, protection against decay is a special article in the construction of Japanese cars. They do so that never to change anything. In this regard, by the way, the interpretation of Honda’s name, as a very good, durable, reliable car, will be deservedly accurate. But if, nevertheless, something in a Japanese car breaks down, then this threatens the owner, at least, with a financial knockdown.
 
The high cost of Legend, however, is also associated with the fact that it is a high -tech product. Even very high. Even too much. Even people from Ingolstadt and Stuttgart could not figure out the intricacies of electronic systems. They would constantly call Tokyo and asked: what kind of chip you have been stuffing here and why is it? In Russian versions of the legend of the electronic mind, there will probably be less. It is unlikely that we will get an active cruise control and LKAS system, which allows you to keep the machine with the help of a video camera within the road marking. GPS navigation and smart climate control that can automatically adjust the temperature depending on sunlight hit will be available only in adapted pirate form. But even without this, there are a lot of lotions in the car: an active noise suppression system, a lifting hood with pyropatrons to protect pedestrians, and most importantly-a SH-AWD all-wheel drive system, twisting the outer rear wheel when turning.
 
This is a Japanese invention that it becomes scary. Especially if this invention has to be controlled with 300 horsepower. In general, a claim of 300 hp It requires colossal responsibility and thoroughness from the manufacturer. And I also understand when he honestly warns that he shifts this responsibility to the driver. Here is a car called the BMW M6 model of the 80s. Archbound and simple. Waiting for from the driver of inhuman concentration. But this had its own interest, its high. The driver himself was both God and the judge and believed only in the fortress of his hands and a driven hook. Legend is entrusted with electronics.
One of the particularly emphasized virtues of Legend is high noise insulation, achieved, in particular, through the use of new insulating materials. These materials are easier than traditional, in addition, they absorb, and do not reflect the sound. To create an acoustic screen between the body and power unit, the subframes of the motor and transmission are in a floating state - on the hydraulic power. Another important noise fighter is the system of their active jamming Active Noise Cancellation Unit, inverting noise in the sound signal of the opposite phase. This signal is sent to an amplifier that drives the door columns of the Bose and the subwoofer audio system. At a frequency below 100 Hz, the system reduces the noise level by 10 dB. The Audiopilot function close to our magazine controls the noise level in the cabin and sets up the sound of the audio system so as to compensate for it.
Right-left steering wheel. When you drink even a lot of sake, it seems to you that you are absolutely sober. Your brain works fine, and the liver and kidneys are already beginning to pray for a 48-hour break. In this state I want to ride. And skating can easily end in basement of pillars or ears. Put on the side or put on the ears of Legend - easier to steamed turnip.
Firstly, 300 is just a number in itself. 300 declared horsepower from this motor must also be able to pull out. And the gearbox does not react too rapidly to your attempts. Secondly, electronics are good with calm ride. And not with aggressive (you can completely forget about competent management). With active steering, electronic brains begin to boil.
 
Finally, in the manner of passing turns, Legend has an amazing thing. When turning to the right, the car behaves in a completely different way than when turning to the left. In general, when turning, the rear wheel as if it are additionally pushing you into the circle, and as if you were going on one wheel. The demolition of the rear axle is present in any way. But he is not so great when you turn right. Another thing is when you turn to the left. I tried to enter the left turn and late, and with ahead, and purely to the apex. In all three versions, the machine is not controlled even at speeds of 120-150 km/h, which is not permissible for a machine of this class. And it is incredibly difficult to align it. Servorul does not allow this to be done normally. The only thing that will save an ordinary driver on fast turnover, this is a system of course stability. If you turn it off, you have a guaranteed corpse.
You can, of course, forget about 300 hp. And go slowly. Well, what if there was a need to accelerate? Say, two hops Kamaz left for you. The medium -sized driver will put pressure on the brake, and then Kamazy will definitely be collected in a box. And it is more correct to give to the right, then to the left, then - instead of braking - open to the fullest and rush forward. Salvation in three doses and three turns of the steering wheel. But the gas does not open on Legend immediately, but makes a couple of idle shots. And the Kamazy is getting closer. And then, instead of three movements, the steering wheel has to do two to the right and 24 to the left. Hello, Kamazy!
 
Legend - too technological. Even people from Ingolstadt and Stuttgart would constantly call Tokyo and asked: what kind of chip you stuffed here and why?
 
BACKDATING. I asked the representative of Honda, who participated in a test drive, ride his three-year or so Accord. And we compared it together with Legend. It was found that Accord is not less than a cut. This car with an electronics minimum is adequate and informative. He does not chat, he is normally hung along the axes. This is the Honda that many people love with us. And which I knew when I was chasing Russian championships. The only complaint that we then had to our cars was associated with jumping the rear axle. This is apparently a family disease. In 2000, they could not cope with her. The springs were changed, shock absorbers - to no avail. The experiments ended in resuscitation. I was blown away in stormy weather from the Neva Ring.
 
In Legend, a family disease worsened to an extreme degree. The priest of the car rises for a long time and sinks for a long time. We have already made 10 turns, and she jumps after him and delayed the turns that you have already completed a minute ago. This is monstrously dangerous at 300 hp. Monstrous.
I am afraid for the owners of this car. Especially for Russian owners. Russians are special people. He will buy this car, and everything will be closed in his head. Wow Wow! - he will wrap and rush. Western man will feel the danger when he is reminded of 300 hp. The intestines will work for him, he will give a signal. Our man will not work.

Text Nikolay Fomenko, photo Andrey Danilov

Honda Legend
 
Gasoline engine, v6
Working volume (cubic cub) 3471
Power (L.S. at about/min) 300 at 6200
Moment (nm at rpm) 353 at 5000
The drive is complete
Gearbox 5-speed, automatic
Length/width/height (mm) 4930/1845/1455
Wheel base (mm) 2800
Mass weight (kg) 1760
Maximum speed (km/h) 235
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 8.5
Fuel consumption (medium, l/100 km) 12.0
The cost of the tested car in Moscow is $ 69,000

Press about Honda Legend
Author: ... the computer of the SH-AWD system constantly plays with both friction couplings (good, electromagnets allow you to compress and unclench them very quickly and accurately dose the effort). As a result, Legend is controlled not only by the steering wheel, but also by traction - and automatically. For example, if electronics using a vestibular apparatus of several sensors understands that the machine slides out, then turns on an increase in the gear and gives maximum thrust on the outer rear wheel - to take the car. But if the skid at the same time began to develop more actively than we would like, then the computer immediately switches down, for direct gear - and weakens the grip of the on -board clutches of the outer wheel ...
But the AYC system, Active Yaw Control, does about the same on evolution. Only there there is an interdosseous differential, and the AYC planetary gearboxes help forcibly promote the left or right rear wheels. Moreover, the author of AYC Kaoru Savaza assured me that the Honda SH-AWD system is less effective. So who is cooler-Honda or Mitsubish ... I think that purely theoretically the advantage is on the side of the SH-AWD system, which can more flexibly play with traction and brake moment on both rear wheels. But the practical advantage in the implementation of traction is on the side of Mitsubishi. Because Honda is able to convey back up to 70% of torque - wheeled adhesions no longer allow. And evolution does not have such a restriction: if the active inter -bearded differential ACD is blocked, then the machine has a hard all -wheel drive, and up to 100% traction can be transmitted back.
Is it worth it to fence this whole garden at all ...
Avtopanorama: ... on the faces of European journalists, at the sight of this car, some kind of perplexed expression invariably popped up. They carefully looked at the car, then, even more carefully, at the Japanese broadcasting: for our company this model is like a S-class for Mercedes / Mercedes. Locomotive brand. Are they joking? No, they don't joke ...
Presumably, there were no doubts on the faces of American colleagues. For them, this is really a legend. 1st generation Legend appeared in 1990, and since 1995 this model has been sold in the United States under the Acura RL brand. In the States, this car has many fans. The 4th generation model, represented by Europeans as a novelty, has been sold for a year both in Japan (and even has become a car of the year in this country) and in the USA. A copy that fell into my hands was a Japanese modification: right -handed and with a mild, as a chair, as well sold by Dedushkino, a pendant. What is this Blanmange? - thought in the first chassis. And in the second too.
autoChel.ru: everyday city morning. We are slowly moving in the center of Chelyabinsk ... Lexus is standing nearby begins to stretch forward, but stops, and its driver turns his head in our direction. He examines the car, and when our turn comes to drive the next five meters, slows down and looks at our car from behind. I wonder what attracted his attention? The fact that the car we are going in is still presented in the city in a single copy? Or is the Legend nameplate shine on the trunk lid?
Ozhegov’s explanatory dictionary gives some dim interpretations to the word legend: poetic tradition, fictional text about themselves, a set of conditional signs on the map ... They do not help to understand why the Japanese gave this car such a name. Maybe the word itself has another meaning in Japanese, unknown to us, Russians? Another thing is the legendary word. Everything here is simple, clearly and fits into the image of this car: fame, admiring fame. This is already more like this car: she has glory, and she can also cause admiration.
Cars: to sing along, it is known, better in chorus. Only not in the Premium segment of a car business class, the estate of soloists. The star circle is narrow and almost impenetrable for beginners. Of course, if you put your unthinkable outfit in the style, do not pass by!, The venerable audience will descend to you. But only then, in order to immediately turn away, in addition awarded with a caustic nickname like Volosatis. Honda, we must pay tribute, never turned on this slippery path. The problem of the first three generations (1985, 90, 96) was another: the Japanese did not give a reason to talk about themselves. No way. Reliability, approximate build quality is an too modest characteristic for the flagship models of the company that accustomed to engineering delights. Even VTEC - a proprietary system for changing the phases of gas distribution and the height of valves - passed the legendary V6. Neither the sensed speeches nor tears of grateful admirers of Legend departure from the European scene spoke. Was there a boy? We drove ...
Apparently, the World Law of Compensation worked: the Hondians - after a long sink - ended with the external and internal fading of Legend with the determination of the samurai. With the equally lightning speed, without a long PR training, Honda attacked in Europe. Neither LEGEND was embarrassed on the first-size market, spoiled by new products, or even that the model is equipped with a single engine, 295-horsepower V6 gasoline. And this is in the era of rampant dieselemania!
We thank for help in organizing the shooting of LLC Honda Motor Rus, (495) 745-2080, and the Russian Automobile Federation.
 

Source: "Autopilot"