Video: 2015 Subaru Legacy - 2014 Chicago Auto Show

Let's do this. The Legacy follows the Legacy concept introduced just a few months ago at the 2013 LA Auto Show. And you can see it in the grill. It's big, it's kind of bold. It's in your face. Some of the other elements don't seem as expressive as they were on the Legacy concept. We miss those sunken headlights, some of the vertical openings alongside the bumpers in that Legacy concept. Yet along the side here, Subaru says it did things like pull the windshield forward a couple inches here, make it a little more slicked back. There's active grill shutters in four cylinder models. The sum total of it improves aerodynamics by about 10%, Subaru says. Now overall wheelbase, the distance between the front and the rear wheels remains the same versus the previous Legacy, but overall length down about an inch and a half, Subaru says. In the back here, there's a lot of kind of derivatives going on here. We see a little bit of Toyota Avalon, a little bit of Nissan Sentra in how the bumper kind of wraps around. Maybe one of the more forgettable angles to view the car from. Conservative themes going on inside here. Not a radically redesigned interior, but a lot more logical layouts, especially in the center controls here, which were pretty cluttered and crowded in the last Legacy. Quality seems to be pretty good here. You've got soft stuff where it matters. Nice touches here, like fabric all the way down the A pillars. Some nice features here, things like one touch power front windows for both the front windows instead of the driver's only window. A lot of space in the center console here, and some new interesting safety features. There's new airbags in the seat, seat airbags that actually pop up a little bit to prevent you from submarining, kind of hold you in place during an accident. Subaru's familiar EyeSight system mirror now works at 30 miles per hour instead of 19 miles per hour. It acts as an adaptive cruise control system. It's also a forward warning and braking system for forward collisions. It also scans more of the road, Subaru says. Now cargo volume, about 15 cubic feet, the automaker says, and backseat and front seat interior volume remains roughly the same as the outgoing Legacy. Let's take a look in back. Here's a caveat. Power driver's seat doesn't work in this car at the auto show, which is depowered. So I might sit about an inch back from there, but you can see that even at that, pretty good room here in the back seat. Pretty well packaged too, between the seats sitting high enough off the ground and maintaining good head room overhead. I'm six feet tall. Another thing to notice, center floor hump here. Got to have it for the drive shaft in an all wheel drive car typically. Pretty good packaging there. Isn't too high, doesn't take up a lot of space. New for rear seat passengers, two-stage stage heated rear seats becoming more common among family sedans. Subaru decided to get on board. Expect the Legacy to spawn an Outback variation shortly after its launch. Probably not an Applebee's or an Olive Garden variation though. Anyway, 2.5 liter four cylinder or a 3.6 liter six cylinder are the engines under the hood. All of them work with a continuously variable automatic transmission. Subaru expects city/highway to be 26/36 miles per gallon in EPA ratings, with 30 miles per gallon combined for the four cylinder. Very good for a car with standard all wheel drive. Stay tuned for our driving impressions closer to the Legacy's on sale date in summer of 2014. (engine revving)