The maker's flagship car , it is unique in its class for offering all-wheel drive as a standard feature, and Subaru's traditional boxer engine. The Legacy was sold as the Liberty in Australia out of deference to Legacy Australia , an organisation dedicated to caring for the families of military service veterans. In , a variant of the Legacy with heightened suspension called the Legacy Outback was introduced to compete in the burgeoning sport-utility vehicle class, and proved to be a sales success for Subaru.
The Outback line was split into its own model in , known as the Subaru Outback. As of , 3. Production of the Legacy ended in Japan in June , with the sixth-generation Legacy being the last model produced and marketed in Japan. Subaru of America announced in an internal email that will be the last model year for the Subaru Legacy. The Subaru Outback will remain in production, after being the company's top selling model in The Legacy also introduced an entirely new flat-4 engine series, called the EJ engine , which was quieter and more powerful than the previous EA engine.
Options included 4-channel ABS , licensed from Bosch and air suspension height control, which allowed the driver to increase the vehicle's ground clearance for off-road conditions. Many different options of engine and transmission were available depending on the market. JDM market GTs equipped with the DOHC EJ20T the most powerful variant offered had additional options such as leather interior, climate control air conditioning, electric seats and keyless entry via entering a code via the driver's door handle.
The US-spec included the passive restraints motorized seat belts through the model year with exception to the right hand drive Postal model which was only available with conventional seat belts. Driver's side airbags were an option midway through the model year and became standard in Passenger airbags weren't available until the 2nd generation arrived in Both were turbocharged with the EJ22T closed-deck block engine.
Unique to the US market, it was SOHC, with different pistons, oil squirters, oil cooler on the '91 model year, and other enhancements. The sedan was available with strengthened 4EAT Automatic transmission or a stronger 5-speed manual transmission. Australian specification models started with the basic FWD only LX with manual windows, then the FWD or AWD manuals were dual range GX which upgraded to electric windows and cruise control with the wagons also receiving the pneumatic air suspension, with the top of the range Heritage sedan receiving a leather interior.
