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our test drives or view them all

Honda Legend 3.5 iVTEC EX ADAS automatic

PATIENCE, that’s what you need when you drive Honda’s Legend flagship.

The complexity of this luxury express is incredible and so confusing is its multi-function dashboard that a week is simply not long enough to get to grips with the car’s outstanding ability.

I was impressed, but do we really need a car that is so time demanding when it comes to learning everything about what each dash button can do? Frankly, the answer is no.

But with typical Japanese logic its builders have thought about that as well. If long hours sweating over a handbook is not for you and you’ve avoided the "geek" stage of life, the good news is that the Legend will simply deliver a transport of delight when left to its own devices.

The test car was the more complex of the two models imported to the UK – a 3.5 litre V6 EX with ADAS (Advanced Driver Assist System) that includes CMBS (Collision Mitigation Braking System) and of course, four-wheel-drive.

It’s a technophobe’s nightmare, but quite a car. Expensive at £39,347, but at least Honda throws in metallic paint as part of the deal. Alternatively you can buy the cheaper EX without ADAS and CMBS and pay £36,597 and still drive an express 4x4 saloon that is arguably one of the world’s most impressive top-range cars.

Comfort levels are astonishing. The car’s composure on fast motorways and twisting Highland single trackers is so good it takes both in its stride and miles simply melt away.

Adhesion is fantastic, handling exceptional given its near five metre length and 1.9 tonne weight while fuel consumption on the open road, though hardly frugal, is an acceptable 25mpg. Mind you, tootling round Forres and Findhorn it plummeted to a wallet-chilling 17mpg.

On the downside the dash is an operator’s nightmare – far too complex with fiddly controls. I found the silky-smooth gearbox slow to change while the ride was a little on the firm side at low speed.

Compared to BMW’s 7 Series, Audi’s A8 and Mercedes’ S-Class the Legend comes close – but ultimately, like its Lexus countryman, fails the final test. Say what you like about reliability, build quality and value, the cold facts are that executive class buyers are still more likely to opt for one of the Teutonic threesome.

Sadly, it’s not the car – it’s the badge.

Curiously though I think those buyers might be missing something. What the Legend lacks in "marque character" it certainly makes up for in equipment and technology. Get used to the anonymity of driving a Japanese luxury car, overcome the multi-use dash controls and learn to live with its characterless feel, and you’ll start enjoying its effortless performance, refinement, silence and comfort.

For such a large and unwieldy-looking saloon it steers like a sports car. The wheel is perfectly weighted and there’s better “feel” through the system than I’ve experienced on much sportier vehicles.

I had to drive to Glasgow Airport with the Legend and took the “scenic” route via Glen Coe to avoid delays on the A9. It was a last-minute choice, but one I was pleased to make.

The Legend simply “hoovered” up the miles. Every bend was a smooth sweeping experience in a car that was outstandingly comfortable with excellently supportive seats and a chassis and suspension system that smoothed out the worst parts (of which there are many) of the A82 to Tyndrum and Crianlarich.

This dangerous road is a test in itself that gets worse in the torturous miles from the head of Loch Lomond to Tarbet. But even here, and despite its 1.84 metre width, the Legend sailed serenely on in near silence with commendably little tyre roar over this dreadful route’s broken surface.

I’m sure the Army must use the Ardlui to Tarbet section to test their tank tracks! What a surface – and what a disgraceful advert for Scotland for the thousands of foreign tourists who ply its dips and dives!

At the heart of Honda’s leviathan lies advanced technology that works well at keeping the car safely on track whatever the conditions. The all-wheel-drive system is excellent and handles the traction instantly, directing it to the wheels that need it most. Impressively it does so without fuss and without breaking the fluid smoothness of the car as it negotiates indifferent surfaces, surface water and even gravel.

The engine is a silky, silent 3.5 litre V6 petrol with VTEC technology. Quiet, vibration free and responsive, it delivers effortless performance – but there’s a problem.

On its way to the wheels the maximum 291bhp and 259lb.ft of torque has to get through an automatic gearbox that has an unfashionable five speeds – a bit low rent when most quality rivals are offering seven and even eight speed transmissions. But it’s not just the lack of ratios – it’s the hesitancy you can feel as the five-speeder decides how to manage the rather high-revving V6 engine’s delivery. It makes changes feel mushy and I wondered why they’d even bothered including a paddle-shift facility.

But you won’t find those problems elsewhere on the Legend. The CMBS feature uses forward-looking radar to slow and brake the car if it senses a vehicle is too close while ADAS ensures all four wheels retain maximum grip of whatever surface they are riding – it’s impressive stuff. It delivers ultimate surefootedness and great driver and passenger confidence.

As a sumptuous and cosseting express for five people the Honda flagship reigns supreme – and it carries a meaningful luggage load into the bargain. The boot can swallow 452 litres and is wide enough for golf clubs.

Safe, with a five-star NCAP adult occupant rating, four for child protection and three for pedestrians; superbly well-equipped with feature items like soft leather upholstery on fully power-adjustable seats, first class built-in sat-nav and a reversing camera and immaculately assembled with a feeling of genuine solidity and quality, this big Honda has the makings of real pedigree and fine engineering.

One minor irritation – the wiper blades on the test car would not park out of sight. Try as I might I was always left with them interfering with peripheral vision. Turns out they were parking in the "winter" position on the warmer screen – but such is the car’s complexity that I could not easily get them to park in the "summer" position and they continued to get in the way.

Ultimately though, the Legend is a bit like that other Japanese delicacy, sushi: expensive and exclusive – and an acquired taste.

Rating: 7/10

FINAL THOUGHT:

An over-complex car that delivers impressively but leaves you asking why. The technology packed into the Legend is breathtaking but so involved is this luxury car’s computer-based system that an owner will need to spend weeks learning what each button and control does. I seriously wonder how many will bother to fully exploit this excellent machine. In a world of high fuel prices and busy roads the Legend is not going to be cheap to run, but is so well constructed and relaxed on the road that anyone covering a distance will arrive fresh and satisfied thanks to its outstanding design, performance and overall quality.

 

CAR FACTS – Honda Legend 3.5 iVTEC EX ADAS automatic

• Price: £39,347
• Capacity: 3471cc
• Power: 291bhp
• 0-62mph: 7.3 seconds
  
• Maximum speed: 155mph
  
• Economy: Combined 24.6mpg
  
• CO2 emissions: 273g/km
  
• ESP: Standard
• Insurance: Group 17