2020 Subaru Legacy vs 2021 Toyota Corolla

The 2020 Subaru Legacy presented a conundrum with its styling. While it was a handsome car, it struggled to stand out among its competitors. The design featured sharp angles and details, but it lacked the boldness seen in models like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. The front end of the Legacy appeared smaller, almost compact, which led to some confusion about its size. Despite its pragmatic design, Subaru seemed to be aiming for a more mainstream appeal with the Legacy, but it fell short of making a strong visual statement.

Inside, the Legacy featured a massive 11.6-inch touchscreen, which unfortunately buried many essential controls within its digital interface. Simple tasks like adjusting the climate or radio settings became unnecessarily complicated. The base trim came well-equipped with features like remote keyless entry, Bluetooth connectivity, and dual 7-inch touchscreens. The Premium trim, which was tested, added more amenities such as 17-inch alloy wheels, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and a power moonroof. Higher trims like the Sport, Limited, and Touring XT offered additional features, including a more powerful turbocharged engine in the XT versions.

The 2021 Toyota Corolla, particularly in its 12th-generation form, was arguably the most attractive Corolla in recent history. The SE and XSE trims added sporty design elements like sport-design bumpers, a mesh grille insert, and 18-inch aluminum wheels. The Celestite Gray metallic paint further enhanced its appeal. However, the design had some quirks, such as the hood shut line that visually truncated the front end and the over-styled rear bumper.

The Corolla SE and XSE trims offered a more powerful engine and sportier features, making them the car's sporty versions. The XSE trim, tested with the optional Connectivity Package, provided a well-appointed interior with soft leatherette for the dashboard and robust switchgear. The design was clean and minimalist, but practical storage was somewhat lacking. Despite these minor drawbacks, the Corolla XSE's interior was a significant improvement over previous models.

The 2020 Subaru Legacy came with a 2.5-liter boxer 4-cylinder engine in its base, Premium, Sport, and Limited trims, producing 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque. This engine was paired with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and standard all-wheel drive (AWD). The CVT featured a manual mode and paddle shifters for simulated "gears," allowing for sportier driving. The Legacy's powertrain was responsive, making it suitable for city and suburban driving, but it struggled to reach highway speeds without significant noise.

For those needing more power, the Limited XT and Touring XT trims offered a 2.4-liter turbocharged boxer 4-cylinder engine, delivering 260 horsepower and 270 pound-feet of torque. This engine also used a CVT with a manual mode and paddle shifters. The Legacy's chassis was impressive, with precise cornering and refined ride quality, making it a shame that the base engine didn't fully match the car's handling capabilities.

The Legacy's auto stop-start system aimed to conserve fuel, contributing to an EPA rating of 27 mpg city, 35 highway, and 30 combined for the base engine. In real-world driving, it achieved 29 mpg. The turbocharged engine's fuel economy dropped to 24 city, 32 highway, and 27 combined.

The 2021 Toyota Corolla SE and XSE trims featured a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine, producing 169 horsepower at 6,600 rpm and 151 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm. This engine was paired with a Dynamic Shift CVT, paddle shifters, and a Sport driving mode. The CVT used a mechanical first gear to eliminate the typical drivetrain slip associated with traditional CVTs, providing a more engaging driving experience. The Corolla SE also offered a six-speed manual gearbox with downshift rev-matching for an additional $200.

The Corolla's TNGA platform contributed to its enjoyable driving dynamics, with electric steering, vented front and solid disc rear brakes, and a MacPherson strut front, multi-link rear suspension. The SE and XSE trims featured 18-inch aluminum wheels and more aggressive tires. Despite its modest power, the Corolla XSE demonstrated predictable handling and was engaging enough for spirited driving.

The Corolla XSE's fuel economy was rated at 34 mpg combined by the EPA. In real-world driving, it averaged 31.1 mpg on a mountainous route, with driving modes and paddle shifters used intermittently.

The 2020 Subaru Legacy offered solid trunk space for its class at 15.1 cubic feet, although it couldn't compete with crossovers like the Forester or Impreza hatchback. The backseat was surprisingly spacious, with ample head- and legroom, even for taller passengers. The rear seats featured in-door cupholders, a fold-down center armrest with additional cupholders, and rear USB ports in the tested model. The front seats were supportive, with deep door pockets for storage, although the center stack tray was somewhat cramped.

The 2021 Toyota Corolla XSE provided numerous interior upgrades over the SE trim, including SofTex leatherette seats with striped fabric inserts, front-seat heating, and eight-way power driver’s seat adjustment. This feature enhanced comfort and provided a commanding driving position with clear sightlines. The rear seats offered good support but had tight headroom and legroom, with no air conditioning vents for rear passengers. The Corolla sedan's trunk offered 13.1 cubic feet of cargo space, less than some competitors but more than others. The Corolla hatchback provided 17.8 cubic feet behind the rear seat.

The 2020 Subaru Legacy featured an 11.6-inch touchscreen with the Starlink infotainment system. While the screen was large and the icons were easy to read, the system buried many essential controls within its digital interface, making simple tasks like adjusting the climate or heated seats unnecessarily complicated. The portrait orientation of the screen also scrunched Apple CarPlay into a third of the display. The base trim had a dual-screen setup with similar issues, leaving no escape from the Legacy's cumbersome infotainment system.

The 2021 Toyota Corolla added Android Auto as standard equipment for 2021, joining Apple CarPlay, Amazon Alexa, and SiriusXM satellite radio. The Corolla SE featured an 8-inch touchscreen, while the XSE trim included Service Connect and Remote Connect, offering remote engine starting, a Guest Driver function, and a vehicle finder. The SE and XSE trims also offered a nine-speaker JBL premium sound system, dynamic voice recognition, and dynamic navigation. The infotainment system was user-friendly, with physical knobs for volume and tuning and shortcut buttons for easy access to menus. The dynamic voice recognition was particularly impressive, quickly and accurately responding to commands.

The 2020 Subaru Legacy came standard with Subaru’s EyeSight suite of driver-assistance features, including forward-collision warning, lane-departure warning, and adaptive cruise control. EyeSight used a head-up light system to signal alerts, which was intuitive. The system also included an alert for when the car in front started moving, helping to avoid causing a backup. Other standard safety features included front- and side-impact airbags, traction control, a reversing camera, and a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS).

The 2021 Toyota Corolla featured the Toyota Safety Sense 2.0 (TSS 2.0) collection of advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS) as standard. This included adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, pedestrian and cyclist detection, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assistance, lane-centering assistance, and automatic high-beam headlights. For 2021, Toyota added rear side-impact airbags and a rear cross-traffic warning function to the blind-spot warning system. The Corolla's safety systems performed well, with only minor issues in adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assistance. The 2020 Corolla earned a "Top Safety Pick" rating from the IIHS and a 5-star overall rating from the NHTSA, but the 2021 model needed re-testing due to the addition of new airbags.