Honda Legend Review

The new all-wheel-drive Honda Legend was launched in the UK in 2006 to take on the likes of the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. This a tough market for Honda as badge loyalty is exceptionally strong - for some it is all about the brand and what it says about the owner/driver.

There is just one engine available, with two model choices - all feature Honda’s 3.5 V6 i-VTEC petrol unit and have a starting price tag of £36,250.

We have seen Legends before and they have never really been that popular in the UK but Honda expect to sell around 400 units a year. It will be interesting to see how many people they can prise out of their Mercedes-Benz into a Honda.

The Legend is fitted with Honda’s own 3.5 litre i-VTEC V6 petrol engine, being the only engine choice there is not a more frugal diesel option. The 24V petrol engine produces 295 bhp @ 6200 rpm.

On a touring trip around Mid-Wales in the snow and rain we were achieving around 24 mpg, which improved to 27 mpg on the Motorway, which we did not consider too bad considering the power plant.

The 5-speed automatic box features a sequential SportShift, which means that the driver can switch from traditional fully automatic mode, to a manual mode selecting gears either by using the shift lever in the centre console or by the paddles behind the steering wheel. In practice we left the Legend in automatic mode, only using the manual option in the snow to tentatively make progress.

The gearbox is no match for Mercedes Benz’s 7- speed gear box which is pretty much the benchmark. Occasionally the Legend seemed to make quite harsh change ups at inappropriate moments, hence remaining in the manual mode in the snow.

We were also a little bit disappointed on the performance front leaving us to describe the Legend’s performance as adequate. It really lacks the power one would expect of an executive saloon in this class - for example on paper 0-62 mph is achieved in only 7.3 seconds, but in reality when overtaking on ‘A’ roads, the Legend needed some encouragement.