2010 Subaru Legacy Rated "Acceptable" for Bumper Protection

The 2007 Legacy only received a "poor" rating

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recently conducted a new series of tests and concluded that the 2010 Subaru Legacy is one of the most advanced models on the market when it comes to its bumper protection. As a result, the new Legacy was rated "acceptable" while fifteen of the 17 midsize cars evaluated by the institute scored marginal or poor for bumper protection.

The IIHS says the Legacy made a significant improvements, especially when compared to the 2007-2009 versions which only earned a "poor" rating.

"The Legacy's performance shows what automakers can do when they pay attention to damage prevention in the low-speed crashes that happen every day," says Institute senior vice president Joe Nolan.

This is the fifth car to score such a rating, following Ford Focus, Mazda6, Scion xB and smart fortwo. Until now, no car managed to earn a good rating.

For the sake of comparison, the previous Legacy suffered, following the tests, a $4,000 damage while the 2010 sustained less than $900 damages in the same kind of test.

"Subaru made some simple changes to the Legacy's front bumper and they paid off in significantly lower repair costs," Nolan added. "The Legacy leapfrogs the competition for bumper protection. These common sense bumper changes will help keep repair costs down in low-speed crashes."

The IIHS ratings are offered following 4 bumper tests, front and rear full-width impacts at 6 mph and front and rear corner impacts at 3 mph. Each of the evaluated vehicles are driven into a steel obstacle similar in appearance with a car bumper.