Wheels

COVER CAR

ust over 10 years later,
Honda has officially
unveiled to the world,
its fifth iteration of
the Honda Legend.
As its name suggests, the Legend is
Honda’s proud creation and is widely
considered as one of Japan’s upper
echelon sedans, bursting with the
best bits of the latest technology that
help showcase the Japanese auto-
maker’s capabilities when it comes to
fusing performance with comfort.
Although it has been properly branded
as the successor to the model’s fourth
descendant, the fifth generation Honda
Legend is a whopping tech-leap apart
from its almost-retired brethren, so
much so that it feels like a completely
different entity while still holding
steadfast to Honda’s commitment to
delivering ultimate comfort and luxury
in its own unique symbolic gesture.
Before diving under the skin, the
Honda Legend is a proper, defined
step-up from its Accord cousin. The
intricate details, such as the carefully-
crinkled body creases, as well as the
unmistakable sharp grille snout and
generous servings of chrome add the
necessary flavour to the car’s stout and
broad sedan stance. What truly sets

the Legend apart from the Accord and

even other sedans is its unique and truly

distinctive crystalline, LED headlights.

Of course, as the ultimate symbol of

comfort and performance, the Legend’s

proportions give way to a generous

interior, one that is decked to the nines

with exquisite wood and sophisticated

leather trimmings, exuberating an air of

elegance and class. Unlike conventional

sedans with centre-console gear

levers, the Legend possesses a unique

gear-selector operated by surfing your

fingers across them. As ergonomic as

it seems, it also greatly reduces the risk

of selecting the wrong gear, with each

button facing the direction in which one

would want the engage the car to move.

Worthy of mention is the driver’s

view forward, with a reflected heads-

up display that displays a multitude

of driving modes, such as the driving

status of the car, engine revolution,

speed and even directions whenever

the navigation system is activated. Apart

from driving such a luxurious performer,

the driving comfort is certainly most

enjoyable for passengers. Leg room at

the back is plentiful, along with plush

leather and built-in window-blinds

and premium Krell surround-system

that churns out noise-cancelling-aided

tunes to further soothe the soul.

When we say massive-tech

leap, we mean massive. Honda

has gone almost-mental with this,

putting technology inspired from the

development of the next-generation

NSX under the bonnet this is amazing

sedan-symbol. Today, the Honda

Legend is a hybrid-touting super-sedan

that is not only shockingly sprightly,

but extremely fuel-efficient to boot.

Wearing what Honda calls Super-

Handling All-Wheel Drive, or SH-

AWD in short, the Honda Legend is

essentially, a sporty all-wheel drive

sedan. The Legend’s said character

comes from its hybrid power-train, a

combination of a 3.5-litre V6 motor and

independent electric motors. These

provide a total combined output of

308bhp. While this does seem a little

bland, hybrids have the uncanny ability

to provide instantaneous torque, and

the Legend’s seven-speed dual-clutch

transmission helps the sedan to clock

its 0-100km/h spring in spectacular

fashion, just shy of six seconds, before

shooting to a top speed of 210km/h;

pretty impressive numbers for a 1.9 ton

vehicle that was designed to deliver

ultimate comfort, so much so that it

feels like one is driving an eight-cylinder

Sleek and slick, a

modern design needs

savvy eqipment,

all present in the

Honda Legend

16 // March 2016