2007 Honda Legend – First Steer
April 5, 2007 by Paul Maric
Honda’s at it again. The latest iteration of the Legend features Super Handling All Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) – Honda’s words, not mine – active noise cancellation and the most powerful engine ever offered in a Honda.
The opulent interior offers lashings of wood and acres of leather. The centre console is populated with buttons and an i-Drive style rotary knob that controls the vehicle’s auxiliary controls.
Honda built the Legend with the latest levels of technology in mind. One such example is the two microphones located on the interior that actively cancel out road noise using the vehicles ten speakers. One other example is the active bi-xenon headlights that actually adjust their angle to light up the road through the corner, varying upon driver steering input.
The sound system is a Bose, 260-watt unit with 10-speakers that pumps out a pretty mean tune. The 6-disc CD-changer is located in-dash and is operated via the radio fascia. Driver and front passenger receive electric seats – with eight-way adjustment for the driver – along with an electronic tilt/telescopic steering wheel adjustment.
If you’re after a smooth – and silent – operator, the Legend’s 217kW V6 is sure to please. It barely makes a noise whilst idling and has tremendous reserves of torque high up in the rev range (351Nm at 5000RPM to be precise). This power is sent through a smooth-shifting 5-speed automatic.
Rear seat passengers enjoy masses of leg room and extremely comfortable seats. An electric rear sunblind is also available as standard equipment to quell direct sunlight on harsh Aussie days.
Honda’s SH-AWD does an impressive job of keeping this heavy luxury saloon in check on twisty roads. The advanced system can vary the amount of power directed to each section of the car. The system can even provide the majority of power to a single wheel, aiding tremendously with cornering and driving in wet conditions.
At $74,500 the Legend is loaded with features, such as: Auto dimming rear vision mirror; leather seats; electric rear sunblind; power windows; cruise control; sunroof; central locking; power seats; heated front seats; 6-stack CD player with 10 speakers; trip computer; active bi-xenon headlights; auto dimming exterior mirrors; 17” alloy wheels; fog lights; auto headlights and reversing camera.
Safety features include: ABS brakes; vehicle stability assist; dual front SRS airbags; side SRS airbags; curtain SRS airbags; security alarm; active head restraints and pedestrian impact safety system.
With a price tag of $74,500, the new Honda Legend considerably undercuts its German competition. On test, the Legend’s V6 engine returned a fuel efficiency of around 11.9-litres/100km; it’s not a bad figure considering the car’s weight and engine power output.
There was something about the Honda Legend that appealed to the senses. It’s one of those cars that is interesting to drive day in and day out. It won’t set the pulse racing, but it will facilitate for the odd weekend away down the coast.
With that said, the new Honda Legend provides luxury touring with many standard features to boot. Honda’s reliability track record suggests this car will still be running without a hitch years down the track. Quite simply put, the new Honda legend is truly legendary.
CarAdvice rating (out of 5): 
- Paul Maric
Print it: 
thats, f*%#in hawt!
Dear Paul,
It appears your comparison of the Legend and ‘Presara’, is academic, at best. What I mean is simply to put aside a feature like AWD as not being value of money – is quite laudable at best. Thats the whole point of having different classes of vehicles! I’m sure you’d agree that the Rolls Royce or Maybach isn’t value for money, but to let you in on a surprise, for every person who owns one of these, it is value for money. Its a marketing thing. This applies for everything in life. If you buy something, you will always find it value for money. It is upto the marketer to convince you of the same (prior to sale and often even afterwards).
If you compare the same vehicle, ‘Presara’ to a Merc E class or a BMW series 5, you’d find a lot of similarities in the feature list, even the lower end models of the German brands might have a ’smaller’ features list. Does that make it comparable? I wouldn’t say so. I hope you’ve got the point.
Last of all, if you’ve had a bad experience with Honda, sorry about that. But I’ve personally had a great experience with Honda and a less than great experience with Toyota, but having that prejudice for some model of Toyota, isn’t being fair to Toyota, similarly, I hope you wouldn’t be prejudiced, by past experinces (good or bad), the best would be to go and check out the car yourself. Personally I would like to own one, though still I’m only considering it and not finalized yet (the Legend). But this forum has greatly helped me, especially by those who own it. I don’t expect it to be perfect in all features, but I expect it to do it pretty well and last a lot longer than most of its competitors.
GOD Bless!
PS: No offence inteded Paul, I hope you take it all in the right spirit!
Hi, my name is Pauline. My husband purchased a late model Honda Euro in 2007 (about July), brand new. On Friday he was on the M5 and whilst driving heard a loud BANG and the car just stopped! He’s a motor mechanic by trade, he’s spend all today pulling it the engine apart, and to my amazement, the whole engine is a DISASTER ZONE. Has 3 large holes in it, and schrapnel EVERYWHERE. My brother bought to my attention, that late 2000s Honda’s had faults with the engine. Does anyone know about this? Thank you.
I can be contacted at redpolly66@gmail.com