Honda’s new Legend to remain lesser-known in the UK

Newswheel staff :: 07 June 2006 :: Filed under Saloon, Honda, Europe & UK

[Click on an image to view]

High-tech, self-driving exec won’t be cheap. But will be rare

Badge snobbery is a peculiarly British disease. So, despite Honda’s undoubted technological prowess, the Japanese outfit has usually struggled to find homes in the UK for its premium products. Which in turn explains why it hasn’t bothered to offer the Legend luxo barge in Blighty since 2001. And is no doubt also the reason why Honda reckons it will offload just 400 examples a year of the all-new Legend, which goes on sale this September for £36,250. Of course, the absence of a diesel engine option hardly helps. Nevertheless, the question remains: For just 400 units a year, can it possibly be worth the hassle of shipping Legends to the UK, tooling up for the sales brochures, prepping dealers and all that jazz?

On paper, there’s little doubt the new Legend offers an impressive package. Key specifications include a 291bhp 3.5-litre V6, sophisticated four-wheel-drive transmission and a bucket load of toys. You name it - cruise control, leather upholstery, climate control, electrically adjustable seats, sat-nav and a CD multichanger – it’s standard on the Legend. Which is more than you can say, for instance, about a similarly-priced poverty-spec Mercedes E350 (yours for £36,325). That said, the £33,040 starting price of BMW’s BMW 530i does allow a little room for manoeuvre beyond its basic specification.

Whatever, if you’re willing to dig £39,000 deep, Honda will fit your Legend with its Advanced Driver Assist and Collision Mitigation Braking systems (ADAS and CMBS for short). The short version of how these active safety systems function goes something like this: Lose the will to live whilst motorway cruising and ADAS will not only sound an alarm as you begin to drift out of your lane but also gently correct the steering to guide the car back between the white lines. It also sports a radar-powered cruise control to help you keep your distance from the car in front.

As for CMBS, it steps in when the radar system detects an imminent collision and judges that the driver can’t be bothered to throw on the anchors. As well as applying the brakes, CMBS can pre-tension seat belts to reduce the risk of injury. A long list of further options also includes a night-vision system.

All of which clever-clogs techno-trickery will count for little come testing time if the Legend’s AWD driving dynamics once again fail to match the usual rear-drive German suspects. It was ever thus.

Honda’s take on the increasingly ubiquitous night-vision display