The European Honda Legend - luxury high-performance four-door premium saloon

• 295 PS 3.5 litre VTEC engine
• Unique, confidence-inspiring Super Handling All-Wheel Drive
• Adaptive Cruise Control, Collision Mitigation Brake System, Lane Keeping Assist System (RHD only), Active Front lighting System, pop-up bonnet
• Premium Bose audio system, satellite navigation with voice recognition, reversing camera and Bluetooth

Honda's new Legend, a luxury four-door premium saloon, offers high performance and an array of advanced technology to deliver an extremely enjoyable and safe driving xperience.

Among its innovative, advanced technology highlights are the unique Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) system which provides excellent agility, a pop-up bonnet for pedestrian protection, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) which maintains a safe distance from a vehicle in front, and the Collision Mitigation Brake System (CMBS) which predicts potential collision situations and reacts accordingly. In addition, right-hand-drive models also have the option of Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS).

The use of a number of aluminium body panels including the sub frames, bonnet, boot lid and front wings, helps to keep down overall weight.

Drivetrain
Its 3.5 litre, V6, 24-valve, all-aluminium SOHC VTEC engine produces 295 PS at 6,200 rpm and 353 Nm of torque at 5,000 rpm to deliver effortless performance as well as being light and compact. It is mated to a 5-speed automatic transmission.

Styling
The Legend's sleek styling reflects that abundant power. The dramatically sloping bonnet leads down to an aggressive nose with angular headlamp treatment, five-sided Honda grille and distinctive lower air intake openings. A sleek cockpit, a forward sloping beltline and a short deck lid accentuate the Legend's pronounced wedge shape. Inside, Honda's flagship saloon is as luxurious as it is sporty, and features rich leather and wood trim.

Standard Equipment
A standard premium 10-speaker Bose audio system uses Bose Cabin Surround sound. This innovative system utilises eight channels to deliver sound resolution 500 times greater than CD. And, in a further innovation, the Legend is equipped with AudioPilot active noise cancellation, which neutralises road, wind and other intrusive noises by sending out an opposite phase signal through the audio system.

Satellite navigation features RDS-TMS which displays up-to-the-minute traffic information where available on screen and plots alternative routes around traffic congestion. Further convenience is provided by voice recognition control (English, German and Italian – French and Spanish will be added in the near future). Voice commands may also be used to control audio and climate control functions. Parking is made all the easier by a rear view camera whose image is displayed on the 8 inch display.

A Bluetooth wireless mobile phone interface permits further hands-free operation, with steering wheel mounted buttons to control its operation.

The Legend comes as standard with the Active Front lighting System (AFS) for increased illumination and visibility. When cornering, the inboard light swivels by up to 20 degrees according to input form steering and vehicle speed sensors to illuminate a larger area of road surface throughout the corner, thus minimising blind spots.

Super Handling All-Wheel Drive
Safety has been a key consideration in the development of Legend, and the provision of both active and passive safety systems make this one of the most comprehensively equipped cars on the market. The standard-fit Super Handling All-Wheel Drive (SH-AWD) exemplifies Honda's approach. Working in conjunction with the Vehicle Stability Assist system, SH-AWD is a groundbreaking all-wheel drive system that delivers exceptional handling thanks to a unique layout. It's the only all-wheel drive platform that distributes the optimum amount of torque not only between the front and rear wheels, but also between each rear wheel.

During straight line cruising and moderate cornering, up to 70 per cent of torque is delivered to the front wheels. During full throttle acceleration or spirited driving, up to 70 per cent of available torque is directed to the rear wheels for increased acceleration and enhanced cornering.

When accelerating during cornering, SH-AWD overdrives the outer rear wheel by up to 5 per cent using an exclusive acceleration device, while electromagnetic clutches in the rear axle send up to 100 per cent of rear torque to that wheel. If the car is decelerating during cornering, the torque balance is controlled to counteract oversteer. The result is dramatically enhanced steering feel, stability and class-leading cornering performance.

The Legend's lightweight chassis and double wishbone front and multilink rear suspension systems are tuned to complement the SH-AWD system and deliver a linear cornering feel and a smooth ride. Large ventilated disc brakes and four-piston front callipers, ABS, EBD and Brake Assist provide optimum stopping power.

Advanced Driving Assist Systems – Adaptive Cruise Control
Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) can be specified as an option. As well as providing a conventional cruise control function, ACC uses a grille-mounted radar to adjust speed automatically by applying either brake or throttle to maintain a consistent distance to a vehicle directly in front.

Advanced Driving Assist Systems – Collision Mitigation Brake System
ACC is logically supplemented with the Collision Mitigation Brake System (CMBS) which predicts potential collision situations and reacts accordingly.

If CMBS determines that the closing rate between the Legend and the vehicle directly in front has increased beyond an acceptable level, visual and audible warnings prompt the driver to take preventive action. If the distance further diminishes, the system provides a tactile warning by gently retracting the seatbelt and applies light braking. If an accident seems to be unavoidable, the system applies strong braking and strong retraction of the front seatbelts via E-Pretensioners to reduce the speed of impact and to mitigate the damage of a collision.

Advanced Driving Assist Systems – Lane Keeping Assist System
In addition, right-hand drive models can also be specified with the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS), already seen on the 2006 Honda Accord. This uses a camera mounted behind the top of the windscreen to identify the lane in which the vehicle is travelling and to correct any deviation via an appropriate input to the steering.

Safety
To complement the high performance drivetrain, the Legend has a highly rigid body structure which utilises Honda's Advanced Compatability Engineering (ACE) principles. The ACE structure helps to disperse collision forces over a larger frontal area for greater protection for vehicle occupants while at the same time increasing compatibility with other vehicles in a frontal collision.

A number of pedestrian protection measures have been adopted in line with other Honda models, but unique to the Legend and one of the first such systems on the market is a pop-up bonnet. Activation in the event of an accident is by a pyrotechnic device; occurring in milliseconds, its effect is to help cushion the pedestrian's body.

Dual stage front airbags, side and curtain airbags complete the standard safety package.

HONDA LEGEND SPECIFICATION

HONDA LEGEND SPECIFICATION