The current edition even comes close to justifying itself to non-Scoobyphiliacs, then sabotages its act of appealing originality with fussy detailing and a low-rent interior.

Now a miracle has happened. At last you'll be able to buy a Legacy without having to go all defensive when an Audi-owning friend opens its door. All those things you wondered why Subaru hadn't done have now been done, and the result comes here in November.

We'll start with the way it looks from the outside. The shape is clearly related to the old one, but it's all about surfaces and the confidence not to over-egg. The front corners are more chamfered, the radiator grille sits lower, the headlights cut into the bumper, the bumper-to-body joins are discreet and in line with the side rubbing strake. Instead of swaged wheelarches we find gentle flares like those of, say, an Alfa 156, and the shoulder-line is a simple ridge.

At the back, the early-'90s clichί¿½ of the full-width light strip has gone, replaced by stripey tail-lights which - rejoice - eschew the round-lens-under-plastic bandwagon. The wheels fill the arches better, the visible pillars are slimmer and the indicator repeaters are built into the door mirrors like those of a Mercedes.

It gets better inside. Soft-touch surfaces, a slush-moulded dashboard, felt or rubber liners for the storage compartments - this is new Subaru territory. The stereo is built-in and there are lots of aluminium accents. The design is handsome like no Subaru cabin before it: not Germanic but as good as. This is the first visually desirable Subaru by the standards of the normal world, be the version saloon or estate.

Nor is it a mere reskin. Although bigger and roomier, this new Legacy weighs less than the old one thanks to hydroformed crossmembers, tailored blanks and an aluminium bonnet. The engine sits 0.85in lower, the suspension has more aluminium componentry, and there's more power across the board.

At this point, please welcome the sabotage corps. Feistiest of the new range is the Turbo, known as GT or GT Spec B in Japan. Its four-cam engine has 280bhp and there's a scoop on the bonnet; it's very Subaru, with all the credentials. But we don't get it here for two more years while the engineers make it Euro 4 compliant, because effort went instead into the base two-cam 2.0 that the German market wanted. Next point of sabotage: the UK is likely to stick with the GL/GX badging favoured by fleets, when this car needs aspirational names and an image.

Our range, then, is that 2.0 with 140bhp, a 165bhp two-cam 2.5 and a 3.0-litre, 250bhp flat-six, all with 'Subaru Boxer' proudly displayed on the air filter box. The 3.0 will be to broadly Turbo trim and chassis settings, albeit not those of the Spec B, which is extra-firm, has shorter gearing and 18in wheels with tyre sizes hard to find in Europe.

All the flat-fours have hollow camshafts and higher compression ratios, and the turbo's lag is much reduced. They also have reconfigured exhaust manifolds that improve torque, but slightly smother the flat-four beat.
Japan's Mount Fuji circuit was the venue for the first drive, with Turbos and four-cam 190bhp 2.0 Rs on offer. Both have much-increased steering castor angles to improve self-centring and stability, and extra power assistance to combat the resultant weighting-up in bends. The Turbo has a quicker rack, too, and on the track it's as grippy, planted and foolproof as a good Subaru always is.

There's more understeer than in an Impreza WRX, and it's not quite so interactive, but you can still hurl it at corners and slither it round to your heart's content. The turbocharged engine feels sharp with its titanium turbines and drive-by-wire throttle, and the flat-four throb is still heard inside even if it's muted outside. All the right genes remain; they're just better-dressed.

Naturally, the 2.0 is harder work and its steering feels less directly involved, but in isolation it, too, is competent, characterful and pretty well foolproof. It also rides rather better than a Turbo Spec B, which has great body control but fidgeted on the track's pock-marked perimeter road. All these new Legacies are the thinking driver's Audi alternative the breed always should have been, and the 3.0 should prove quite a weapon.

But we want the Turbo, complete with those dials whose needles flick over to the max when you ignite (to heighten the anticipation of driving, says Subaru). And we want it now.