Compare the2025 Subaru LegacyVS 2025 Toyota Camry

The Legacy has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Camry doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Legacy. But it costs extra on the Camry.

Both the Legacy and the Camry have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors, rear cross-path warning and driver alert monitors.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Legacy the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 114 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Camry has not been fully tested, yet.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Subaru vehicles are better in initial quality than Toyota vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Subaru above average in initial quality. With 9 more problems per 100 vehicles, Toyota is rated lower.

The Legacy Sport/XT’s standard 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder produces 28 more horsepower (260 vs. 232) than the Camry’s optional 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Car and Driver the Legacy Sport/XT 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Toyota Camry (232 HP engine):

The flat cylinder configuration of the boxer engine in the Legacy lowers its center of gravity, enhancing handling stability (That’s why Porsche uses boxer engines.). The Camry doesn’t offer a boxer engine configuration.

The Legacy has 5.5 gallons more fuel capacity than the Camry (18.5 vs. 13 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

For better stopping power the Legacy’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Camry:

The Legacy’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Camry are solid, not vented.

The Legacy stops shorter than the Camry:

For better traction, the Legacy has larger tires than the Camry (225/55R17 vs. 205/65R16).

The Legacy Base/Premium’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Camry LE’s standard 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Legacy Base/Premium has standard 17-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Camry LE.

The Legacy Limited handles at .85 G’s, while the Camry XLE AWD pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For better maneuverability, the Legacy’s turning circle is .6 feet tighter than the Camry’s (36.8 feet vs. 37.4 feet).

The front grille of the Legacy 2.5i uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Camry doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Because it has more passenger and cargo room, the EPA rates the Legacy a Large car, while the Camry is rated a Mid-size.

The Legacy has 5.6 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Camry (105.5 vs. 99.9).

The Legacy has 1.1 inches more front headroom, .7 inches more front legroom, .1 inches more front hip room, .4 inches more front shoulder room, 1.5 inches more rear legroom, .2 inches more rear hip room and 1.7 inches more rear shoulder room than the Camry.

To allow full utilization of available cargo room, the Legacy’s trunk lid uses concealed beam hinges that don’t intrude into the trunk. Its intrusive beam hinge reduces the Camry’s useful trunk space.

The engine in the Legacy is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Camry. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Subaru service is better than Toyota. J.D. Power ranks Subaru 7th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 26% lower rating, Toyota is ranked 21st.

The Legacy offers a remote vehicle starting system, so the vehicle can be started from inside the driver's house. This allows the driver to comfortably warm up the engine before going out to the vehicle. The climate system will also automatically heat or cool the interior. The Camry doesn’t offer a remote starting system.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Legacy’s available exterior PIN entry system (not available on Legacy Base). The Camry doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Legacy’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Camry’s headlights are rated “Acceptable.”

To help drivers see further while navigating curves, the Legacy has standard adaptive headlights to illuminate around corners automatically by reading vehicle speed and steering wheel angle. The Camry doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Legacy’s optional rear and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Camry offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Both the Subaru Legacy and Toyota Camry offer exterior mirrors that can be folded to provide convenience. The Legacy offers available power folding mirrors, which allow for easy, one-touch folding or unfolding at the driver’s discretion. This provides added convenience when maneuvering or parking, as well as when walking past the parked vehicle. In comparison, the Camry’s foldable mirrors are manual, requiring the driver to get out and physically fold them once parked and unfold them before getting in.

Both the Legacy and the Camry offer available heated front seats. The Legacy Limited/Touring also has standard heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated rear seats aren’t available in the Camry.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Subaru Legacy, based on reliability, safety and performance.