The Subaru Legacy was introduced in 1989 as a mid-size car positioned above Subaru's Leone in the manufacturer's lineup. It was notable from the outset for offering all-wheel drive as standard and using Subaru's horizontally opposed flat-four engine. The introductory price in Japan for the turbocharged RS sedan was set at approximately 2,550,000 yen at launch.
The RS designation on the road car denoted the most performance-oriented Legacy variant, featuring the EJ20T turbocharged flat-four engine. In Australian trim, a turbocharged RS Turbo sedan and wagon were introduced as a sporty option for the domestic market. The same underlying platform and drivetrain architecture made the Legacy a natural candidate for Group A rally homologation.
Subaru, working with British motorsport specialist Prodrive, campaigned the Legacy RS in the WRC beginning in 1990. The initial seasons were not considered truly competitive, but the car showed genuine potential.
In 1992, Subaru paired experienced driver Ari Vatanen, who had previously driven in Group B and competed at the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, with the up-and-coming Scottish driver Colin McRae. The pairing produced two second-place finishes across the season, one for each driver, which strengthened Subaru and Prodrive's commitment to the WRC program.
The 1993 season proved decisive. McRae and Vatanen pushed the Legacy RS to a third-place finish at the Swedish Rally and a one-two placing after the first leg of the Acropolis Rally in Greece. Prodrive boss David Garraway had set a condition for introducing the new Impreza rally car: the Legacy had to secure at least one outright WRC victory first.
At the eighth round of the 1993 season, Rally New Zealand, Colin McRae achieved that goal. He held off François Delecour in his Ford Escort RS Cosworth to take the win — the Legacy RS's first and only outright WRC victory. It was the final WRC round for the Legacy, as the Impreza debuted at the very next event.
Richard Burns also competed in the Legacy during 1992 at various events before joining the Subaru World Rally Team to drive the Impreza in 1993. Other drivers to contest events in the Legacy included Alister McRae, Per Eklund, Possum Bourne, and Hannu Mikkola.
Beyond the WRC, the Legacy was used in various national and regional rally series. In 1990, a Subaru Legacy became the first Group N car ever to finish the WRC Safari Rally, widely regarded as one of the most demanding events in the world championship. Of 59 competitors that year, only ten finished; the Legacy was the sole Group N finisher, placing eighth overall.
In Australia, the turbocharged RS earned strong results in domestic rallying and helped build Subaru's performance reputation in that market before the arrival of the Impreza WRX.
The Legacy also set speed records: in January 1989, three Japanese-spec turbocharged RS sedans established a new FIA World Land Endurance Record over 100,000 km at the Arizona Test Center, maintaining an average speed of 138.780 mph for over 447 hours. A further record for mass-produced turbocharged station wagons was set in 1998 on a Colorado highway.
The Legacy RS holds a foundational place in Subaru's motorsport history. It proved that Subaru's combination of flat-four turbo power and symmetrical all-wheel drive could win at the highest level of rallying. The program also established the Subaru-Prodrive partnership that would go on to dominate the WRC through the 1990s and into the 2000s with the Impreza. The Legacy RS's single WRC victory at Rally New Zealand in 1993 served as the handover moment between two eras of Subaru rally history.