THE Levorg may be oddly named, but there's nothing strange about Subaru's great new estate.

The moniker is in part a tribute to the model it is the natural successor to - the Legacy - being an unlikely union of letters from this name plus others taken from ‘revolution' and ‘touring'.

Yes, I know it's a bit tenuous and to be honest it kept reminding me of a Star Trek Next Generation character whose surname was La Forge.

But this is a sideshow. The important fact is the Legacy was popular with Subaru fans and the Levorg looks set to maintain this appeal.

This it achieves by being very much a driver's car with neat handling and a firm road-hugging ride combining the comfort and performance any sport tourer must aspire to.

It bounds from 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds on its way to a top speed of 130mph thanks to an all-new 1.6-litre, flat four petrol Boxer engine which is in cahoots with a slick six-speed CVT gearbox.

The new power unit offers the same performance as Subaru's 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated Boxer engine, despite being 36 per cent smaller.

The journey through the gears is smooth and when necessary the manual steering-wheel mounted paddles give rapid response when you want to make the changes yourself.

The sprightly performance is kept under control by a four-wheel drive set up - which helped gain the Legacy a loyal fan club - giving excellent grip while the body refuses to roll in corners.

There is also something fancy called active torque vectoring which brakes the inside wheels when cornering and apportions greater torque to the outside of the car thus reducing understeer and oversteer to give more control.

The upshot is a motor equally at home cruising on motorways or roughing it down twisting lanes giving it a versatility many will like.

Subaru's intelligent drive system changes the car's characteristics to suit your mood - so whether you fancy a sporty surge through the countryside or more economical motoring around town all can be catered for.

Average fuel consumption is claimed to be 39.8mpg but in everyday use I found the estate a touch below that with emissions of 164g/km.

There are several neat ideas to help the driver such as lane departure and blind spot warning systems plus rear cross traffic alert, which detects vehicles passing behind when reversing out of a parking space.

There is also a tailgate-mounted camera linked to a natty seven-inch touchscreen incorporating satnav and Subaru's Starlink app-based system for those requiring smartphone connection.

The exterior gives a nod to the Legacy with an unmissable huge air scoop on the bonnet, but sets its own style with neat LED headlights and sleek lines.

Slip into the cool cabin and you discover leather-trimmed sports seats - the front ones heated - while a modern dashboard features a colour trip computer display situated above the main screen.

There is plenty of room for five adults and their luggage as boot space has been increased from the Legacy era to a useful 522 litres. This expands to a maximum of 1,466 litres when the rear seats are lowered.

A range of cubby holes for odds and sods are located around the interior as well as two useful storage bins beneath the luggage floor.