Subaru’s Legacy midsize sedan grew for 2010, but its price tag didn’t.

In fact, the newly styled and enlarged five-passenger Legacy ranks as the lowest-priced midsize, all-wheel-drive sedan on the U.S. market.

The 2010 Legacy also is noteworthy for its fuel mileage rating of 23 miles per gallon in city driving and 31 mpg on the highway when equipped with continuously variable transmission. This CVT adds $1,000 to the base price.

Many buyers might overlook Subaru when looking for a family sedan because they don’t live in wintry climates and figure they don’t need all-wheel drive, which is standard on all Subarus.

But with Subaru pricing the Legacy competitively against midsize sedans that don’t have this feature, it makes the argument of “why pay for all-wheel-drive when I may not need it” virtually moot.

Consider that a 2010 Toyota Camry with power going only to the front wheels, not all four wheels, has a retail starting price of $20,145, just less than a base Legacy. The two cars have nearly the same horsepower from their four-cylinder engines — 170 horses in the Legacy and 169 in the Camry.

There’s also the fact that all-wheel drive isn’t just for snowy roads. It can provide better traction on rainy surfaces and in other low-grip situations.

Subaru actually has three all-wheel-drive systems for the Legacy, and each is tailored to work with different Legacy engine and transmission combos.

For example, the test Legacy 2.5i Premium with base, 170-horsepower, 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine and CVT came with an all-wheel-drive system where a continuously variable transfer clutch was electronically managed to distribute power among the front and rear wheels as driving conditions warranted.

I didn’t have to do a thing, and there was no indication — other than reliable traction — that the system was working.

The Legacy is the top sedan of the company, but it had been a bit snug inside over the years, particularly in the back seat compared with the top midsize sedan sellers such as the Camry. This has been addressed for 2010. The new model rides on a new platform and has a wheelbase that’s 3.2 inches longer than its predecessor. The car also is 3.2 inches taller and 3.6 inches wider.

But in an interesting exercise at restraint, Subaru designers made sure to keep short the parts of the sedan body that extend past the wheels front and back. As a result, the overall length is just 1.4 inches longer than last year’s model so finding a parallel parking spot in the city is still doable.

At the same time, the improved interior dimensions plus scalloped front seat backs add 4 inches of rear-seat legroom to the Legacy, which already had superior front-seat legroom of some 43 inches. This is more than the 41.3 inches in the front seat of the Camry.

In the back seat, legroom measures 37.8 inches, which is closer to the Camry’s 38.3 inches. The Legacy’s rear-seat headroom is 37.5 inches, which is 0.3 inch shy of that in the Camry, and shoulder room is improved, too.

Even the Legacy’s trunk is bigger — a full 14.7 cubic feet vs. 15 cubic feet in the Camry.

The tester rode smoothly, with only slight vibrations transmitted to passengers when the car traveled over road bumps and uneven pavement.

The interior, revised for 2010, looked good and was relatively quiet. I didn’t notice much wind noise, and the most prominent engine noise was when the car was accelerating hard and the engine was in the high rpms. The interior is a nice upgrade from last year. Fabric on the seats had a pleasing appearance in the tester, and the plastic atop the interior of the doors had a subtly soft touch.

Subaru revised the engine slightly for 2010, and combined with the new Lineartronic CVT, the powertrain does a fine job of providing acceptable power plus good fuel economy.

I just wish the 15.5-foot-long Legacy had a more grown-up car horn rather than the little “beep-beep” small car horn it retains.

And the exterior styling, while attractive, reminds me of a Camry. No one took a second look at the new car as I drove it, and in shopping center parking lots this new Subaru blended in easily with the Camrys.

All in all, Consumer Reports predicts better-than-average reliability on the 2010 Legacy.

2010 Subaru Legacy

Base price: $19,995 for 2.5i base model; $20,995 for 2.5i Premium

As tested: $22,660

Type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger, midsize sedan

Engine: 2.5-liter, single overhead cam, horizontally opposed four cylinder engine with AVLS, with a continuously variable transmission ($1,000)

Mileage: 23 mpg city, 31 mpg highway