Whether you are addicted to gambling, alcohol, smoking, or reading car reviews on the Internet, we live in a compassionate enough society where help is close by. But what if you are hooked on sport-utility-vehicles?
An unhealthy dependency on SUVs can have negative or destructive consequences if you're someone who loves to drive. So where can a car zealot turn if one is guzzling fuel unnecessarily, enduring a hobbyhorse ride, or experiencing instability in sharp corners?
All of these symptoms are red flags that are signaling a problem with a serious SUV addiction. But Subaru has a cure. I haven't run this by the Subaru marketing folks yet, but I'm declaring all of their dealerships as official SUV Rehabilitation Centres (please call your local reseller for drop-in times).
You may already know that for 2005 Subaru has thoroughly revamped its Legacy, and Legacy-based Outback lineups. Since the first Outback appeared in 1995 as a Legacy L wagon with trim, many a suffering SUV owner has turned to the Subaru as an antidote. Confirmation of the first and second generation models' success came in the evidence of rival manufacturers "Outbacking" their own wagons: Audi allroad and Volvo V70 Cross Country, come on down!
With this year's new models, Subaru has decided to push the Legacy and Outback range upmarket. In this case, "upmarket" means a German car-like interior, legitimate ride and handling upgrades, and for our turbocharged Outback 2.5 XT ($42,895) test car, more power. Oh, and they smoothed out some of the styling, both inside and out. If you want the best driving car in the bunch, the Legacy GT wagon ($37,495) is the car zealot's choice. It shares the turbo-flat-four with the Outback 2.5 XT, and it sits lower and is more aggressively suspended. It might be TOO big of a jump if you're coming down from an Explorer, which is where the Outback 2.5 XT comes into play.
Most large SUVs are truck-based; refined, ergonomically correct interiors being an afterthought. Admittedly, the last gen Outback's insides could be lumped into this category as well. Not so the 2005s, whose interiors now can safely be compared to Mercedes' and BMWs that are easily $10k more. The Outback 2.5 XT receives a red-and-white electroluminescent instrumentation housed in a symmetrical pod in front of the driver. The sweep of the dash layout, aluminum trim, tidy control actions, leather wearing shifter and three-spoke Momo steering wheel gave our test car a cockpit that any sport sedan, let alone SUV, would be proud of. As in other 2005 Legacys we've driven, interior materials quality is excellent. There are less hard plastics than in the last generation and the dash and door tops have a refined grain and soft feel. The pillars, headliner and visors are covered in woven fabric. Our car had the extra large sunroof, with brightened the interior on sunny days. It's no Audi, but Subaru is getting close.
To ease your drop down from your SUV high, the seats in our car had the preferred cloth. Because this was a 2.5 XT, additional shoulder bolstering was added to what was already a well-shaped throne with plenty of adjustments and firm support. Very Germanic. Ergonomic picks that were nitted were a steering wheel that tilted only, and a manual shifter that was about a half-inch too tall.
Like the sheep-in-wolf's-clothing Forester XT, our breakdown of the Outback 2.5 XT acronym read as "Exceptional Turbo". Or "Extra Terminal velocity". The mill in the 2.5 XT (and the Legacy GT) is a modified version of the WRX STi's turbocharged 2.5-litre flat-four-cylinder engine. Externally you can tell by the functional hood scoop that supplies the needed fresh air for the intercooler. The cylinder heads and crankshaft are shared with the hot rod STi, but the block and turbocharger are unique to the Legacy and Outback. The 250 horsepower and 250 pound-feet of torque aren't up to STi's numbers (300-hp), but this engine beats the heck out of the returning, naturally aspirated 2.5-litre flat-four-cylinder found in base Legacys and Outbacks.
An unhealthy dependency on SUVs can have negative or destructive consequences if you're someone who loves to drive. So where can a car zealot turn if one is guzzling fuel unnecessarily, enduring a hobbyhorse ride, or experiencing instability in sharp corners?
All of these symptoms are red flags that are signaling a problem with a serious SUV addiction. But Subaru has a cure. I haven't run this by the Subaru marketing folks yet, but I'm declaring all of their dealerships as official SUV Rehabilitation Centres (please call your local reseller for drop-in times).
You may already know that for 2005 Subaru has thoroughly revamped its Legacy, and Legacy-based Outback lineups. Since the first Outback appeared in 1995 as a Legacy L wagon with trim, many a suffering SUV owner has turned to the Subaru as an antidote. Confirmation of the first and second generation models' success came in the evidence of rival manufacturers "Outbacking" their own wagons: Audi allroad and Volvo V70 Cross Country, come on down!
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Most large SUVs are truck-based; refined, ergonomically correct interiors being an afterthought. Admittedly, the last gen Outback's insides could be lumped into this category as well. Not so the 2005s, whose interiors now can safely be compared to Mercedes' and BMWs that are easily $10k more. The Outback 2.5 XT receives a red-and-white electroluminescent instrumentation housed in a symmetrical pod in front of the driver. The sweep of the dash layout, aluminum trim, tidy control actions, leather wearing shifter and three-spoke Momo steering wheel gave our test car a cockpit that any sport sedan, let alone SUV, would be proud of. As in other 2005 Legacys we've driven, interior materials quality is excellent. There are less hard plastics than in the last generation and the dash and door tops have a refined grain and soft feel. The pillars, headliner and visors are covered in woven fabric. Our car had the extra large sunroof, with brightened the interior on sunny days. It's no Audi, but Subaru is getting close.
To ease your drop down from your SUV high, the seats in our car had the preferred cloth. Because this was a 2.5 XT, additional shoulder bolstering was added to what was already a well-shaped throne with plenty of adjustments and firm support. Very Germanic. Ergonomic picks that were nitted were a steering wheel that tilted only, and a manual shifter that was about a half-inch too tall.
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