Excellent all-weather wagon

I purchased my Outback XT at the end of September and I am very happy with my purchase. I previously drove a 1999 Outback and the differences between these two cars is night and day.

The interior of the new Outback is refined and, while not quite equal to Audi, Lexus, etc., is a major step for Subaru. The car is more refined then in the past, both on the inside and on the outside. The exterior lines are more flowing and give the car have more of an athletic stance. The dash and gauges on the 05 Outbacks are well laid out and the red back lighting is very Audi-like. The stereo is decent and includes a in-dash 6-disk changer. I have added a 100 watt sub-woofer behind the passenger seat, which greatly improves the quality of music.

All Subaru's come with AWD. The Outback is great in inclement weather. Numerous times this winter, I was driving when very few others were out in the snow. I have been able to drive when even 4x4 vehicles get stuck because of Subaru's wonderful AWD system. The use of AWD also improves the handling of the car and helps out when the road is wet.

In terms of performance, there is no comparison between the XT and older Outbacks. My XT with a manual hits 60 mph in under 6 seconds. For a 3400 pound wagon this is quite an achievement. I have surprised quite a few unsuspecting BMW drivers. Of course, the 250 hp turbo engine helps out in this regard. Peak torque is around 3500 RPM but the turbo is already kicking in around 2000 RPM for a nice smooth power band all the way to around 5500 RPM.

The handling of the newer Outbacks is much better as well. The XT comes with 17" wheels and my older Outback had 15" wheels. The ride is a little harsher with the side walls of the 17" tires but the handling is much improved. I am thinking of going to an 18" wheel with 245/45/18 tires. This would improve the already impressive handling. The steering wheel on the new Outback has a smaller diameter and there are 2.8 turns in the steering for a tighter feel.

I opted for the base Outback XT. My car came with no options. The sticker price was just south of $29,000 (invoice of $26,580). By trading in my old Outback I was able to get the car for a price of $20,000. Subaru has a program where if you are a member of one of their partners (Mountain Biking, Kayaking, Skiing) you get the car for invoice price. This is what I did. The Limited version adds a very large sunroof, leather, and a power passenger seat. I did not feel that I needed these options and saved about $2700.

The Outback is a very practical car: It has nearly 70 cubic feet of cargo room behind the front seats (with the rear seats folded flat). The ground clearance is 8.7 inches, which is an inch more than that of the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. The roof rack can be easily removed, which will improve mileage by about 1 MPG. The 05 models are nearly 200 lbs lighter than the outgoing model due to use of lighter materials and better engineering.

One downside to having such a powerful car is the fuel economy. In my 5000+ miles of ownership I am averaging 20 MPG. The XT requires premium, which is currently at $2.35 where I live. My commute is only 4 miles so I only fill up twice a month. However, as gas prices continue to increase the difference between premium and regular decreases. For example, when premium was $1.00 and regular $.80 there was a difference of 20% and $.20. Now, premium is $2.35 and regular is $2.15 - a difference of less than 10% but still $.20. This is how I argue that the price for the added performance is worth it. In any given year, I will pay about $80 more for premium than regular - over a year this is not all that much.

Overall, I really love my car and am happy with it. There are very few things that I would change. I feel that for the price that you pay for this car there are few other cars that can compare in terms of performance, comfort and utility.