![]() ![]() I didn’t like it on the XC70 and Outbacks in 1998, and I still don’t like it now. Same as the Volvo V90 Cross Country, they take a clean design, then add all the fake-SUV stuff on the outside. I think one of the reasons I was drawn to that black over beige Outback in the showroom is that it camouflaged the approximately 42 pounds of matte black plastic ‘outdoorsy’ rickrack on the exterior. They used to be the offbeat, weird choice from the 1970s to the 1990s, with four-wheel drive cars decades before the dreaded word ‘crossover’ was thought up, let alone uttered, the BRAT pickup, the XT coupes in the ’80s, and the cool yet doomed SVX, which last appeared in showrooms in 1997.īut going more mainstream seems to have worked out for Subaru, because I see a lot more on the road than I used to. They have been going more mainstream over the past fifteen years, though. ![]() Their cars just seem to be well thought out and engineered. Primarily Toyota, as their styling for the past decade seems to be ‘willfully ugly.’ But I’ve always had a grudging respect for Subaru. Now, for regular readers here at RG, you know I’m more partial to American lux cars, and am not particularly rah-rah about Japanese cars. As I parked the Cartier at McLaughlin, there it was right out front, looking neat and tidy. As per usual, he went above and beyond, not only arranging a car for me to try, but also topping it off with fuel and running it through the car wash. He sold me my first Town Car, and unlike many sales people, he knows the cars through and through. No Bat Cave interior, with loophole windows, this! I thought perhaps it would be a good candidate for a test drive for Riverside Green.Īnd so over this past weekend I emailed Brian Cox at the dealership and relayed my interest. It was especially nice with the light beige leather, and wood trim. The beige leather was pleasing, and the wood trim on the doors and dash were attractive. I hadn’t really paid much attention to these wagons, although I noted their regular presence in traffic. Imagine that.Ībout a month ago I was wandering around the showroom at McLaughlin Cadillac-Subaru-Volvo when I leaned in the open window of a black Outback Limited. And although Subaru has joined the CVT transmission party, both powerplants are-GASP!-normally aspirated. In today’s fractured market, with crossovers and teeny 2.0L turbocharged Singer sewing machines powering a vast majority of new cars, the Subaru comes with boxer four- or six cylinder engines. Just be aware that its rivals are fancier inside, more responsive to drive on the road, and generally cheaper when it comes to monthly finance costs.Imagine, in 2018, that there is a station wagon that sells. VERDICT While the 2018 updates don’t change the Outback dramatically, they do add extra appeal to what remains a solid long-term ownership proposition for those able to make use of its all-weather credentials. ![]() TESTED 2,498cc four-cylinder ‘boxer’ petrol engine, Lineartronic CVT automatic gearbox, symmetrical all-wheel drive However, as a long term ownership proposition (as a lot of Subarus are) rather than something you plan to chop and change every couple of years, there is a lot to be said for this particular member of the increasingly varied crossover club. Externally these consist of a new grille, bumpers, wing mirrors and headlights, the latter now swivelling as you turn the steering wheel to aid visibility. To bring that tale fully up to date, earlier this year Subaru rolled out a range of small changes for the Outback in a bid to keep things fresh. Back then it was an extension of the Subaru Legacy range, but in 2014 the Legacy named was dropped (outside of Japan at least), leaving the car you see here as the flagship model in Subaru’s range. For it was in 1994, three years before Volvo launched the XC70 as its first jacked-up estate, that the first Outback went on sale. In that sense the Outback is of the same pedigree as a Volvo Cross Country, Audi Allroad, Skoda Scout or Volkswagen Allroad, albeit with more history on its side. The Qashqai and its ilk are crossovers because they combine SUV styling with hatchback running costs the BMW X6 is a crossover because it’s the size of an SUV but has the styling (ahem) of a coupé and the Subaru Outback is a crossover because it marries SUV capability with estate car aesthetics and space. ![]() While the definition of what constitutes a crossover in automotive terms varies depending on who you are talking to, one commonality is that they all involve an SUV of some description. ![]()
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