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Subaru Outback combines car-like and sport-utility features
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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Outback lives up to its rugged name: It can plow an uncharted track through the bush, sail over rocks and roots and streambeds, or navigate through snow like a veritable sled dog, taking you into that outback world where lesser vehicles dare not venture.
At the same time, Outback functions with all of the aplomb of a refined sedan, providing a cushy ride quality, comfortable seating for five and plenty of interior perks that border on the luxurious.
Then too it comes with a station wagon's generous interior proportions, leaving a cargo bay behind the second tier of seats so you can haul a load of gear in addition to all of the family's members.
So it's a car, station wagon and sure-footed all-wheel-drive sport-utility -- three vehicles encased in one sturdy compact package with mid-size interior measurements.
And it comes from Japan's Subaru, recognized as world leader in traction technology.
Subaru, it seems, produces more all-wheel-drive vehicles than the other automakers combined. Currently, AWD models account for 70 percent of Subaru sales.
With Outback's AWD system a driver develops more confidence in driving through any road condition -- dry, wet, frozen or graveled -- because Subaru's smart wheels transfer power automatically from the wheels that slip to the ones that can grip.
Outback, available with choice of two horizontally-opposed 4-cylinder engines, spins off of the Legacy flagship sedan and wagon. It's essentially the Legacy wagon beefed up with more rugged body work and bigger tires, a raised roofline to create more interior room, and with suspension elevated to provide a 7.3-inch ground clearance -- which is more than the best-selling sport-ute can muster.
Outback acts like a station wagon on steroids.
It first appeared in my consciousness a year ago as a prototype awaiting winter tests at the Keweenaw Research Center, a cold-weather vehicle testing facility perched on the Keweenaw peninsula, which protrudes like a crooked finger into frigid waters of Lake Superior.
Across this frozen landscape, temperatures can reach 30 degrees below zero and annual snowfalls climb to 200 inches, which sets the KRC ideally to test vehicle performance and traction over slippery winter surfaces.
Yet the slick frozen stuff piled on the Keweenaw failed to daunt Outback, which stuck to icy ruts of an off-road route like a cat clawing through sand.
While Outback's interior perks for comfort and its cushy ride quality certainly impressed me, ultimately what it provided was confidence to navigate on road surfaces in anything less than ideal conditions. It brings assurances that you'll stick to the surface of the road, whether slick with water, mud or snow, so long as you drive prudently.
Also, I found driving Outback with its 4-wheel-drive system permanently engaged requires less elbow effort because you don't have to wrestle with the steering wheel to maintain forward progress: It doesn't exhaust you.
Almost a year past and I switched to a far warmer latitude before spending a week in a 1996 production Outback used for mundane daily chores.
In all, that week became a pleasant period because this is one wagon that doesn't feel like one when steering, maneuvering and parking. Except when I peeked in the rearview mirror to see a reflection of Outback's cargo bay, I felt like I was driving a comfy sedan around town.
Then when I steered Outback away from blacktop pavement, traversing rough and rutted forest trails and fording wet and rocky creeks, it behaved like a backwoods warrior, carrying me where I wanted to go with traction confidence -- but also with all of those car-like comforts still attached.
And that's Outback's special niche: It emulates a truck-based sport-utility in off-road maneuvers but drives more easily, like a conventional car.
To create Outback, which is built with other Legacy models at Subaru's joint-venture plant in Indiana, Legacy's wagon gets its suspension and roof raised, the AWD system installed, plus trim elements applied.
The suspension, fully independent for all four wheels, rises 1.2-inches higher than other Legacy models, then receives special components engineered to improve handling and stability when traveling off-road.
Outback's 7.3-inch ground clearance enables it to pass over obstacles like rocks and roots and ruts which a typical car could not clear.
Standard mechanical features include a speed-sensitive variable power rack and pinion steering system, and 4-wheel disc brakes linked to a 4-channel computer-controlled anti-lock device.
The engine, mounted longitudinally, employs equal-length drive shafts to negate potential torque steer for front wheels in the 4-wheel-drive system.
Engine choices begin with the base single-cam 2.2-liter 4-in-line, which produces 135 horsepower and ties to a 5-speed manual transmission.
The optional dual-cam 2.5-liter four hits 155 hp and provides an auto 4-speed.
While the base plant seems adequate, the newer optional engine, which lists for $1,000, is more sophisticated in design and performance, and it's quieter at all speed ranges while adding confidence when passing slower vehicles.
Outback's AWD system never needs attention from the driver because it's always engaged -- so it's as easy to use as a conventional system.
The wagon also carries specific exterior elements, like bigger, beefy bumpers fore and aft, plus oversized halogen foglamps protected for off-road action by stone shields.
Outback's roofline rises two inches higher than the top of a typical Legacy wagon, up-sloping just behind the front windshield and A pillars. This height adjustment carves more headroom and increases cargo capacity but also adds to the visual statement a bulky, even macho, element.
A two-tone exterior paint scheme completes the look, but beneath its skin Outback uses additional structural elements in the frame to increase rigidity off-pavement.
Full safety features of a fine sedan include front and rear crumple zones, side door braces and dual airbags.
1996 SUBARU LEGACY OUTBACK
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| Vehicle Specifications: |
| 1996 SUBARU LEGACY OUTBACK Specs |
| Description: |
Mid-size AWD station wagon |
| Model Options: |
Mid-size AWD station wagon |
| Wheelbase: |
103.5 inches |
| Overall Length: |
183.9 inches
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| Engine Size: |
SOHC 2.2-L H4 16v
DOHC 2.5-L H4 16v
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| Transmission: |
Manual/5, Auto/4 |
| Drive: |
All-wheel-drive |
| Braking: |
Power 4-disc/ABS |
| Airbags: |
2 |
| Gas Mileage: |
2.2: 22/29 mpg
2.5: 20/26 mpg |
| Price: |
$ 22,000 to $ 26,000 |
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