Test drive: 2005 Subaru Outback XT

Two weeks ago, a friend called and asked me to recommend a sporty family car. I suggested the Nissan Altima. After a week with the Outback, I called him back and told him to stop by a Subaru dealership. Newly redesigned for 2005, the Outback is one of the most capable cars on the road, especially when the weather turns nasty. Off-road, it has the moxy to embarrass most big, brawny SUVs. Quite a package! $24,870 for starters, $31,370 as tested, 3 yr/36,000 mi warranty, 5 yr/60,000 mi powertrain.

Though many credit the original Subaru Outback with creating the car/SUV "crossover", few automakers have taken the Outback's station-wagon-on-steroids approach, opting instead to build vehicles that look like SUVs but use road-car mechanicals (and, therefore, have road-car abilities). Not Subaru. The Outback makes no attempt to hide its wagon heritage, yet underneath you'll find machinery that makes many 4x4 SUVs hang their cylinder heads in shame. The Outback is a serious off-roader. I don't mean grassy hills or shallow streams--I'm talking serious mud-soaked, dirt-trail, abandon-hope-all-ye-who-enter off-roading. How can that be? Look underneath your average truck-based 4x4 SUV. You'll see lots of bits and bobs hanging down, particularly between the axles. Now look under the Outback. What do you see? Most of the pieces that make it go are tucked securely under the Outback's skirts, so there's less worry of snagging something expensive. The Outback may not be able to rock-crawl with the Land Rovers, but it can hold its own with your average Ford pickup or Chevy Tahoe, and its light weight means it'll outshine them in mud, snow and sand. On the road, the Outback can run with the best sports sedans, leaving the SUVs in the dust.

With prices ranging from under $24,000 for the 2.5i to almost $35,000 for the 3.0R VDC, the Outback's interior appointments don't seem to measure up to others in this price class. It's important to remember that you're paying machinery, not accommodations. All Outbacks (in fact, all Subarus) have all-wheel-drive (engine power is delivered to all four wheels), making them vastly superior to front- and rear-wheel-drive cars in rain and snow. The mid-level XT I tested gets a turbocharger, boosting the four-cylinder engine's power into the stratosphere. The VDC offers six cylinders and a computerized traction control system that deftly balances power delivery to all four wheels, lessening the already-slim chances that the Outback will get stuck. When you consider all that, the Outback's prices are really quite reasonable. My tester featured niceties like heated seats and a sunroof large enough to lower a refrigerator through. I could do without the dual-zone climate control, though; there's no way to adjust the driver and passenger's temperature together, so if you're alone in the car you have to twist two dials. And the Outback's interior rattled a bit more than most Japanese cars.

One of the biggest complaints about the previous Outback was the lack of power from its four-cylinder engine. Subaru answered with a six-cylinder version, which had more power but cost too much. So when the Outback was redesigned for 2005, Subaru added a turbocharged version. Problem solved--big-time! The turbocharged Outback XT is seriously quick. Typical of turbocharged cars, the engine doesn't really start to cook until the tachometer passes 3,500 RPM, and then the Outback takes off like a deer on amphetamines. I found the combination of the turbocharger and 5-speed manual transmission to be especially handy on the freeway; I had plenty of instant passing and hill-climbing power available without having to downshift from 5th! I've alluded to the Outback's off-road abilities. The Outback is just as capable on-road, thanks to the all-wheel-drive system, taught suspension and low center of gravity. How can a car be so good both on-road and off? Thank Subaru's experience with rallying, a motorsport that involves driving hell-for-leather on all sorts of road surfaces, from gravel to pavement to snow. (Rallying is more popular in Europe, but it occasionally pops up on North American TV. Catch it if you can, it's amazing to watch.)

I've always liked the Outback, and I like the new version even more. While it's certainly smaller than most SUVs, it offers similar interior room to many, and what it gives up in cargo space it makes up in ease of loading, entry and exit. No SUV can hold a candle to the Outback when it comes to safety; the Subaru is far better equipped to avoid accidents and well outfitted to survive them, thanks to standard antilock brakes and side airbags. Only the smallest SUVs can match the fuel economy I observed in the Outback: 18 in town and 27 on the highway, not bad considering how much I enjoyed flooring the accelerator and feeling the rush of the turbocharger. About all that's missing is a satellite navigation system, and I'll bet dollars to donuts that Subaru will add one to the Outback before long. The six-cylinder models (3.0R VDC and L.L. Bean) are still too expensive, but the 2.5i is a good value and the XT offers extra smiles for people who love to drive. If you don't plan to do any mud-plugging, check out the Subaru Legacy wagon, the car on which the Outback is based. It's a little less expensive, a little closer to the ground, and every bit as safe and enjoyable. Well done, Subaru. Very, very well done.