Due to a recent unfortunate event, my 1998 Dodge Durango is no longer with me and I was forced into another vehicle sooner than I had planned on. With limited time and finances, I settled on a 2009 Subaru Outback. While it was not my first choice, everything else I wanted was out of reach at the time. I have now had my “new to me” Subaru for about a month.
The following is my opinion and point of view on my specific Subaru. What I have to say does not apply to all Subaru’s but may be used as a general guide when considering buying one for yourself. I will let you know what I think about mine, the good, the bad, and the ugly. With that said, let’s dive in…
The bad and the ugly
Let us start with the bad and the ugly of my Outback. The ugly of it, simply put, is it is a station wagon. Be it an off-road capable station wagon, but a station wagon non the less. It is a far cry from the beefy V8 I had before, being only a little 2.5L 4 cylinder. Nor is it a selectable 4wd system, but it is AWD (All Wheel Drive) system so you can’t turn it off when you don’t need it.
The down side of my Outback that I have found is that the driver seat is just a hair tight for a larger person like myself. The seat itself is fine, but when I am driving, my legs like to splay out a bit which causes my right leg and knee to press against the parking brake. This makes for a very uncomfortable ride after a while.
Even with it’s repuation for bad weather proformance, I have found myself slipping a sliding with light to moderate snow fall. However, I attribute that to the tires that were put on mine before I bought it. The tires were marketed as “All Season” tires, however, I find them to be barely more than 3 season road tires.
I am not sure if this would count as being a bad thing or not, but I find it to be useless and confusing, so its a negative for me. On the steering column is a rocker switch that I would typically accociate to be for the emergency flashers, but that button is on the center console next to the radio. This switch allows you to turn on all your marker lights without turning on your headlights, even when the car is turned off and the key is out of the ignition. For the life of me, I can not possibly think of any situation in which I would find a need for that function.
The next thing I have found that I do not like about my Subaru is the “severe weather package” it came with. The floor mats and cargo liner are a thick rubber designed to allow plenty of room for salt, snow, water, dirt, mud, etc to drob from your shoes without tracking it all back into a building or your house while allowing your the oportunity contain that dirt and hose off the floor mat. While this is normally a good thing, the downside I have found is that the almost as soon as my foot hits the mat, it is instantly hitting the fire wall because there is absolutly zero friction to allow me to gently sit my arse down in the seat. It causes me to fall into the drivers seat every time if I forget place my foot closer to the firewall before I shift my weight to that foot while using a gorilla grip on the roof to allow myself to gently sit down.
So what’s so good about the outback?
What’s the good side of owning a Subaru Outback you may be asking by now? Well for one, the gas milage is phanominal compared to what I was getting in the Durango. Another is there is plenty of room for 4 adults to sit comfortably while still leaving pleanty of cargo room. The afore mentioned gas milage is thanks to the 2.5L 4 cylinder which I will talk about in a little more detail later.
My particular Outback is the the Limited model which comes with a huge sun/moon roof, all leather interior, dual power seats up front, and both front seats are heated. With the upgraded premium stereo system, it has plenty of thump to hit those low bass notes of your favorite songs. While I am not fond that the stereo and HVAC controls are integrated into a single unit, I have found a way to work around it using the AUX port in the center console and a bluetooth reciever to connect my phone and stream my music. However this does not work for utilizing a handsfree call through the stereo, you will still need to put it on speaker phone or use a headset to make a call.
One feature that surprised me that I do very much like is this cool little thing it does with the headlights. I like to run with my headlights on all the time and some times forget to turn them off. While the Subaru is equipted with daytime running lights, it also will turn your headlights and marker lights off if you leave them on when you turn the car off and take the key out of the ignition. Then when you start it, it turns them all back on automatically. This is a feature I have not run into with other makes and models of vehicles I have owned or known, and I absolutly love having it.
The 2.5L 4 cylinder engine is quite different from what I have been used to over the years. This engine is the Boxer or Flat style. This means that instead of the pistons moving either straigt up and down or in a “V” configuration, they lay flat pushing out to the sides, moving towards the tires.
This is the same style engine that is said to be in Porsches. With that it is suppose to be a more balanced engine with less vibration. The trade off is that most maintance items are a royal pain in the arse to work on since the engine is shorter but wider leaving little room against the fenders for someone with meaty hands to work.However because the engine is shorter and more stable, it has a much lower center of gravity which allows for better handling when driving especially taking bends or off road.
With 8.4 inches of ground clearance from the factory, it has plenty of off road proweless for someone looking for light to moderate trails and being able to get through those snowy days. However, that ground clearance means nothing if you’re not paired up with the right set of tires. And for that I will always recomend a good set of AT (All-Terain) tires to everyone if they are made in your tire size. Fortunately they do make a few AT options in my size, 225/55/R17. At the time of writing this, I am considering 2 different brands, NITTO or Falken. I have not fully decided on which yet, but I am leaning towards one more than the other, but more research still needs to be done first.
In any event, for Subaru in general, there is plenty of aftermarket support for modifications. While my search if focused on going off road and getting to remote locations, it is my understanding that even if your taste is more in line with “The Fast and The Furious,” there is still a plethera of tuner parts to chose from. This over aboundance of aftermarket support is a breath of fresh air compared to the complete lack of aftermarket support I found for my Durango. Yes, even the offroad station wagon of the Subaru line up still recieves the same love in the aftermarket as the ever so popular WRX or STI Subaru models.
What’s my plan?
The future of my Subaru Outback, Little Foot as I have named him, is uncertian at this time. For now, I am going to do a couple of minor upgrades and modifications, but nothing too crazy or wild just yet. As mentioned, I am eyeing up a set of AT tires to put on him keeping to the stock size for now. I would like to put in a 2 inch lift kit, swing away tire carrier, and either an offroad bumper or brush bar to add light pods to, to round off the “rally” look I am going for. Because of the demands of living in the Northeast, a protective undercoating, skid plates, and a remote starter are high on the list as well.
I am hoping to have the car paid off from the bank by the time my youngest turns 16 and look to give him the car to use while I move on to my next project. If he decides he doesn’t want the Subaru, then we will see where the path leads. I have already cooked up some crazy ideas on what I can do with it and how I might further modify it.
The following links may not be to the EXACT gear pictured, however, will be to what I could find comparable to what I have and use. Some are a generalized search so you can pick exactly what you want or give you an idea what might be found at that retail store if it applies.
Links
Remember, If I can do it, You can do it too!!!
The Wandering Leatherneck 