2005 Subaru Outback 2.5 Xt Limited on 2040-cars

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2020 Subaru Outback First Drive Review | The big payoff

NEWPORT, Calif. — The 2020 Subaru Outback marks the sixth generation of a vehicle, first introduced for 1994, that is in no small part the lynchpin to its companyÂ’s current success. The Outback's sales have increased in every generation, with more than 700,000 sold in the most recent generation that started with the 2015 model year. Subaru doesnÂ’t expect things to slow down as it introduces the all-new 2020 Outback, which has undergone a major overhaul despite its familiar sheetmetal. The Outback has moved to the Subaru Global Platform (SGP), joining the Impreza and Forester on lighter, stiffer, and stronger underpinnings. If the 2019 Forester is any indication of how the SGP can improve a vehicle, this would mean the new Outback will also be calmer, quieter and more refined. Staging from the Inn at Newport Ranch on Northern CaliforniaÂ’s “Lost Coast,” with a day full of driving both on- and off-road, we were about to find out for ourselves if this would live up to our expectations. Our first driving stint was in an Outback Touring equipped with the lesser of two available engines. The naturally aspirated 2.5-liter boxer-four, with 182 horsepower and 176 pound-feet of torque, feels perfectly adequate for the driving we did at or near sea level, and climbs competently on steep grades. While it didnÂ’t perform passing maneuvers with a sense of urgency, we still felt comfortable overtaking slower vehicles when we had to. For daily driving somewhere like the California coast, or the suburbs of the Detroit, the more economical 2.5 (26 mpg city, 33 highway, 29 combined) would be our choice to live with. This is mated to a CVT, one programmed to “shift” like a traditional automatic, staying out of its own way, and providing a nice linear pull — without a rubber band type of feel — when you need to climb a hill. Paddle shifters on the back of the wheel give you a sense of more control, if thatÂ’s something you need. We rarely used them. If you live at higher elevations, need to tow up to 3,500 pounds, or just really miss the days of a turbocharged Outback, thereÂ’s now a 2.4-liter turbo-four available in the resurrected XT models. You sacrifice some fuel economy — 3 mpg across the board, 23/30/26 mpg — but get a significant power boost, with hardly any turbo lag and satisfying response. WeÂ’re certain customers whoÂ’ve graduated from the likes of a WRX to something that can better accommodate kids and dogs will appreciate the boost.

Sportier Subaru Forester gets 175-hp turbo four, suspension tweaks in Japan

Subaru has finally put a turbocharged flat-four under the hood of the fifth-generation Forester. Called Sport, the model is exclusively available in its home country of Japan — for the time being, at least. Power for the Sport model comes from a 1.8-liter flat-four that's turbocharged and direct-injected to deliver 175 horsepower from 5,200 to 5,600 rpm and 221 pound-feet of torque between 1,600 and 3,600 rpm. Also found in the Levorg station wagon, it's no match for the last-generation XT engine, whose horsepower and torque outputs checked in at 250 and 258, respectively. Compared to the naturally-aspirated 2.5-liter the Forester is currently offered with, however, it offers about the same amount of horsepower and 44 additional pound-feet of torque. It should make Subaru's hot-selling crossover markedly peppier in a variety of driving conditions. It sounds like the days of the stick-shifted Forester are gone for good, because even the Sport-badged member of the range is only available with a continuously variable transmission (CVT). It does benefit from a handful of suspension tweaks that come together to deliver sportier handling, according to Subaru. Symmetrical all-wheel drive comes standard. Gold wheels, a hood scoop, and an oversized spoiler? Not here. Sport models stand out from the other variants with a black grille and darker wheels, among other subtle styling revisions. Inside, Subaru added a blend of suede and leather upholstery, plus a camera-based driver monitoring system that recognizes the person sitting behind the wheel and adjusts a variety of parameters (like the position of the seat and the mirrors) accordingly. On sale now in Japan, the Subaru Forester Sport carries a base price of 2,990,000 yen, a sum which converts to approximately $28,500. It might also be available in other global markets, like Australia, but it's too early to tell if we'll see it in American showrooms. Subaru told us it can't discuss future products, which isn't a confirmation or a denial. It's worth pointing out that, even if the Forester Sport ends up not being sold here, the 1.8-liter turbo four that powers it could find its way to our shores under the hood of another model. Use your imagination in the comments below. And stay tuned.  

Subaru turns a WRX STI into a bobsled and (barely) makes it work

When asked how confident he felt of a successful full run down the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun in his specially prepared Subaru WRX STI, professional rally and stunt driver Mark Higgins responded, "50/50." In reality, he was probably being generous. It wasn't supposed to be so death-defying. In fact, Subaru's original plan was to have Higgins make several runs down the icy slope, some with journalists in the passenger seat. We were among those who traveled all the way to Switzerland for the chance to experience an automotive bobsled ride. One look at the run's famous Horseshoe Corner was all it took for us to second-guess that idea. Well, that and our pesky sense of self preservation. Higgins, though, is one of those rare humans to have been born without that fear-of-death gene. Not only is the Manx driver a professional stuntman – his resume includes sequences for Daniel Craig's James Bond – he also won the British Rally Championship three times and is the four-wheeled record holder at the famed Isle of Man Snaefell Mountain Course. So, when Higgins says some sort of vehicular stunt has only half a chance at success, well, let's just say that most mortals would say something more akin to "a snowball's chance in hell." On the topic of snow and balls, it's worth noting that the timing of Subaru's bobsled run wasn't set by choice. The Olympic Bobrun hosts regular events every winter through late February or early March. Since the track at St. Moritz is the only run in the world without an artificial cooling system, warm weather means no sledding. Combine those two facts and you end up with a very narrow window in which Subaru could go about making the modified track and a WRX STI actually fit together. Enter the boffins at Prodrive. The British engineering firm first started modifying vehicles for racing in 1984. By 1990, Prodrive was focused on turning turbocharged Imprezas into championship winners for the likes of Colin McRae, Richard Burns, and Petter Solberg. So it comes as little surprise that Subaru turned back to Prodrive to figure out how to modify a 2015 WRX STI in a way that would make it survive the pounding it would sustain on a bob run. For the record, this isn't just any 2015 WRX STI. It's actually the same car Higgins used in 2014 to set a lap record at the Isle of Man.