07:34AM - 22.10.'14
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News Source: autoblog.com
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Realistically, many enthusiasts give horrible, horrible car buying advice. They will recommend something bizarre, inappropriately high performance, compromised or utterly impractical for a given consumer's needs, and they'll almost never recommend something that makes sense. And then they'll come up with 3.7 million reasons why the leading vehicle someone is thinking about is a bad choice. Or maybe that's just what I do. Regardless, if you poke, prod, bother or just get us drunk enough, eventually you'll begin getting honest feedback. And more than likely, we'll tell you, in hushed tones, about the many virtues of very, very boring cars. We'll talk about why the Toyota Camry is actually a pretty decent purchase or we'll explain how spacious and feature laden the Nissan Versa is. The reason for withholding recommendations of bland offerings like the aforementioned Toyota and Nissan is that there are not really a lot of vehicles that suit the often peculiar whims of the auto enthusiast while also ticking the boxes of the average consumer. Unless, of course, you're looking to drop about $30,000 on an all-wheel-drive crossover, because that's an easy one to answer – just buy a Subaru Outback. As a high-riding, sedan-based crossover, it'll appeal to your mundane, practical-minded sensibilities, while as a nouveau wagon with a boxer engine and some personality, enthusiasts won't feel guilty about recommending it to you. I came to this conclusion following a long week with a 2015 Outback Premium 2.5i, the brand's mid-range, volume-level entry. Prompted by the redesign of the Legacy sedan on which it's based, the 2015 Outback, while not a standout looker, is nevertheless a pretty clean piece of styling. The black plastic accents, added to give some indication of the Outback's above-average offroad ability, are tastefully executed, while its clean grille and attractive headlights and taillights keep the design from being too shouty. And even if it is too visually loud for your tastes, Subaru offers the muted but classy beige-on-beige theme you see above, too. It's a similar story in the cabin, where Subaru has delivered a clean, eye-pleasing treatment with totally acceptable material quality. A solid-feeling strip of textured faux aluminum complements the soft-touch plastics on the upper dash, while the only really hard plastics are on the lower portion of the center stack. Considering that's kind of a high-use area, as it's home to the cupholders and change tray, it's acceptable. Functionally, the cloth seats of this tester are quite comfortable both in terms of overall support and cushioning. The upholstery, meanwhile, is soft and grippy, and at least in my mind, it isn't really a downgrade from the leather trim of the upmarket Outback Limited. There is leather, here, on the thickly padded armrest, a small feature that does wonders on a long trip. Visibility is excellent throughout thanks to the higher seating position. Part of the appeal of the Outback is that it offers near-fullsize space for a midsize price. With 108.1 cubic feet of passenger volume (104.5 if, like my tester, your Outback features the optional sunroof), the Subaru easily bests similarly priced vehicles like the Ford Escape, Chevrolet Equinox and Toyota RAV4 (98.1, 99.7 and 101.9 cubic feet, respectively). The result of that extra space is a roomy backseat, which tops both the Escape and RAV4 in terms of legroom and beats all three competitors in shoulder room. All in all, that second row is no penalty box. Of course, Subaru's smaller Forester more directly competes with the aforementioned crossovers in terms of size, but the bang-for-the-buck factor is strong here in the Outback – the Japanese automaker puts it in a class with more expensive vehicles like the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano and Hyundai Santa Fe Sport. What about behind the back seat? Well, the Outback is pretty well set up in that regard, too, offering up 35.5 cubic feet of cargo space – more than the Equinox or Escape – with a max cargo volume of 73.3 cubic feet. It's easy to access that space, too, thanks a wide hatch opening that's power operated on mid and upper-level models like my Premium tester. The marquee feature on my volume-level tester is Subaru's latest EyeSight system, which includes such upmarket features as adaptive cruise control as well as safety items like pre-collision braking, lane departure warning and blind-spot monitoring with cross-traffic alert. |
