As the Examiner Summer Road Trip series comes to an end with the coming of July it is time to touch upon the most classic of the summer road trip vehicles, and this one is arguably the most revered vehicle in the city of Portland.
The Summer Road Trip car that serves Portland and the Pacific Northwest the best in 2011 is the Subaru Outback 2.5 Premium.
The current incarnation of the Outback is a visually larger vehicle than her predecessor, and despite this the new model is still a sleek, good-looking design.
Made in Lafayette, Indiana, the handsome wagon has had a few changes made to it that may scare off the old ‘Scoobie’ buyers, while attracting first timers. It is taller, wider, and rides higher. And it looks it; despite a smartly placed black lower trim molding, which hides about six inches of lower body girth.
Other changes to the design include frames on the door windows, a built on roof rack that cleverly transforms its horizontal support bars for better aerodynamics, and folding side rearview mirrors, but these changes don’t change the DNA. This is still a Subaru, and like all of them in the Pacific Northwest, it too will refuse to die.
Inside the 2011 Outback the driver and passengers are given broader, more comfortable seats more attuned to larger occupants. The increased width of the body allows for less shoulder and elbow rubbing while providing greater hip room.
The dashboard of the Outback has a simple, yet efficient series of dials with a small economy dial on the left, a large tach and speedo in the middle and a small fuel gauge on the right. Miscellaneous warning lights and service indicators are hidden while un-lit, but are included on the background of the dash.
The Outback comes with a nicely padded, near perfectly sized steering wheel. The cruise and radio function controls are integrated into wheel in order to allow the driver to pay attention while underway. Turn signal indicator and wiper control stalks felt like they were large, but durable materials.
The brushed aluminum looking center stack contains single zone A/C controls down low, a storage space with a somewhat large door at midpoint and an AM/FM/CD/MP3 player up top. The design is functional and nicely laid out, even if it does look a bit like a broad faced ‘Transformer’ from a distance.
With the increased headroom and roomier back seats in the Outback, long haul passengers will find comfort easy to find. If a rear seat passenger were six foot, with size 14 shoes, he/she might consider the back seats quite accommodating. Include a rear seat back that reclines, like Subaru did, with that respectable amount of legroom and the torch of family truckster has almost surely been passed.
In the Outback 2.5i tested, the 2.5-liter boxer four churned out a respectable 170 HP with a matching 170 lb.-ft. of torque. Mated to the CVT transmission, the curiously ‘raspy-noise’-less 4 cylinder made it to 60 in the mid 8’s while making about 24-26 mpg on the highway. Which is pretty darned good for a vehicle of this size and versatility.
According to the sales force, the manual transmission is not as miserly as the CVT auto box, which either speaks poorly of the manual transmission driver, or the great abilities of the Constantly Variable Transmission. Subaru would suggest the latter.
It should be noted that the CVT does have floppy paddle shifters for slightly more control in case the driver runs into an “Andretti” moment where control has to be felt and displayed.
For greater power Subaru does have a more powerful 256 HP boxer 6 that produces 247 lbs.-ft. of torque for a more stirring off the line display of low 7s from 0 to 60, but the six cylinder only comes in 6 speed manual or 5 speed auto box transmissions, and the fuel economy shows it. The six cylinder gets about 3 to 4 miles less distance for every gallon of gas burnt.
While underway, the Outback is comfortable, easy to drive and near flawless. Responsive, if not nimble, the big Subaru does carry some sway in hard cornering, but it doesn’t bounce, roll heavily, or float like the Wagon Queen. The ones who will benefit the most from the new version are the passengers, who will have a much more comfortable ride over the long haul.
When all is said and done the summer of 2011 in Portland has come on very slowly. As we approach July we can see that summer has arrived at last. If you are in the market for a vehicle that can act as the family truckster for your own Summer Road Trip, the 2011 Subaru Outback 2.5 Premium should be high on the list.
If you have questions about the 2011 Subaru Outback 2.5 Premium, or any Subaru product, please feel free to call Gary Wilson (gwilson@gs.reyrey.com) at Wentworth Subaru, 503-804-7585.
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