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| 1999 Subaru Outback Review, Steve, From Western Australia
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Subaru Outback
| | Model of the car: | Subaru Outback | | | General comments: | The best car type 4WD at the moment, I would recommend this vehicle to anyone looking for comfortable, safe and reliable family vehicle - with a touch of panache and style. The car is good looking and is well suited to Australian road conditions where the constant 4WD system is an added bonus on dirt roads, snow, sand and slippery situations.In Australia, Subaru 4WD's enjoy an enviable reputation for dependability, good build quality and honest motoring at a reasonable price. There are many stories in the Aussie bush where farmers and wilderness cattle station owners have driven their Subarus to 500,000 kms (312,500 miles) without any major problems. The boxer engine is inherently reliable (if a little noisy)and has good torque characteristics at low revs.I have owned a few Subaru 4WD's in my time and they have never let me down.A family member had one from new up to 247,000 kms and he never had any problems. In that time one CV joint, the exhaust and brake pads were replaced and no other maintenance other than regular servicing. When he sold the car engine compression was still within spec., the car still had the original clutch and virtually no rust...you can't ask for much more than that!These vehicles are very capable off-road. Traction in sand is superb with the combination of an excellent load distributing 4WD system, a relatively light body and good power to weight ratio helping the situation. I am a keen fisherman and have taken Subarus into very wild places where only big 4WD's go, without too much trouble. One word of warning though, the television advertisement of Outbacks being thrown around the dirt with 'gay abandon' is a bit misleading. Although underbody ground clearance is good at 205mm, the car does have a very similar approach angle to a normal sedan...so be careful off-road not to crunch the front end. My solution to this will be to replace the front bumper with a nicely styled bull bar that has carefully designed approach angles and in addition put on an aftermarket lift kit to further raise the vehicle.The on-road manners of the Outback are superb and the car is an excellent country tourer with the cruise control and good power. The constant 4WD and added safety features always makes you feel safe in the vehicle. In fact, in Australia, government crash testing of several family vehicles has shown the Subaru Liberty | | | What things have gone wrong with the car: | Could do with a larger 3.0 litre 6 cylinder motor rather than the stnd 2.5 litre 4 cylinder (coming out soon). Very capable traction off-road but ability is limited by long overhangs front and rear which severely affects approach and departure angles. | | | Previous car: | Many other light and heavy 4WD's |
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