![]() Our Outback came as well-equipped as you can get, but the navigation system is still only DVD-based, and lacks advanced features such as traffic. There is no differential lock, so you have to trust that the all-wheel-drive system knows what it is doing.Īs we saw in the Impreza WRX, Subaru is playing catch-up with its cabin tech, but it hasn't yet come even with the competition. The Outback defaults to a 55/45 rear/front torque split, with that ratio changing depending on which set of wheels needs torque the most. All-wheel drive is, of course, standard on the Outback, and this model uses what Subaru calls variable torque distribution, a fancy phrase for an active electro-hydraulic center differential. The soft tuning may be a byproduct of the car's suspension travel, useful for traversing the kinds of areas from which the Outback gets its name. During a drive over hilly highways, in one uneven turn the car got thrown around so much that we could feel the vehicle stability control step in, noticeably braking one wheel to slow body movement down. During city driving, that soft tuning led to a nice ride over rough pavement, but pushing a bit hard in the turns we noticed quite a bit of body roll. One quirk of the Outback that became immediately apparent was that the suspension is tuned for softness. For serious and slippery hills, the car also had descent control. ![]() No sports car, this manual mode worked for us during a long descent, where we put it in second to save the brakes. The transmission comes with a manual mode, plus paddle shifters in our Limited trim vehicle. The best fuel economy in an Outback comes with the four-cylinder engine and CVT, with an EPA rated 22 mpg city and 29 mpg highway. Typically for us, we came in somewhat low in that range, at 19.5 mpg. The 3.6-liter engine uses variable-valve timing, but no direct injection, to help it get an EPA-rated 18 mpg city and 25 mpg highway. By comparison, the four-cylinder Outback produces 170 horsepower and 170 pound-feet of torque, making the six-cylinder the better choice for passing on two-lane highways. In fact, it led to slightly lurching starts when we didn't modulate the gas pedal. The car's 3.6-liter six-cylinder engine, laid out boxer style, generates 256 horsepower and 247 pound-feet of torque, which is more than enough power to get the Outback moving quickly. ![]() The electronic parking brake allows hill start assistance, a handy feature to prevent roll back even with the automatic. We were never sure whether to push or pull the parking brake button, which sits on the lower left end of the dashboard, but using it repeatedly should reinforce how it operates in the minds of owners. This generation of Outback also uses an electronic parking brake, another modern, techie touch.
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