A year in Review. Well, 55 weeks, exactly. I acquired Rachel Murray, Jewbaru at Medium, order of the Nerdwagen 1st Class, on March 7, 2013.
It's been an interesting ride. There are good things, bad things, things that bug me, terrible things, and truly amazing things about this car.
The good: the turbo 4 sounds so much better than the naturally aspirated mill, especially when the throttle map is on Sport sharp. (It's a WRX motor, for crying out loud) There's that slight hiss that lets you know there's a snail under the hood, something I haven't heard, and have missed, since I had my Saab. Switching the car to sport sharp turns it into a whole different beast. It has higher ground clearance than the legacy, so it is easy to access. Another good thing: the transmission. It's not the 4EAT that Moses carried down Sinai, (Baruch Hashem) but it isn't that much better. 5th gear on the 5EAT is 500 RPM lower than 4th on a 4EAT at 70mph. But the fuel economy still sucks. The car actually has hooks to which one can attach bungee cords. My toolbox (a wide 5.56 ammo can) is actually held perfectly against the side of the cargo area. None of my six previous cars, (especially not the Mercedes wagon) can claim this. The back end has hidey holes almost everywhere. The hood scoop is a total boon, but a curse at the same time. When the roads are clear of snow but salted to the point where the lines cannot be seen, the hood scoop guides the way. I've been teaching my 14 year old niece how to drive, and the scoop makes finding the center of the road easy for her. For a while, she wanted a car just like mine.
The Bad: The car is 3700 pounds. The fuel economy is abysmal. I change air filters regularly, but my average is 19.5 miles per gallon. I don't romp on it much, unless some two-bit ricer wants to get his doors blown off. The acceleration is sub-par at best, even with sport sharp turned on. 7 seconds to 60. Then again, part of the problem could be the 5EAT automatic transmission. It takes a second to figure out what its purpose in life is.
What bugs me: On a 4th gen legacy, it takes two pulls of the sunroof switch to fully close the sunroof. On a 4th gen outback, it takes three. This has always baffled me. Also, the wiper heater switch is right next to traction control - out of sight. Occasionally, I hit the wrong one. Subaru wasn't thinking very hard when they made this wagon. The back seats fold at a slight angle instead of flat, and there's a hump to get over, as they carried the "leather" over the top and to the back and put a hump on it for some stupid reason. It makes loading the car somewhat frustrating. I can't fit a fullsize spare in the spare tire well. The donut they give is useless, FYI. The battery tiedown was engineered by an idiot. Japanese companies were once the grand masters at fake wood trim. But how fake it is on this car is comical.
Every two bit ricer or grown-up ex street racer wants to take me. Why they want to race a beige station wagon I will never know. I don't know if it's the hood scoop or the XT on the back, but I've had many, many cars try and race. The egregiously ricerrific get stomped. By a beige station wagon. They will have to live with that shame for the rest of their lives. One moron in a 240 SX with stock hubcaps and a fart cannon tried repeatedly. I even gave him two lengths on the highway. Even the car was upset with this fool. She let out the growl of that WRX heart she takes so much effort to hide.
The terrible: It seems as though Subaru doesn't know how to make a windshield. This is my third 4th gen legacy/outback, and the other two never had the windshield crack in a Kansas city Winter. I've got two
gigantic cracks - my other scoobies saw much, much nastier winters. Also, in their infinite wisdom (or idiocy) Subaru made the liftgate panel out of plastic. I was in a tight parking spot, and the maintenance people for where I was had not trimmed the branches sticking out. Now there's a huge hole in the back of my car. The front end is assembled in such away that it makes my old habit of bombing snow banks a terrible idea, as the fender moulding will pop out and force the front bumper out with it. I've gotten it mostly fixed but it still doesn't look right. Doesn't happen on legacies, as there is no fender moulding.
The truly amazing: I mentioned ground clearance before. This car is much higher off the ground than a legacy. It damn well better be. It's an excellent "soft-roader", and an unstoppable frost giant in the snow. Of the cars I had before my first Legacy, the W124 Mercedes was by far the best. (No really. I drove that RWD Benz in Fargo on hardpack for half the year. It was marvelous) Then the Legacy was 1000 times better. With more ground clearance, the Outback is several orders of magnitude better than the Legacy. large amounts of snow make the entire year's worth of car payments worth every penny. The only thing I have to fear is other drivers - and I just scoot right by them. Then there's the sheer comfort I feel at the wheel of this car. It's my third 4th gen legacy/outback. I know it inside and out. I know where everything is. I know that even the non harmon/kardon speakers are damned good. Moreover, it's a combination of my two favorite cars that I've owned. I get the utility of the Benz wagon minus 13 cubic feet, and the security of symmetrical all wheel drive with modern touches. I don't need satnav or flappy paddles or voice activation or infotainment. I don't want want these things either.
But at the end of the day, all that matters is that I can honestly say the following when someone asks "What's your dream car?" My reply: "The one in my driveway, as it is right now." Aside from the 1960 Chevy Biscayne that exploded, it's the most powerful car I've had.
Damn I love this car.