While on vacation had to take my van into the shop for repairs, the dealer gave me a 2020 Subaru Outback 2.5i premium with 4K miles as a loaner. Have had it for about a week now and put a couple hundred miles on it so far. Not sure of exact trim level but seems to me it has most every option except leather seats. These are my thoughts:
Engine performance from the 2.5L exceeded my expectations. It’s no rocket ship— there’s no mistaking that there’s a N/A four banger under the hood, but it’s rather smooth and capable in all driving conditions. It lacks the low end grunt you might find in a larger engine, but once the CVT gets it in the powerband (around 3k or higher) it really gets around for the type of vehicle and never feels strained. There’s a hint of 4-cylinder coarseness but it wouldn’t turn me off from buying one. Engine has a nice growl / throatiness to it when you get on it, but it still stays reasonably smooth.
The CVT works beautifully, but I dislike the artificial shift points especially at higher RPM and full throttle. I think they could tone that down a bit and create a smoother driving experience. I don’t notice it as much in regular driving.
Throttle tip-in is way too aggressive. We’re staying at an RV park that has a 5mph speed limit and it’s impossible to cruise around at 5-10mph without the car lurching forward at every tiny throttle application.
The car handles well and has great brakes, stopping power is excellent. Steering is responsive but the feel is a bit numb. The lane keep assist crap made for a couple scary moments at 75mph highway speeds when I didn’t realize why the wheel would move itself slightly. Once I figured out what it was doing it was predictable and didn’t really bother me. You can turn it onto fully assist and the car will basically drive itself so long as you have clear lane markers on each side.
Interior fit and finish seem just fine, good materials used throughout though I spotted cheap feeling plastic in a few places like around the door handles. I think the huge vertical touchscreen is awful from a ease-of-use perspective, I had to completely take my eyes off the road to make adjustments to HVAC and stereo, though there are standard buttons for the most basic functions like cabin temperature, but they are too close to the touchscreen and lack the tactile feel that allows you to use them blindly. Once familiar with the steering wheel audio controls this was less of an issue for controlling the stereo. There are probably people out there that feel everything should be controlled by a giant screen but I’m not one of them— I much prefer standard controls/buttons, at least for the most commonly used functions. Bizarrely they use a combination of LEDs and incandescents for interior lighting, they should pick one or the other because the color temperature is so different between the two. Instrument panel is too small, gauges too tightly packed together and the electronic display/trip computer is too small. I have to stop and look for a couple seconds to identify fuel level or coolant temperature, I think the whole gauge cluster needs to be made larger with gauges spaced further
Great car imo for people that need a capable AWD vehicle that sometimes need to go off the beaten path or used for winter driving. One nice thing I spotted was three windshield washer nozzles— two in the cowl and one mounted on the wiper itself. When I used the windshield washer there wasn’t a single square inch of windshield that had not gotten a spray— a welcome feature for winter driving.
Styling is a bit bland for my taste, but Subaru has always been one to stick with what works and not make their designs too polarizing. So not a bad looking car, just won’t turn many heads IMO.
If I needed an all season car with good storage, I’d definitely consider one.
Engine performance from the 2.5L exceeded my expectations. It’s no rocket ship— there’s no mistaking that there’s a N/A four banger under the hood, but it’s rather smooth and capable in all driving conditions. It lacks the low end grunt you might find in a larger engine, but once the CVT gets it in the powerband (around 3k or higher) it really gets around for the type of vehicle and never feels strained. There’s a hint of 4-cylinder coarseness but it wouldn’t turn me off from buying one. Engine has a nice growl / throatiness to it when you get on it, but it still stays reasonably smooth.
The CVT works beautifully, but I dislike the artificial shift points especially at higher RPM and full throttle. I think they could tone that down a bit and create a smoother driving experience. I don’t notice it as much in regular driving.
Throttle tip-in is way too aggressive. We’re staying at an RV park that has a 5mph speed limit and it’s impossible to cruise around at 5-10mph without the car lurching forward at every tiny throttle application.
The car handles well and has great brakes, stopping power is excellent. Steering is responsive but the feel is a bit numb. The lane keep assist crap made for a couple scary moments at 75mph highway speeds when I didn’t realize why the wheel would move itself slightly. Once I figured out what it was doing it was predictable and didn’t really bother me. You can turn it onto fully assist and the car will basically drive itself so long as you have clear lane markers on each side.
Interior fit and finish seem just fine, good materials used throughout though I spotted cheap feeling plastic in a few places like around the door handles. I think the huge vertical touchscreen is awful from a ease-of-use perspective, I had to completely take my eyes off the road to make adjustments to HVAC and stereo, though there are standard buttons for the most basic functions like cabin temperature, but they are too close to the touchscreen and lack the tactile feel that allows you to use them blindly. Once familiar with the steering wheel audio controls this was less of an issue for controlling the stereo. There are probably people out there that feel everything should be controlled by a giant screen but I’m not one of them— I much prefer standard controls/buttons, at least for the most commonly used functions. Bizarrely they use a combination of LEDs and incandescents for interior lighting, they should pick one or the other because the color temperature is so different between the two. Instrument panel is too small, gauges too tightly packed together and the electronic display/trip computer is too small. I have to stop and look for a couple seconds to identify fuel level or coolant temperature, I think the whole gauge cluster needs to be made larger with gauges spaced further
Great car imo for people that need a capable AWD vehicle that sometimes need to go off the beaten path or used for winter driving. One nice thing I spotted was three windshield washer nozzles— two in the cowl and one mounted on the wiper itself. When I used the windshield washer there wasn’t a single square inch of windshield that had not gotten a spray— a welcome feature for winter driving.
Styling is a bit bland for my taste, but Subaru has always been one to stick with what works and not make their designs too polarizing. So not a bad looking car, just won’t turn many heads IMO.
If I needed an all season car with good storage, I’d definitely consider one.