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OAKVILLE NISSAN F /e e fe Bob McIntosh 616 Yolk St. Oakville Dlroct: 905-827-7191 \ \ c U \ im * .ill i i i . i k o .u n i im u li' K An Oakville Beaver Automotive Feature · To advertise in this section call 905-845-3824 or Fax 905-337-5568 W K H M IS D A Y .\im .3 . 20 0 2 · l\lg e B l BEST WHEELS rowed and remains at the heart of every Soob since. Thinking I might have got last year's car by mistake, I checked my press information and dis covered the 2.5-litre is alive and well and still mak ing the brave-looking Outback affordable. Outbacks come liberally equipped with a wide range of features like full-time all-wheel-drive. traction control, air conditioning, four-wheel disc brakes with A B S , power everything including heated mirrors, roof rails with sport rack system, woodgrain inserts, and a whole mess of items too numerous to mention. But this costs money. A fully equipped Outback with the 3.0-litre V6 with pitch and yaw controls (Soob calls it VD C ) plus the full leather/lux treat ment w ill set you back $43,995. Even without the VDC. it is $39,995. Now that may sound steep, but compare it to a Volvo V70 Cross Country or an Audi Allroad and it seems like a steal. But fourty grand is a whole whack of bucks no matter how you count it. Ergo we come to this week's Outback wagon with five-speed manual transmission as tested here with a list price of $31,995, while the four-speed automatic transmission version adds $1,000. There is also the Limited with all the leather, bells and whistles for $36,995 but that's starting to get up there as well. The Outback is considered a separate model line although they are twins under the skin with the Legacy. In fairness I should note there is a barebones version of the Legacy called the Brighton Wagon that scrimps on things like power windows and mirrors, but still gives the Soob AW D system and the 2.5-litre for $24,995 ($1,000 more for the automatic). What you don't get is the look of the Outback and I have to say this is one car where bigger wheels and steroid-influence body panels make a difference. Added to the exaggerated fog lamps in the front bumper, and the Legacy adopts a very rugged look indeed. My tester was finished with forest green with "Titanium Pearl" lower body panels, chic enough for any country club. The inte rior too was a nice, warm gold/beige cloth and a welcome relief from the charcoal grey Subaru so loves and which still manifests itself in some of their front-line vehicles like the Impreza 2.5 RS tested on these pages. The 2.5-Iitre engine is a beauty producing 165 hp and 166 lb/ft or torque. What I love about a flatfour (or six) is they always start in the winter. I owned (and recently sold) a 1991 Subaru Loyale that never let me down. Even after sitting for a IS YOUR GARAGE PROTECTING YOUR CAR BETTER THAN YOUR BARGAIN-RATE CAR INSURANCE? ( X m l tr u il ju sl 10 in tu rc > vur anyone cat. we me A I J 2M 5M tW jfi R J. *2l,0bicvflt Wjync McGill ta a r tsn a r 9ovs47-567i "Go-anywhere motoring" with Outback T here's been nothing quite like the original Outback commercials featuring Paul Hogan for putting Subaru on the map. Foreseeing the rising interest in sedan/wagons with offroad ability before almost everyone in the automobile industry, Subaru launched the Forester and the Outback at exactly the same time as the unquenchable thirst for truck-like and truck lookalike transport took hold. At the dawn of 2002 with the road-stomping Impreza W R X in the lineup and a compact SUV/pickup truck in the wings, it is easy to forget that Subaru is the master of spinning off a number of different vehicles from the same meager set of parts. When you think about it it. Subaru has just two chassis (Impreza and Legacy) which are remarkable similar, and two engines, a flat-four and a flat-six. And they have one drive system, Subaru's own all-wheel-drive. On the Legacy chassis alone you have three Legacy wagons, three Legacy sedans and no less than five Outbacks which is in essence up-trimmed Legacys. If it sounds confusing, it is. even to me. I had the impression that all Legacys and all Imprezas coming into Canada had the 2.5-litre Jim Robinson flat-four with AW D . which is correct. But I also assumed all Outbacks now comc with the 212 hp 3.0-litre flat-six, and in this I was wrong as I found out with this week's tester -- the Subaru Outback wagon. For my annual trek to Detroit for the North American International Auto Show, I like to take vehicle that is moderately fast, moderately easy on fuel, and isn't really flashy because you sometimes drive through Detroit's inner city to get to car com pany-sponsored parties. Cargo is a must as you come away with about 150 kg of presskits and. after the freak snowstorm of four years ago. AW D or 4WD is also a must. Getting trapped in Detroit is like one of those Nicholas Cage sci-fi escape films. The Outback I got was a last minute substitu tion. as the one Subaru intended was unavailable. P/ated as a 2001. it is virtually identical to the 2002. Enjo f picked up the Outback as tested and almost immediately heard the unmistakable flatfour exhaust sound that is inherent in the design. It goes all the way back to the Volkswagen Beetle's engine, the architecture of which was liberally bor With its big 16-inch wheels and rugged bodywork, the Outback version of the Subaru Legacy offers the go-anywhere ability of all-wheel-drive but not the fuel consumption of large SUV's. month under a mound of snow from last year's Christmas storm, the old Loyale started on the first crack and clawed its way out of the snow drifts around it. It's still doing yeoman service for a friend as this is being written. With the Subaru's full-time AW D system uses a limited slip differential (viscous) that routes power back and forth near instantly to the wheels with the most grip. While you can have up to three differentials and torque sensing lockouts as some other very expen sive SUVs do, the Soob system is just as effective and way simpler. The other thing about the flat-four is you can wind that baby out to the max in any gear and it always seems harmonized with the clutch take-up mechanism. Missing a shift is hard to do in a Subaru, but if you do, the revs don't drop off as fast as an inline four and thus you can re-engage and not lose too much. Four wheel discs and A B S work very well with all-wheel-drive as the sensors work together with out the frictional drag of four sets of half-shafts in a transfer case system. The short version of the above is you can drive the Outback to the max if necessary, but where it's best is normal highway cruising, especially on dirt or gravel roads or just down that rutted road to the cottage. And if you are going to the cottage or hauling heavy boxes of press kits, the cargo area with rear split/fold seat up is 847 lites and that increases to 1.950 litres with the rear seats folded. With those seats folded, the length of the cargo floor is 1,630 mm. Incidentally, the Outback comes with a mould ed plastic spill tray for the floor of the back cargo area. I also like the way the three head rests on the back seat can be removed and stowed when not needed to markedly increase rear vision. Another bonus is the Outback requires only regular fuel getting 11.0L/I00 km in the city and 7.8L/100 km on the highway. My wife laughs when 1talk lovingly of my old Soob Loyale. but these cars do engender a kind of man/machine caring thing. I know a woman at work who owns a Forester as does her husband and they are proud of the fact they cleared tracks on their street after the big snow of December 2000 so their neighbors could get out to work in the compact sportcutes. She is a believer and has converted more than a few of my fellows into the fold. The other thing about Subarus is being a very small car company, they have taken great pains to spin out as many uses for every part they make. Tliat results in reliability plus no searing pain felt in the wallet when paying for pans. It might have taken Paul Hogan to make people take a second look at Subaru, but the Outback no longer takes a second seat to anyone when it comes to offering great looks for go-anywhere motoring. K O A DW O R T H Y WEDNESDAY APRIL 3RD - p -- THURSDAY APRIL 4TH FRIDAY APRIL 5TH SATURDAY APRIL 6TH H h h h it SEGEQ©CEE §0E0S5 C O Q G® GEEKS ftHMfifMRRlB IX l 97 fORD 4H R l!S J )« M L a H g H H N .im ih 97 E A & L EV ISIO NT S I 99 C H E VC A V A L IE RZ 24 » < --_J 97 M A Z D A ,626 IX 99 P O N T IA CfiR A N D A M SE IP O 'S O f VEHICLES TD CHOOSE f BOM ! ·NO PA Y M EN TS TIL O C T O B ER 2002 O.A C. IN T E R E S T EX T R A ** A LL PA YM EN TS A R E BI-W EEKLY. $0 DOW N, 60 MO. T ERM . LIC E N C E EXT R A . O.A.C. C A LL D E A LE R FO R D ETAILS 4315 North Service Road Burlington automotive superstore 905 - 331-8500 w w w .a u to p a rk su p ersto re E m ail: in fo @ a u to p a rk s u p e rs to re B etw e e n A p p le b y and W a lk e rs Line O ff the Q E W in B urlington THE DRIVING FORCE WHERE SELECTION IS EVERYTHING