Subaru Outback 2.5 XT - any downside?

[Mountain Junkie]

Not completely revelant, but if any Subaru geeks are looking for tires, I would recommend the Goodyear TripleTreds. Really good all around performance and amazing in the snow. The tires already have quite a few white knuckle miles on them, so I can attest to their performance.

[El Chupacabra]

Re: roof box --

I have an older Yakima Rocket Box, fairly long one (90-92"). Don't mind drilling the extra holes in the box, so long as it'd actually clear the rear hatch. I'll have to check that out at a dealership.

[natty dread]

I recently got a forester xt 5 sp and I'm liking it. Fits a roof box no prob with full hatch access, easy to park in the city, good handling/super quick esp with the lower gearing this year (helps starting out on snowy hills too, no more spinning like in my old wrx), good clearance for rough roads (suspension is lowered about 0.5" in the xt) hill-holder clutch works great and it's only on the forester, big windows/xtra large rear view mirrior (with turn signals on them) give you great visability, huge sunroof, and it has the heated seats/windshield/rear views. Plus all wrx performance parts fit on it I'm told.

[cinnepa]

hey natty, on another subject, how are your new boots.....i seem to remember you were a flexon owner (i have the kneissel flexons) and you got technica's i believe? i might be wrong but i was wondering what another flexon guy bought as his next boot.

[PaSucks]

That sure seems like a lot of problems for a brand-new car, though.

This from an Audi driver. Think about that one.

[lemon boy]

This from an Audi driver. Think about that one.

ZIIING!

[LaramieSkiBum]

Thats wierd you can't move the cross bars?

bars are all the way forward, had to actually take the front one off and re position it ahead of some braces to get it all the way forward. Wide and short box might do you better than my rocketbox, like someone metioned above.

The OBXT has a rear spoiler that prevents the rear hatch from opening all the way with a long box, unless you can get your box way forward.

[LaramieSkiBum]

nice review..........just my 2 cents on the box, i have a yakima space booster, and yes, i drilled extra holes so i could open the hatch all the way....the front of the box barely hangs over the front windshield; not even noticeable. i have a 2003 2.5X forester, love it, best car i owned so far. got the 5 speed, like a tank in the snow. not the best gas mileage of any car i owned but the rest of the car makes up for that.

but doesnt a space booster require yakima mounting rack? this would elevate the box and cause you to not have to worry so much about moving it forward right? My friend has a forrester w/ rocketbox and he can open his rear hatch, we put his box on my car and tried to work it out, but the spoiler on the XT hoses you.

[LaramieSkiBum]

A friend of mine has the 2005 OBXT in manual and just raves about it. I tried it out a few times when I had to run some errands and I wasn't as impressed. This was mostly a function of the tiny gas/brake/clutch pedal area. I'm 6'2" with size 12 shoes, so maybe I'm an outlier, but I kept tripping over my own feet when driving this thing. They are just real close together.

I'm on the larger side to 6'2" w/ size 12 shoes, and I actually prefer the pedals being closer together. It's easier to brake and raise the engine at the same time (right foot on accel and brake, left foot on clutch)

Normal shifting hasn't been an issue for me.

I do find my self scooting way forward to reach the steering wheel though.

[PaSucks]

I'm on the larger side to 6'2" w/ size 12 shoes, and I actually prefer the pedals being closer together. It's easier to brake and raise the engine at the same time (right foot on accel and brake, left foot on clutch)

When are you ever heal-toeing in normal driving situations though? I don't think most people driving outbacks have a need for that.

[Tippster]

The only downside I can see is your turning into a Lesbian. As long as you're cool w/that I say go for it.

[LaramieSkiBum]

When are you ever heal-toeing in normal driving situations though? I don't think most people driving outbacks have a need for that.

Don't much matter to me if they do or not. It's fun.

I always heel toe out of habbit when using the engine to brake on hills and corners in town, I used to drive trucks w/o syncros - part of the reason my cherokee's clutch lasted 230,000 miles, most of them in WV. I try to make the syncros(sp?) work as little as possible by matching my RPMs to the drive train. This is one of the reasons the throttle by wire and low end torque has taken some getting used too.

[cinnepa]

but doesnt a space booster require yakima mounting rack? this would elevate the box and cause you to not have to worry so much about moving it forward right? My friend has a forrester w/ rocketbox and he can open his rear hatch, we put his box on my car and tried to work it out, but the spoiler on the XT hoses you.

no,no,no, my wyoming friend. i have thule load bars + the yakima box, everything fits fine - hatch can open all the way, no spoiler on my car though. i removed the factory rack.

[LaramieSkiBum]

no,no,no, my wyoming friend. i have thule load bars + the yakima box, everything fits fine - hatch can open all the way, no spoiler on my car though. i removed the factory rack.

So you can move your bars much farther than I, plus your on a forrester right? Like i said above, my friend had no trouble with his forrester, but we couldn't get the rocket box far enough forward due to the spoiler + ran out of play on the factory rack.

[El Chupacabra]

I did some searches on the hatch vs. roof box clearance, and found somewhere on a Subaru forum where someone had mounted a long roof box with a small (maybe 1" thick) piece of wood between the box and the rear crossbar, which provided enough clearance at the rear hatch spoiler.

I'd probably try to find something other than wood, maybe plastic, or at least pressure-treated wood. Just a possibility though.

[DJMingus]

I did some searches on the hatch vs. roof box clearance, and found somewhere on a Subaru forum where someone had mounted a long roof box with a small (maybe 1" thick) piece of wood between the box and the rear crossbar, which provided enough clearance at the rear hatch spoiler.

I'd probably try to find something other than wood, maybe plastic, or at least pressure-treated wood. Just a possibility though.

Two lengths of black square stock steel tubing between the crossbars and box - - IF the u-bolts are long enough to get you the critical inch. At the least you can shim the box up off the crossbars as much as the u-bolts will alllow and thereby minimize the distance you have to push the box forward.

[El Chupacabra]

Two lengths of black square stock steel tubing between the crossbars and box - - IF the u-bolts are long enough to get you the critical inch. At the least you can shim the box up off the crossbars as much as the u-bolts will alllow and thereby minimize the distance you have to push the box forward.

Or, to avoid rust, I think Home Depot/Lowe's has square stock aluminum tubing in approx. 1" diameter. Not nearly as strong as steel, but in this usage, I would think it would be fine -- sandwiched between the roof box on top and the rack crossbars underneath.

[The AD]

So all you people need a wagon and a roof box? I think at that point you should look at getting a bigger vehicle

[LaramieSkiBum]

depends on the mounting method too. Yakima rocketbox is a clamp, not a U bolt. Thules have U bolts as do some of the yakima's right?

[DJMingus]

My Thule Evo has special u bolts that are about 3 1/2 inches wide, I guess to accomodate some of those wide factory crossbars.

[Dexter Rutecki]

I've got the Outback XT 05 MT, and I can say that fortunately I've had basically none of the problems listed here, aside from fuel economy. In fact, the best it ever does is just under 25 mpg, if I drove it exclusively in the city I could see it getting 18 or worse. I average about 22.
Everything else (gotta use the expensive fuel for the turbo, too) is fine, absolutely no problems--just drove 500 miles in it today to hit 12k. I did find that it took about 500 miles for me to get used to shifting as it was quite different from my shitbox 95 Altima--I think what made it difficult at first actually was that I almost never go above 1500 rpms to get the car going, and in the Altima I used to rely on the sound of the engine engaging with the clutch, but the Outback is so much quieter that I couldn't do that. Not a big deal.
Can't think of any other problems, maybe the brakes aren't quite as good as they should be, and I'm not a fan of ABS, but I guess that's a given with any car these days.
I'm also not sure about fitting four with skis in the car--Laramie, were you thinking of doing that with the left seat down? That would have to be a really skinny person (phunK skinny) to fit in the middle seat. The only way I could do it is to put the skis over the middle which is awkward and hell on the interior.
If you're OK with the fuel economy I can fully recommend it.

[altagirl]

I also have a 2005 2.5 XT (manual). Gas mileage and premium gas are annoying, but it's been gradually getting better - which the Subaru tech I talked to said to expect.

I just use a regular roof rack. If I load the skis backwards, I can't open the trunk all the way, but I keep my boots and such up front with me, so that's very rarely an issue. I did have to move the crossbars just to fit skis in the rack (not enough distance between them to allow for bindings). But that was a 5 minute fix.


Heated seats, and heated windshield wipers absolutely rock. And it's fast and fun as hell to drive. I had been eyeballing a black one, but common sense took hold (plus they gave me a discount because they had several in the sand/beige color that I ended up buying in stock and they were getting rid of the '05s).

My only complaint is that I got a cracked windshield recently. Damn rocks.

[DaveTV]

Here's a pic of mine.-

[AstroPax]

Anyone have one of these, either Legacy or Outback version? Anything you've come to dislike after living with the car for awhile?

I own a 2006 Outback 2.5XT, auto.

This is my second Subaru...traded-in my 2001 Outback which had about 100,000 miles on it. The only work I ever did on my 2001 was to follow the schedule, one new set of tires, and one complete set of pads and rotors. That was a reliable car! And I usually ran 85 octane.

I also considered a 2006 Audi A4, and a 2006 BMW 325xi. I settled on the Subaru because it just seemed to be more practicle for my <skiing> needs.

Now, about the XT.

What I mostly dislike:
- The auto climate control system, AKA Hal. What a POS. Give me a comlete manual system anyday. And I hate digital HVAC controls. At least with with an analog system, I could change the settings without taking my eye off of the road. With the digital system, I actually have to look at the LED read-outs. Pain in the ass.
- Minimum 91 octane fuel requirement. Oh well, the price one pays for performance.
- My Yakima Rocketbox was too long (rear spoiler interference), so I sold it and mounted a conventional rack.
- Stock M+S tires (Potenza's) suck. Will put some good ones on once these wear down.
- Radio Antenna. The radio antenna is embedded in the rear hatchback window, and reception sucks compared to the antenna (external) that was on my 2001 Outback.
- Speaking of the radio, it really sucks that an NOAA Weather Band is no longer included, or even available as an option.
- Needs more driver leg room combined with a telescoping steering wheel.
- Braking performance is fair.

What I mostly like:
- It'll smoke anything in it's class in both price and performance, and probably reliability too.
- Performance. 250HP turbocharged flat 4 Boxer that can be safely upped to 290HP/305 ft lb via a simple ECU map flash:
http://cobbtuning.com/legacy/power-s.html#stage1
- Excellent AWD system.
- Auto/Sport/Manual 5-speed transmission.
- Winter weather package.
- Daytime gauge illumination.
- Stock trip computer.
- The ability to blow-away a Volvo XC70 turbo on dry pavement, and on the snow and ice.

I think that's about it.

-Astro

[Repoman]

Do the Kerry/Edwards bumper stickers come included with the cold weather package, or are they an added cost?