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An Oakville Beaver Automotive Feature · To advertise in this section call 905-845-3824 or Fax 905-337-5568 \vi-:i )M - S I >AV. J A M A K Y 22. 2< XS · I M k c I tl m BEST WHEELS BARGAIN-RATE C A R INSURAN CE WITH BARGAIN-RATE SERV ICE IS NO BARGAIN IXm'l m » t jg.t an>orK lo Iniurc >uw ( « . K t me W a y n e M c G ill 2345 V ^ to o ft R d #21, Oakville 905-847-5671 The Subaru Outback offers no fuss, muss or bother The Outback is generally recog nized as a turnaround vehicle that brought Subaru from a niche maker o f eclectic four-wheel-drive cars into the mainstream. From the trusty, but dated Loyale, even in 1991 when 1 bought one, to the first generation Legacy. Subarus sold w ell, but never with any verve. I think it was also the final proof Subaru needed to drop front-drive altogether in d concen trate on offering a ll w heel-dri ve that most of us could afford. And of course. it was the Paul Hogan com m ercials for the Outback Jim Robinson which hit consumers with the right tone at the right moment. W ith its raised body, rugged-lookipg cladding, and bul let-proof Subaru All-W heel-Drive system, the Outback represented a real alternative to m inivans and (back then) hulking great S U V s. W ith the Forester. Subaru then arguably created the crossover seg ment. Even though the Forester has now been around for close to a decade, other m anufacturers are falling over themselves to build them. Subaru, being Subaru, the company also pretty w ell invented maximizing chassis and engine use. and an example is this week's road test car. Outbacks are available on the Legacy chassis and the lmpreza chassis. The Legacy platform sup ports the Legacy and the Outback and these two main versions are split into sedans and wagons. There are also a host o f non-Outback Legacys. but I won't go there and neither does Subaru. To them the Outback is one model and the Legacy is another. Tested here is the basic Outback Wagon. But there is also the Outback Lim ited wagon, the Outback H6-3.0 Wagon and the Outback H6-3.0 V D C Wagon. And just to spice things up there is a Outback H6-3.0 Sedan. I told you these guys were the experts are maxing out resources. It is, o f course, the looks that make an Outback and at the as test ed price o f $33,095. it is pretty hard to tell this wagon from the other three except for badging. Initial cost was one reason for testing this car. I wanted a Soob, because its 2.5-litre engine is frugal and uses regular gas. There are 847 litres o f cargo room behind the rear seats and under the folding cargo cover for the up to 50 kg o f press kits that I have to haul back. Lastly there is. as Subaru says, the beauty o f all-wheel-drive. Four years ago when a snowstorm para lyzed D etroit. I was d rivin g a supercharged, front-.drive sedan. Trying to get home on Highw ay 401 was a ride not to be repeated. Yes, I could have booked a SU V . but the run from home to Detroit is something I want to do on one tank of gas and have some left over for cruising through my old neighbor hood. The Outback Wagon is powered by the tried and true 2.5-litre "fiatfour" , D O H C engine producing 165 hp and 166 lb/ft o f torque. One o f the things Subaru attains with the fiat engine, besides reduced friction, is that power goes in a straight line through to the viscous limited slip differential at the rear wheels. Thus no power is lost rout ing down and then back up through a centre-mounted transfer case. F Y I. the other Outbacks with the 3.0 in front o f them refer to a sixcylinder " fiat-six" , engine that pro duces 212 hp and 210 lb/ft o f torque. Suspension is independent and is also a heavier duty version than the Above: The Subaru Outback Wagon continues Subaru's core engineering principles of reliable operation with the advantage o f all-wheel-drive. Right: The liftgate reveals a very large cargo area and there are storage com partments hidden under the cargo floor. base Lcgacy. It is also raised to give 185 mm o f ground clearance and the Outback "lo o k ". A five-speed manual transmission is standard, a four-speed manual optional as fit ted to the test wagon. A ll Outback W agons com e w ith four-wheel, four-channel disc brakes with A B S and the steering is engine-speed sensing rack and pinion. Fuel con sumption is listed as 11.4L/8.0L/100 km city/highw ay for the five speed, I0.9L/7.8L/I00 km city/highway for the automatic. Tires are 16-inch radials on nice aluminum alloy wheels. Inside, the Outback is a world away from my old 1991 Loyale. that had. perhaps, the most uni form ly grey interior I have ever seen. (But the old Loyale is still running solidly and faith fu lly on the farm o f a friend.) M y test Outback was a tasteful collection of tan cloth with woodtrim inserts punctuated by bits of black and polished aluminum. W ith a total interior volum e o f 3.668 litres, it also offers space for five. The three in the back aren't jammed in. but it's tight for three adults. Even the base Outback Wagon comes with heated remote mirrors, heated front seats and a front w ind shield w iper de-icer, again antiDetroit am enities worth having. Soobs, as regular readers know, are old friends. Like B M W . they have taken a solid design that was good the first time and have con stantly im proved here and enhanced there. In com paring this aspect between the B M W 3-Serics and the Legacy, I do so to point out that both cars are just about as good as you can get in their respective arenas. And like the 3-Series and Legacy-based Soobs. once you 've driven one. yo u 'll find the controls in the same place and modulating them remains largely the same. It means less driver attention on the do-dads and more on the road ahead. Because o f the dependability of the car and predictability o f the Subaru A W D system. I can cxpect to arrive with a minimum amount o f fuss, muss and bother. $0 D O W N A N D $0 P A Y M E N TS T IL JU L Y 2003 ...and w it h o u r in cre dible selection, it ju st ca n 't g e t a n y b e tte r th a n th a t! 2 0 0 0 In fin iti 130 . A u t o , 6 c y l, 3.0 1. f o g la m p s . ^ .in t o d im A t c C . a llo y w h e e ls , d u a l a ir b o g s . m r \ C D p la y e r, p o w e r ^ \ w in d o w s , m e m o ry ^ 1 se a ts, p o w e r lo ck s. ^ B l e d se ats, t r a c tio n c o n t r o l p o w e r s c a ts , m irr o rs . J le a th e r N\ S in t e rio r, m o o n r o o f . Jr tin t e d w i n d o w s . 6 4 ,2 0 5 ^ k m s . S tk # 0 -1 1 0 7 7 2 0 0 0 M u sta n g C T L e a th e r. 4.61 V 8 . 5 s p e e d . a llo y rim s, m a c h a u d io sy s te m , 4 9 ,0 0 0 km s S tk# 0 0 5 8 4 9 21,900 to c h o o s e fro m in c lu d in g : M u s ta n g . C a m a ro a n d C o rv e tte t o c h o o s e fro m in c lu d in g : L in c o ln , C a d illa c . B u ic k , J a g u a r. A c u ra . B M W , V o lv o a n d Saab 2 0 0 0 C h e vro le t Cava lie r 4 d o o r, a u t o m a t ic , p o w e r s te e r in g , p o w e r b ra k e s , d u a l a ir b a g s . AM /FM /C ASSETTE. o n l y 1 5 ,0 0 0 km s. S tk # 0 -1 1 0 3 8 2 0 0 0 F o rd W in d s t a r S E L A u to , 6 cyl, 3.81. a llo y w he e ls, d ua l air bags. PW, P L ro of rack, cruise, d ua l slid in g d oo rs, tin te d w i n d o w s . tilt. PM . exte n de d , A/C. inter, w ip e rs, q u a d buckets. 77. 219 kms Stk* 0 16818 * 16,900 t o c h o o s e f ro m in c lu d in g : C a v a lie r. F o cu s. S a t u r n , S u n fire . C iv ic a n d A c c e n t t o c h o o s e f ro m in c lu d in g : W in d s ta r. C a r a v a n . A s tro . M o n ta n a , V e n tu re a n d M P V 2001 Fo rd E x p lo re r S p o rt A u t o m a t ic . 4 .0 L . f o g la m p s , a llo y w h e e ls , d u a l a ir b a g s , C D p la y e r, p o w e r w i n d o w s , p o w e r lo ck s, m ir r o r s , le a th e r in t e rio r, tilt, p o w e r m irr o rs . 4 x 4 . k e y le s s e n t ry , ite r m it t e n t w ip e r s , c ru is e c o n tro l S tk # 1 -4 1 2 0 9 1999 C M C 1500 Sierra SLE A u t o m a t ic . 8 c y lin d e r. 5.3 L. a llo y w h e e ls , p o w e r w i n d o w s , b la c k , tilt, p o w e r s te e rin g . A / C . p o w e r b ra k e s , cru ise c o n tro l. S tkV 9 2 2 8 6 9 * 19,900 t o c h o o s e f ro m in c lu d in g : J im m y . B la ze r. E x p lo re r, Y u k o n . E x p e d itio n * 17,900 to c h o o s e fro m in c lu d in g : G M C , D o d g e . F o rd . C h e v r o le t. 4*4 's a n d 2 W D 's c 311> R E -O W N E D V E H IC LE S O N DISPLAY, A L L M A K E S A N D M O D E L S *No paym en ts 'ttl Ju ly 2 00 3 O .A.C. E xam ple - 1998 P ontiac S unllro. S ale P rice $10 00 0 0 0 + admin and taxes S 1 1728.25 a m o un t financed, S245 0 6/m o For 60 m onths, < ® 7.9% A P R Tolal paym ents $14 70 3 .6 0 C o st of B orro w in g $ 2 3 45 .53 o r $469.07/yr. Interest blen d ed o ver term financed. P rices subject to ch an ge C all d ea le r for details Sate ends Jan. 26/03 AUTOPARK Q | W w w w .a u to p a rk s u p e rs to re .c o m N. S e rv ic e Road in B urlin gton n E 905-331-8500 Between Appleby and Walkers Line o ff the Q E W in Burlington Em ail: in fo @ a u to p a rksu p e rsto re .co m "T H E D R IV IN G F O R C E , W H E R E S E L E C T IO N IS E V E R Y T H IN G !"